On October 4, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that chapter 7 debtors who file a statement of intention to surrender real property in bankruptcy cannot later contest a foreclosure action, and bankruptcy courts have broad power and authority to sanction violations. Failla v. CitiBank, N.A., case no. 15-15626 (11th Cir. October 4, 2016). The bankruptcy court in Failla reopened a chapter 7 bankruptcy case several years after entry of discharge and ordered the debtors to cease their defense of the bank's foreclosure action, threatening to vacate the discharge order for ...
Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal sent the real property and mortgage world into a frenzy this week after issuing its opinion in Ober v. Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, dramatically weakening the protections of Florida's lis pendens statute. It held that a lien placed on a property after the foreclosure judgment which arises from an action occurring post-judgment, is not extinguished by Florida Statute §48.23. The term most commonly used in emails and articles drafted by attorneys to describe the impact of this decision on the lis pendens statute is "eviscerate". This type of ...
In Lankhorst v. Independent Sav. Plan Co., No. 14-11449, 2015 WL 3440288 (11th Cir., May 29, 2015), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the credit agreement the Plaintiff's entered into did not convey the requisite security interest in the Plaintiffs' primary residence in order to trigger the TILA protections on which the Plaintiffs relied. Therefore, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The Plaintiffs agreed to purchasing a water treatment system and having it installed in their home. However, the purchase and ...