If bankruptcy is something you are considering filing along with obtaining a loan modification, then you should speak with a bankruptcy attorney before you seek a loan modification.  Our firm works on loan modifications inside and outside of bankruptcy.  Understanding your options is important because many bankruptcy courts, including courts in the Southern District of Florida, offer the opportunity to obtain a Home Affordable Modification Program ("HAMP") loan modification inside your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.  Depending on your financial situation, this may be more advisable than obtaining the loan modification outside of bankruptcy.

Debt settlement companies work in a couple different ways, but are typically more expensive than hiring an attorney to renegotiate your debts or file and complete your bankruptcy.  Many times we have had new clients who tried using a debt settlement company to renegotiate their debts, but only ended up spending significantly more money than they should have over a very long period of time and received little to no results.  The better and less expensive option for these individuals was simply to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and rid themselves of their debts in approximately four months for a certain cost. 

Many of these debt companies work by having you pay them a monthly payment that they deposit into an account to pay themselves and sometimes pay your creditors a discounted amount to settle your debt.  However, the discounts you receive are often not as significant as the discounts you can negotiate on your own or through a lawyer.  More than once we have seen situations in which these companies did not resolve any of our clients' debts, but merely just kept collecting our clients' monthly payments.  This left our clients in the situation of having to pay for bankruptcy in addition to the money they wasted with the debt settlement company.

Some debt companies claim to be non-profit.  However, they still typically cost more money than they should and achieve less favorable results than you should receive.  In addition, they typically take a longer period of time to resolve your debts and leave you with a poor credit score for a longer period of time.

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you end up paying back your creditors some of the money they are owed on a monthly basis at a rate determined by examining the value of your non-exempt assets and your disposable monthly income.  In most Chapter 7 bankruptcies, the filing party does not end up paying back any money to creditors.  However, one of the benefits of filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy as opposed to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is that you are allowed to keep assets that would be claimed and sold for the benefit of your creditors by the Trustee in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Another substantial benefit of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is that it may allow you to strip the second mortgage from your home without making any further payments to the second mortgage lender.  In addition, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy may allow you to cram down your car loan to the car's current value and to restructure your monthly car payments at a lower interest rate paid over the course of your bankruptcy.

Much like a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy requires the filing party to attend a meeting of creditors before the Chapter 13 Trustee.  Typically, creditors do not attend these meetings and the Chapter 13 Trustee is the only person asking questions at the meeting.  However, your creditors are invited to attend and have the opportunity to ask some questions at this meeting.  If the creditor wants to continue questioning you, then the creditor may do so at a different time in a format that is similar to a deposition.

While a Chapter 7 bankruptcy typically only requires the meeting of creditors, a Chapter 13 has other required events.  First, there is a confirmation hearing in Court that occurs after the meeting of creditors.  In many cases, confirmation hearings occur more than once before they are completed so your case may require multiple confirmation hearings.  In addition, if your Chapter 13 bankruptcy includes a motion to cram down a car loan and/or to strip a second mortgage from your primary residence, then your case may also a require a hearing on these motions.  In most cases, your lawyer is the only person required to to attend the confirmation hearing and any additional hearings related to stripping the second mortgage on your home and cramming down the loan on your car.

The decision to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy as opposed to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is very important.   We highly recommend obtaining counsel with experience filing Chapter 7 bankruptcies and Chapter 13 bankruptcies so that you may obtain all of the information you need to make the right filing decision.  For a free bankruptcy consultation with our office, please call us at (772) 283-2626.

The procedures and deadlines for filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy are typically confusing for someone without proper legal training and experience.  A Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney can keep you advised as he or she files any papers or statements that your petition requires.

You should always follow your bankruptcy attorney's advice by among other things: not attempting to conceal your property, not destroying any financial records, and not making any last-minute charges on your credit cards.

Not following your attorney's instructions is likely to hurt your chances of successfully completing your bankruptcy and obtaining a discharge of your debts.

Before filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you must:

• meet with your lawyer and provide the necessary information for completion of the petition and schedules, including a list of your current personal property and its value, a list of creditors whom you owe and any payments you have made to them, information on employment or other income and other information that your bankruptcy lawyer will ask you to provide.
• complete a U.S. Trustee-approved credit counseling course and provide the completion certificate to your attorney to file with your petition.  Most of these courses are set up so that the completing certificate is emailed to your attorney, and your lawyer will typically provide you with information on the proper course.

