Wednesday, June 8, 2011

On the Lighter Side: Florida Consumer Levies on Assets at Local Bank of America Branch

I've been told that the subjects we usually discuss here are boring to many readers. With that in mind, it's nice to be able to post something funny (ok, it's probably still boring).

I recently read a story on naked capitalism about a Florida consumer levying on the assets of Bank of America to satisfy an attorney's fee award. The bank instituted a foreclosure case that it shouldn't have (hard to believe, I know), because the house they were seeking to foreclosure had actually been purchased cash. The homeowner obtained an attorney's fee award based on the meritless lawsuit, but the bank didn't pay (again, shocking). As a result, the homeowner invoked its rights under Chapter 56, Florida Statutes, which we encourage our creditor clients to consider under certain circumstances, and sent the sheriff to a local bank branch to levy upon the property there. At that point, as I understand it, the bank manager cut a check for the attorney's fees.

The story is funny to me, because it represents a reversal of the roles typically played by consumers and institutions; but there is also a lesson to be learned from it: creditors and debtors alike need to be mindful of their rights and available remedies.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I found the underlying facts amusing, but the journalism appalling. In each of the stories I read on this matter the headline was "Homeowner Forecloses on Bank". You would think that with the intensity of the foreclosure crisis in FL over the past 4 years, that journalists would know the difference between foreclosure and levy. Sigh.

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