By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire, with Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC On November 17, 2014, the United States Supreme Court granted a petition for writ of certiorari in two cases: Bank of America, N.A. v. Caulkett (In re Caulkett), 566 Fed. Appx. 879, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 9407 (11th Cir. Fla.,…
By Alfred Villoch, III, with Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC If you miss car payments, the company that loaned you the money to purchase the car can likely take back your car in what is called “repossession.” The right to take back your car for nonpayment usually comes from the…
By Alfred Villoch, III, with Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Johnny Smith accidentally runs a red traffic light and slams his pick-up truck into a motorcyclist, Drew Lenders. Sadly, Drew was not wearing a helmet and suffered significant head trauma and memory loss. Drew’s hospital bill alone is $50,000 He…
By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire, with Savage, Combs and Villoch, PLLC A federal judge recently dismissed a bankruptcy case filed by a marijuana business owner in Colorado, according Tom McGhee of the Denver Post. Why? Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law and that causes major impediments in obtaining relief under…
By Alfred Villoch, III, with Savage, Combs and Villoch, PLLC This meeting is named after section 341 of the bankruptcy code. It’s usually held about one or two months after you file for bankruptcy. You are required to attend this meeting in order to successfully complete bankruptcy and discharge your…
By Alfred Villoch, III, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Arigato Japanese Steakhouse, LLC, a restaurant with three locations in the Tampa Bay area, including a popular location in the Carrollwood area, has permanently closed its doors, according to Eric Snider with the Tampa Bay Business Journal. The restaurant was…
By Alfred Villoch, III, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Today, the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled “A Maze of Paper. SEC Judgment against Raider Paul Bilzerian: $62 Million. Collected: $3.7 Million.” In the article, Michael Rothfeld and Brad Reagan write how Paul Bilzerian was a corporate raider in the…
by Alfred Villoch, III, with Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC In Florida, settlement of legal disputes is strongly encouraged. To encourage settlement, the Florida legislature enacted Section 768.79 of the Florida Statutes. Section 768.79 creates a substantive right to collect reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs as “penalties” when a party declines to accept a reasonable…
By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC In a recent blog post, the Bankruptcy Blawg addressed how difficult (almost impossible) it is to get rid of student loan debt in bankruptcy. See http://www.thebankruptcyblawg.com/?p=26. Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times published an article entitled “Co-signing a student loan carries…
By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Student loans are very difficult to get rid of in bankruptcy. Whether you file bankruptcy under chapter 7 or chapter 13, the test remains the same: you have to prove “undue hardship” in order to discharge or get rid of…