After your lawyer has received everything that he or she needs from you, then he or she will file the petition and credit counseling certificate with the bankruptcy court. 

After filing a Chapter 7, the next step in the process is typically the Meeting of Creditors at which you are subject to being questioned under oath by the trustee assigned to your case.  Your creditors are also permitted to attend the meeting and to ask some questions, but creditors do not typically attend this meeting.  The Meeting of Creditors typically occurs approximately 45 days after the filing of your bankruptcy petition. 

If you have any questions about filing bankruptcy, please do not hesitate to call our office at (772) 283-2626 to coordinate a free consultation.

When a motorist is charged with driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or driving while intoxicated (DWI), the motorist is likely to face a multitude of possible penalties. In addition to jail time, fines, and suspensions, many states require motorists to participate in what is commonly called a driver alcohol education (DAE) program. For first-time offenders participation in the program may be either discretionary or mandatory depending upon the state. However, most states require participation for repeat offenders.

The DAE program is intended to enhance public safety by eliminating or reducing the recidivism of offenders. In addition, the programs generally attempt to diagnose and recommend treatment, dispense information about alcohol abuse, and increase the participants' awareness of the dangers of drinking alcohol and driving.

In addition to the education and treatment provided, participation in a DAE program can have numerous benefits for a first time offender. For some first time offenders, participation may allow the offender to avoid a guilty plea and reduce the license suspension period and fines. Most offenders find that attending a DAE program is much more preferable to serving a traditional sentence.

Not all states will automatically send an offender to DAE program. In many states, the trial judge has broad discretion in determining whether to sentence an offender to participation in a DAE program. If the judge chooses not to exercise his or her discretion and order participation, this action can generally not be appealed. However, in most states a conviction for DUI or DWI will result in the requirement that the offender attend a DAE program. Even if an offender is not ordered to take such a program, many states will require participation in such a program in order to regain a driver's license.

The penalties imposed by states for operating while intoxicated (OWI) and operating under the influence (OUI) follow the same pattern of penalties imposed by states enforcing laws for driving under the influence (DUI) and/or driving while intoxicated (DWI). In general, all states and the District of Columbia have "per se" laws defining it as a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above a proscribed level of 0.08. percent and above.

In most states, if a driver fails or refuses to take a chemical test, the driver's license will be administratively suspended. Administrative license suspension laws are independent of criminal procedures and are invoked after arrest and range from one week to one year, with most averaging 90 days. Driving privileges may be restored during suspension if the driver demonstrates special hardship to justify restoration of the privilege, and then the privilege is restricted to time and place, such as to or from work or school.

All states impose mandatory penalties for OUI/OWI convictions. License suspension or revocation usually follows conviction for alcohol-impaired driving. Some laws require driver license suspensions for drug convictions even if the offender was not driving at the time of the offense.

The penalties become progressively stiffer if the driver has been charged with multiple offenses over a fixed time period, usually five to 10 years. All offenses carry minimum and maximum jail time, fines, driver responsibility fees, and license suspension periods. In addition, the state may confiscated the license plate of the vehicle owned by the driver and either impound or immobilize the vehicle for a fixed time period. An ignition interlock device may be required for a several year period following completion of the sentence. This device is often made mandatory for a first offense as well as subsequent offenses.

Three or more convictions can lead to felony charges and enforcement of vehicle forfeiture laws. In that event, the offender must also attend mandatory drug / alcohol treatment programs paid for by offender. In general, states have created "first-time" offender programs which stress driver and alcohol education and community service in lieu of jail time. To increase the first-time offender's understanding of the consequence of his or her actions, many communities use victim impact panels where victims and/or witnesses describe the experiences they or loved ones have endured due to the actions of drunk drivers.

When an individual has been charged with drunk driving, the State will often present expert testimony concerning chemical tests. The State is required to provide a proper foundation for chemical tests. However, if the defense can show that the State's expert lacked the required qualifications or that another key component of a proper foundation for admissibility is missing, the defense can object to the admission of the chemical tests. Although courts may allow an expert to testify regarding the results of tests done by a lab technician under the expert's direct supervision, the evidence can be excluded if the defense can show that the expert witness had no knowledge about the details of the chemical analysis other than what the technician reported.

