Blogs & Resources

On September 25, 2013, Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal issued an opinion regarding a very familiar topic in Florida – a plaintiff’s standing to file and maintain a foreclosure action. In Focht vs. Wells Fargo Bank, the Second DCA upheld the long-established precedent that a plaintiff in a foreclosure action must prove that it had standing at the time it filed the foreclosure complaint in order to maintain the action. 2013 WL 5338048 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013). If plaintiff lacks standing at inception, the defendant can have the case dismissed via summary judgment proceedings. Id.

As credit begins to loosen, cash begins to flow and the building community starts to recover, we are in a unique position to advise both contractors and banks as to legal issues pertaining to loan origination due to our practice focuses in banking and construction. Contractors often ask us to reveal the secrets of how to be viewed as the best candidate for a loan or credit to further expand their business.

Thanks to the omnipresence of the internet, there is no shortage of blogs or articles on nearly any and every topic imaginable. This may seem wonderful, but the problem then becomes not merely locating an article or blog, rather finding a good great article or blog. This can be especially true for attorneys. This blog post focuses on the Top 11 Litigation Articles from 2013.

Featured in the September 2013 Issue Partner’s Perspective J&C Law Clerk to Join Firm as Associate New Law Blogs Curiosities, Ruminations and Various Eccentricities of Firm Biz Click to read.

Condominium and homeowner associations are common when living in Florida. All associations are creatures of the Florida Statutes. They are corporations with a governing body typically called a Board of Directors who are elected by the unit owners. Sitting on the association Board gives decision making authority over other members of the community. Sometimes these Board members abuse their power for their own self-benefit or interest.

This Blog is Part X in a series of Blogs designed to provide business owners with a high-level overview of the legal process for collecting on past-due accounts receivables. Specifically, Part X focuses on the utilization of proceedings supplementary as a tool for satisfying the outstanding judgment balance owed by a judgment debtor.

  The revitalization of Downtown Jacksonville has been at the top of the business, civic, and political agenda for the last fifty years, but with the recent creation of the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) Board, the effort to revitalize Jacksonville’s Downtown may finally be gaining momentum.  To appreciate why the […]

Several legislative changes to the Florida Statutes, occurring during 2013, have impacted the operation of Florida’s Condominium Associations and HOAs. This blog focuses on those changes applicable to the maintaining of official records. For Condo Associations, the laws governing official records are codified in Section 718.111(12)(c), Florida Statutes; for HOAs, those laws are found in Section 720.303, Florida Statutes.
The Florida Legislature passed House Bill 73 earlier this year, which amended the Florida Statutes and became effective July 1, 2013.

Florida is known as a “debtor-friendly” state, and one of the greatest protections afforded debtors under the Florida Constitution is the homestead exemption. Article X, Section 4, of the Florida Constitution states that creditors cannot force the sale of the debtor’s primary residence in order to satisfy a judgment or lien. This homeowner protection is also codified in the Florida Statutes in Chapter 222.

Florida’s homestead protection applies to the primary residence up to one-half acre within a municipality and up to 160 contiguous acres outside of a municipality. Fla. Const. Art. X, §4(a)(1). As long as those acreage requirements are met, it does not matter if the primary residence is worth 4 million dollars

This Blog is Part IX in a series of Blogs designed to provide business owners with a high-level overview of the legal process for collecting on past-due accounts receivables. Specifically, Part IX focuses on the ability of creditors to obtain a receiver over the debtor’s business and/or property as a method for satisfying the outstanding judgment balance.

Often times a creditor will find it difficult to collect on its judgment against the debtor, even when the creditor discovers that the debtor owns a business interest or owns other personal property