Today’s tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and countless others in Tucson is an unspeakable tragedy that affects us all.  The fact that fatalities occurred make it even more tragic.  Our society and our democracy suffers when such horrific, violent acts take place.  At this hour, we do not know the motivation or intention of the suspect now held in custody.  What we do know is people are suffering.  Our country has lost a 9 year old child, a federal judge and perhaps others whose lives were precious to those who knew and loved them.  Our prayers and thoughts are with the good people of Tucson.  May we never suffer such a senselesss tragedy again!

A new telephone scam is targeting seniors over supposed Medicare HMO refunds.  The scam works like this:  a senior receives a telephone call stating that the senior may be eligible for an HMO refund.  However, in order to receive the refund the senior must give the con artist certain personal and financial information.  If the senior falls for the scam, the caller then uses the financial information to rack up unauthorized bills in the senior's name.  In one case, a savvy senior arranged for the caller to come to her home to retrieve the financial information.  Prior to arrival, the senior called her insurance company, Humana, who summoned the police.  The caller was arrested on the spot.  Kudos to this courageous and wise senior!

Unfortunately, seniors are confronted with similar scams.  As part of our holistic life care planning at DeLoach and Hofstra, we strive to protect seniors from such unscrupulous and criminal people.  If you're a senior citizen and have received a phone call or solicitation requesting personal data or your financial information, check with us first before complying with any such request.  We'll protect your rights and ensure you don't fall victim to a crime.

The headline sounds like welcome news for the Florida real estate market.  A 42% decline in foreclosures has to be a good thing, right?  Not so fast. Unfortunately the drop in foreclosures reflects banks' reluctance to go ahead with planned foreclosures due to the chaos surrounding the foreclosure process.  It's not a result of an improving economy.  Most economists believe the foreclosure rate in Florida will ratchet upwards in the coming months because the housing market drives the Florida economy and won't improve until real jobs are created. Florida leads the country in forclosure filings and this won't change any time soon. 
 

It used to be that each time your mortgage changed hands the transaction was recorded with your local Clerk of Court.  With the securitization of mortgages and the fact that mortgages often change hands, the lending institutions found a way around paying the fee and recording the transaction with the Clerk of Court.  US bankers created the Mortgage Electronic Registration System that would supposedly electronically track each and every mortgage transaction.  However, unlike mandatory registration with the Clerk of Court, registration with the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) carries no penalties for failure to register a mortgage transaction.  In creating a loophole that avoids paying filing fees to the Clerk of Court, bankers have created a mortgage registration system that is accountable to no one and has created tremendous chaos during this present period of high foreclosures.  Here's what the St. Pete Times had to say about MERS:
 

"MERS says it's as an "innovative process that simplifies the way mortgage ownership and servicing rights are originated, sold and tracked." Problem?  First, I have a problem because they never got permission from a democratically elected legislature to do it. Second, it doesn't simplify anything, but has made it much more complicated. The new system also makes it much more difficult for homeowners to negotiate with somebody with authority to modify their mortgage loan.1It's also inherently deceptive. Since MERS is a relatively small company, with not enough employees to engage the millions of mortgage loans it pretends to own, it has to pretend to have employees who don't work for it. Employees at service companies and law firms can go on MERS' Web page, fill in a blank form, press submit, then MERS kicks back a corporate resolution that purports to make these employees assistant secretaries or vice presidents of MERS to do business with the courts. It is a simple falsehood. The notion that we have invested 60 percent of the country's mortgages in a system with such basic untruthfulness seems a terrible mistake. It's a foundation of sand."

The latest economic numbers show a general economic improvement for much of the country except Florida.  Florida's bankruptcy filings remain high as the economy continues to stagnate.  Bankruptcy filings in Florida have flooded the already overcrowded court system and have caused tremendous financial hardship on Floridians who are forced to deal with the harsh economic realities of a bankruptcy decision. 

So far this year more than 21, 800 bankruptcy petitions have been filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Orlando.  The number has already surpassed the record number of last year.

As part of our care centric elder law work, we often obtain non-service related Veteran's benefits for our senior clients.  There are some general qualifications for non-service connected aid and attendance.  A veteran, a widowed spouse, and dependent or disabled children may qualify.  Here are some of the general qualifications:

1)Veteran must have served at least 90 days active duty with one day of the ninety during a qualified war period (90 days must generally be consecutive, with certain exceptions)

2)Veteran must have had an other than "Dishonorable Discharge"

3)Claimant's physician must declare him/her in need of assistance from another individual, which may inlcude services offered by assisted living

4)Claimant should have limited household assets; excluding primary home, car, and personal belongings.  If assets are jointly owned by other than spouse, only the claimant's share is generally countable.  In the case of a married veteran, both his/her assets are countable.  There is no longer a current asset cap per se.  The VA now considers the claimant's life expectancy in determining how much a claimant can have.  In the case of assets over $50,000, it may be best to consult an elder law attorney.  One should never transfer assets without the proper legal/professional advice.

Often, families are unaware of their potential Veteran's Benefits, which may be available to them even if the elder does not have a service related injury.  Our elder law team of professionals can help coordinate planning to fully utilize these possible benefits.  This is part of our coordinated plan in resolving Elder law issues for our senior clients and their families.  It's a holistic approach that includes estate planning, financial planning, healthcare planning, and Medicaid issues.  Our goal in each case is to provide our senior client with a quality of life and dignity as well as the peace of mind and security that comes with having a good life plan. 

Central Florida bankruptcy filings jumped 15.4% in the last year according to a report in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

There were 66,881 bankruptcy petitions filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida in fiscal year 2010 (which ended in September). Most of these bankruptcy filings were non-business filings.

Nationally, there were 1.6 million bankruptcy filings in fiscal year 2010. This is nearly a 14% increase since 2009.

In spite of the The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act signed into law in 2005 (which was designed to discourage bankruptcy filings), the difficult economic climate is being blamed for the bankruptcy increase