Chip Waller – What Areas of Law Do You Practice?
Video Summary
What areas of law do I practice? I try and help individuals in small businesses as well as representing as many banks as I can in West Pasco, where I have my office. There are a few large corporate clients that are available, so I try to represent people in their various problems. I don’t cover all areas of practice, so if you have a problem I cannot address, I’ll try and direct you to an attorney who would handle it properly.
I am a Board Certified Real Estate Attorney, and I certainly can handle most of your real estate needs, if not all of those — and that’s something I truly enjoy doing. I have also been involved in Estate Planning for my entire legal career and try to stay current with that, as well as Estate Administration and Trust Administration. We do Commercial Litigation. Right now we are doing quite a bit of Foreclosure Defense, as well as representing investors and one or two banks as far as handling foreclosures are concerned.
One of the areas that I don’t practice in is bankruptcy. I refer many of my cases to the local bankruptcy attorneys. I also refer criminal law to different attorneys. The law has become so specialized that there are any number of questions that come up and so I refer whoever contacts me to someone who I am confident will be able to do a good job for them. So, if you have a question, give me a call and I would be glad to talk to you about it and see if it’s something I can handle for you, if not, I’ll head you in the right direction. (727) 847-2288.
Chip Waller – Why Do You Like Being a Lawyer?
Video Summary
Why do I like being a lawyer? Well, I love to put a deal together – especially when I deal with the buyer and the seller of a business or a real estate transaction. We try and put the deal together if we have a willing buyer and a willing seller. We’ll figure out ways to make it work and then negotiate the transaction. I truly love doing transactional work where we put deals together when it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
I also like solving problems. And many times people come in with problems with the intention of heading off to court. But I often tell folks that a bad settlement is better than a good lawsuit. Whenever you deal with attorneys, the cost of dealing with the legal system is very expensive, so I like to try to think of non-legal ways of solving problems. Now, that doesn’t always work and therefore I defend a lot of people who have been sued when we don’t have the opportunity to come up with a non-legal method of solving the problem. It always takes two people to come up with a solution.
I guess, the best way of saying why I like being a lawyer is: I like helping folks and that comes as far as putting transactions together as well as helping them solve problems. So if you like for me to try and help you or solve some of your problems or put a deal together, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
What is a Deficiency Judgment?
Video Summary
What is a deficiency judgment? A deficiency judgment is the amount of the money judgment that a lender can obtain whenever they foreclose on the property and after the foreclosure sale.
The amount of the deficiency judgment is the difference between the amount that is owed to the lender at the time of the final judgment, less the market value of the property on the date of the foreclosure sale. Many people are very concerned about deficiency judgments, but my experience has been that most lenders at this point are not pursuing deficiency judgments after they foreclose on the property.
Many people are very concerned about whether or not a lender can take any of their bank accounts or has a judgment against them when they file a foreclosure action. Not only does the lender not have a right to any of your money, they don’t have a judgment against you for a money judgment that can be collected against any of your assets, even after the mortgage foreclosure or the foreclosure sale.
In order to establish this judgment, the lender has to go through a supplemental proceeding (or a deficiency judgment proceeding) in order to establish the amount of the deficiency judgment. This is somewhat technical and therefore many of the lenders (from my discussions with this legal community in West Pasco) have not pursued these deficiency judgments.
So, until such time as the lender establishes deficiency judgment, you do not owe the lender any money, or it has not been reduced to a judgment amount to determine the amount of it. Also, if you go through a foreclosure, you won’t get a 1099 because the amount has not been established.
If you have any other questions about deficiency judgments, give me a call at (727) 847-2288. Thank you.
- Published in Real Estate - Foreclosure, Videos
What is a Ladybird Deed?
Video Summary
What is a ‘Ladybird deed?’ A ‘Ladybird deed’ is a conveyance by an owner of real property, wherein they convey the property usually to a relative or a friend and they reserve to themselves a life estate. In addition to a life estate, they also reserve additional powers and rights to the property, such as the ability to sell or transfer the property during their lifetime and to retain all the proceeds.
The reason why most people execute these deeds is to avoid probate. With this deed, if they have their accounts as ‘payable on death’, there’s no probate involved. If they have a brokerage account as ‘transfer on death’, where they have their real estate and don’t want to lose the benefits of their homestead exemption if in joint names (because of certain ramifications). They also aren’t disqualified for Medicaid with a Ladybird deed; your homestead is not counted if you happen to have Medicaid.
The deed was developed by an elder law lawyer who set it up for the very purpose to avoid probate (which we use quite often), and also not disqualify the parties from obtaining Medicaid (as it being a conveyance of a gift). You can use it on any real property that you like.
Some people say, “How did it get the name ‘Ladybird?’” Well, the author (or the person who came up with this and published it in his elder law manual) named various deeds after famous persons. And this deed’s named after Ladybird Johnson, and so therefore, the name ‘Ladybird’.
So it’s a Ladybird deed which is your ability to transfer the property after you pass away to a loved one (or whoever you’d like, for that matter) but retain all the rights of ownership during your lifetime as to not have it disqualify you from Medicaid; and/or to retain all of your rights, as far as homestead exemption is concerned. So it’s a nice estate-planning tool if you have a simple estate.
If you’d like to have a Ladybird deed prepared or discuss it, give me a call at (727) 847-2288. Thank you.
- Published in Real Estate, Videos