The expert witness laws vary by state, as do the need for expert witnesses. For example, a few states have determined that chemical testing is not based on scientific expertise and test results are nonscientific evidence that require no scientific substantiation or expert testimony. Other states have held that evidence of chemical testing is admissible so long as a proper foundation is laid. Most jurisdictions hold that chemical testing evidence is scientific evidence.

In addition, the defense may provide expert witnesses. For example, a forensic toxicologist will review the blood alcohol test and other tests to determine if they were properly administered and returned legitimate results. Where results do not make sense, the forensic toxicologist will challenge the procedures followed or assert that the equipment was faulty or that there was operator error.

Where an individual is charged in a drunk driving accident, an accident reconstruction expert can examine the scene of the accident to determine whether the individual was actually at fault. The expert will likely use police reports, witness statements and other evidence such as damage to the vehicles to assess the mechanics of the accident. The expert's testimony may affect the jury's determination of fault in the accident.

If you have been convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI), you have a criminal record. Contrary to popular belief, the conviction does not go off your criminal record after seven or ten years. The conviction stays on your record for life unless you do something. However, in many cases, a convicted drunk driver can have his or her record expunged.

Expungement of a criminal conviction is the clearing of all records on file within any court, correctional facility, law enforcement agency, or criminal justice agency that deals with a defendant's apprehension, arrest, trial, or disposition of an offense within the criminal justice system by removing, sealing, or destroying the record. However, expunging a record for a DUI offense is not considered a right. Expungement is a privilege that only occurs in specific circumstances if the petitioner files the correct paperwork.

Once your record has been expunged the law permits you to say that the conviction never happened. If you are asked on job applications if you have even been convicted of a criminal offense, you can answer "no." It is the ultimate form of relief for a person convicted of DUI or DWI. Expungement of a DUI or DWI conviction will often open up many more chances for employment that do not exist for individuals with DUI or DWI convictions.

However, not everyone will be entitled to expungement of his or her criminal record. The relief available will depend on the type of conviction, for example whether it was a misdemeanor or a felony; the age of the offender, whether a juvenile or an adult; and the type of sentence received, whether it was probation, a jail sentence, or a prison sentence. In addition, the requirements for expungement relief vary by state. For example, in some states a person cannot have his or her record expunged if he or she has more than one conviction for DUI or DWI. If you have a DUI or DWI conviction that you would like to get expunged, you should contact an experienced criminal law attorney. An experienced attorney can advise you on your state's specific expungement requirements.

It is common for a motorist suspected of drunk driving to come into contract with a physician. For example, if the motorist is injured in a traffic accident, first aid may be administered by a physician at the accident scene or the motorist may be taken to a hospital for treatment. In addition, law enforcement agencies often have policies in place that require them to take any motorists that are suspected of being intoxicated to a physician.

When a motorist is treated by a physician, the physician will observe the motorist's physical condition and usually discuss with the motorist his or her physical condition. In some situations, the physician will administer a test similar to a field sobriety test or take a urine or blood sample from the motorist. The physician will probably be able to offer a medical opinion as to whether the motorist was under the influence of alcohol and whether the motorist was able to safely drive a vehicle.

If the prosecution attempts to call the physician as a witness in a drunk driving case, a defense attorney will generally attempt to exclude the physician's testimony on the ground that admission of the testimony would violate the physician-patient privilege. The physician patient privilege is a rule of evidence that prohibits a physician from testifying about comments the patient makes to the physician while seeking medical advice. Not all states recognize a physician-patient privilege, but in states where the privilege is recognized, it can be an important weapon in the defense arsenal in a drunk driving case.

In order to invoke the physician-patient privilege, the defense must meet four requirements. First, a physician-patient relationship must have existed. Second, the information must have been acquired while the physician was attending to the patient in a professional capacity. Third, the information must have been necessary to enable the physician to act in a professional capacity. Finally, there must have been confidentiality.

In some states, a motorist may be allowed an examination by a physician of his or her choice. However, even when the motorist is examined by his or her own physician at his or her request, the physician may be called by the prosecution as a witness against the motorist unless the physician's testimony is barred by some evidentiary rule. The privilege generally does not apply where the physician is called as a defense witness.