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Lenders can be prevented from repossessing a car owned by a debtor if he or she files for a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. However, the lender may still be able to repossess the car with the court’s permission.

Once a debtor declares bankruptcy, the debtor is granted an automatic stay. An automatic stay prevents a creditor from taking certain properties from a debtor.

The only way a creditor can get around an automatic stay is to be granted court permission. To do this, a creditor must file a motion “for relief from the automatic stay” with the court. The motion must convince the court the creditor has a high interest in the property and a right to repossess the car. The creditor must also stress through the motion that its interests are not adequately protected because the debtor is not making timely loan payments or are otherwise in default.

One of the biggest worries for those who are considering filing for bankruptcy is how the bankruptcy will affect their credit score. Most people believe that they will not be able to receive credit in the future after their debts have been discharged in bankruptcy. It is true that a bankruptcy will do some damage to a debtor’s credit score. However, there is a silver lining to the otherwise bad news: someone who has discharged their debts in bankruptcy is in a very good position to begin to rebuild their credit following a bankruptcy filing. There are several factors that impact how quickly a debtor can begin to rebuild their credit score.

After the debtor’s debts have been discharged in bankruptcy, each of the three major credit bureaus will make a notation on the credit report and the debtor’s score will then feel an impact. Just how big this impact is can depend on a few different factors: how high the credit score was prior to the debtor filing for bankruptcy; how many accounts have been discharged in the bankruptcy; income; and whether the debtor has any outstanding debts or financial obligations not discharged in the bankruptcy.

There are a few things that you can do to help minimize the damage to your credit once you’ve filed for bankruptcy:

The Sun-Sentinel has reported that a Fort Lauderdale fuel company has filed bankruptcy after being placed under federal investigation. SMF Energy Corporation, which formerly operated under the name Streicher Mobile Fueling, had been overcharging clients for services. One of its clients was evidently a federal agency who didn’t take kindly to being bilked out of their money.

An internal investigation revealed the price discrepancies. Wells Fargo Bank, a major creditor of the company, claimed that SMF had defaulted on more than $11 million in loans. After that, the company sought to discharge its debts in bankruptcy and restructure under Chapter 11.

Chapter 11 bankruptcies are often referred as “reorganization” bankruptcies. In order for a debtor to obtain bankruptcy under Chapter 11, the debtor must file a petition in the federal bankruptcy court in the district where the debtor is domiciled. The filing fee for the petition is expensive, $1,000.00, which is usually why Chapter 11 is most often seen with businesses. In addition to the petition, the debtor must also file a reorganization or restructuring plan with the court. This demonstrates to the court that the debtor has made plans to pay off creditors and just needs the guidance of the federal bankruptcy system to provide some assistance.

St. Johns County, Florida residents never suspected that one of their own, Lydia Cladek, was the head of a $100 million dollar Ponzi scheme, one of the largest to hit the south eastern United States. Cladek is in her sixties and is a little over five feet tall and yet this little old woman has brought many of her investors to their knees. In late January she was convicted of fourteen counts of different kinds of fraud.

Investigators found she was holding $4 million in car notes despite owing $90 million in outstanding loans. She had been living a lavish lifestyle with several houses in the Florida area.

A Ponzi Scheme is one where a person takes money from investors and pretends that those investments are increasing in value. The money never increases in value, but the Ponzi Schemer is able to pay out more than the investors paid in by taking on new investors. The new investors pay the dividends on the old investor’s money. As long as the Schemer pays a higher than average rate, they can convince more people to invest. This effect snowballs until there is simply too much money going out vs. coming in and the scheme collapses.

Jacksonville, Florida debt collectors may be more aggressively pursuing deficiencies for vehicle repossessions, new and old. People are getting behind on their payments for everything; their home, credit cards and cars. Unfortunately, cars and trucks often get picked up quickly after non-payment and aren’t always sold at their commercially reasonable value.
One the positive side, the Florida legislature has included provisions in their Uniform Commercial Code that allow a debtor to counter-sue their creditor if that creditor seeks to sue for a deficiency and cannot show that their sale of the secured property was done in a commercially reasonable manner. An obvious claim for relief would arise from a scenario where a car dealer repossesses a car, sells it to his brother for half of what it’s worth and then sues the debtor for the deficiency. That would be a fairly clear action for statutory damages.
Unfortunately, many people are unaware this protection exists. They feel that because they were unable to make their payments, that perhaps they deserve to be “steamrolled” by the system. We at Law Office of David M. Goldman disagree. If you’ve had a secured asset repossessed and think it was sold for less than it’s value, you may have a cause of action to sue your creditor. Contact a Jacksonville Repossession Defense Attorney at (904) 685-1200 for a free initial consultation.

Although it’s Atlantic Beach location was rated #1 Best Sports Bar in 2008, Sneakers other two Jacksonville locations have filed for Chapter 11 protection this month.
The Beach Boulevard location reported only $300,000 more in debts than assets were as the the Point Meadows location owed $2.31 million more than it was worth. Both restaurants are owned by the same family.
Sneakers isn’t new to the court system, the Atlantic Boulevard location being sued for allegedly violating the terms of it’s rental agreement stemming back to November 2006. A final judgment for $94,000 having been submitted to the courts for unsatisfied back rent. This request, submitted in January 2012, has not yet been reviewed by the Honorable Jean Johnson of the Duval County Court. Hopefully, Sneakers will resolve this issue soon, otherwise we may see a Chapter 11 filed for the Atlantic Boulevard location as well.

The Teamsters make up more than 90% of Hostess’s work force and have threatened to strike if the judge in Hostess’s Chapter 11 case allows the company to cut wages and benefits for employees. Information explaining what these benefits and wages are is not readily available.
The Teamsters Union, founded in 1903, has a history of aggressively fighting for the rights of it’s members. Dennis Raymond, director of the Teamsters Bakery and Laundry Conference, stated that, “This vote shows that, while our Hostess members are willing to take significant steps to save the company, they can only go so far,”.
It looks to me like these Hostess members may be go so far as the unemployment line, especially if the business cannot become solvent. If the court finds that the business cannot be profitable, it may be divided up and auctioned off to the highest bidder. It’s possible that Teamsters may not lose jobs in that scenario, but it’s becoming a tired cliche for unions to strike businesses out of existence.

A bill has passed through the Florida House of Representatives that would prevent recipients of Food Stamps from purchasing snack foods such as cupcakes and other “junk foods”. The proposal is yet to have made it to the Florida House of Representatives Bills list, likely because it hasn’t yet gained Senate approval.

According to News 4 Jax, the use of food stamps in Duval County is reported to have increased by 130% from 2006 to today. DCF spokesman John Harrell also reported that one out of every three children are being helped by food stamps.

There are existing limits on food stamps already, such as those against purchasing tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

Three companies receiving assistance under the Energy Department’s economic stimulus law have filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.

Solar panel producer, Solyndra Inc. was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under the new stimulus law. President Obama even dedicated his first reelection commercial to the business as part of his “Going Green” campaign. They were given the largest loan at $528 million in 2009 and filed for Chapter 11 in 2010. They are currently under investigation by the FBI who is investigating allegations of fraud.

They were followed by Beacon Power, an energy storage firm, who received $43 million. The most recent filing was just yesterday by electric car maker Ener1, whose subsidiary EnerDel recieved a $118 million dollar grant two years ago. One of their products is government intended lithium-ion battery technology to support GPA tracking systems designed to work in harsh climates for the “real-time” tracking of vital assets, so perhaps the investment by Obama had non-green intentions. Stock for this company went from $4.00 a share last year down to $0.20 in October and then to zero since the company failed to properly file with the NASDAQ.