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Foreclosure
of privately owned properties is a silent
national epidemic and it has become a brutal rape
of the American dream of home ownership. No homeowner should
be forced to lose his, or his family’s home along with a lifetime
of equity, over an unpaid bill or any other debt, usually amounting
to only a few dollars before lawyers or bill collectors inflate it
with their collection fees. Debts can be collected in many other
ways that do not violate the constitutional rights of America’s
homeowners. Foreclosure is like using a bulldozer to bury an ant
hill. An attorney ironically put it best when he said that
foreclosure was the nuclear weapon in a legal enforcement arsenal
and it is definitely overkill. Florida Homestead Services can stop
foreclosure of a home for debt dead in it's tracks, immediately.
"Protect
your family's home today. Call Florida Homestead Services...You'll
be glad you did."
A
man’s home is truly his castle according to the Florida
Constitution. It is a castle that is, and should be absolutely
impenetrable by any legal foe or by any creditor. The
"homestead exemption"
for asset protection of real property purposely provides the owner
of real property with a shield from virtually all creditors. Florida
courts
have liberally expanded the legal and statutory definitions of
homestead property, which includes more than just a single family
home. Such places of residence, like condominiums, manufactured
homes or a mobile home, are afforded the full homestead protections
given by the Florida Constitution as are almost any other type of
primary residence. Whatever kind of residence a person owns, their
investment and equity in their primary residence cannot be seized by
any creditor for any reason, but only if the residence is properly
claimed as their
homestead. Protection under the statute is not
automatic. Although a
castle to one person may be a shanty to another, the law does not so
discriminate. Regardless of whether one’s castle is a traditional
family home or a modest cottage, whether it is a rural farmhouse or
a villa by the sea, whether it a houseboat that floats or a vehicle
that sits on wheels, whether it is a condominium or a co-op; it
receives the same protections under Florida
law
but you
must assert your rights under the law.
Florida
Homestead Services can
properly protect your real property as homestead property, immune
from virtually most any lien or judgment. Florida
Homestead Services can
also provide this valuable, unique and proprietary service at the
closing table directly or through closing agents, or after a home is
purchased. Trust property may also be covered under the homestead
protection state law.
The
income or wages of the head of a family are exempt
from garnishment or any other process of ‘attachment’ unless the
person’s net wages are more than five-hundred dollars per week,
and that person has agreed in writing to allow the wages to be taken
to pay the debt. The statutory definition of a ‘head of family’
now includes all natural persons who reside in Florida
who
provide more than one-half of the support for a child or any other
dependent. Wages in a bank account that belong to a head of family
retain their protection from being seized by creditors or by
garnishment for six months even if the wages are mixed with money
from other sources. If a ‘head of family’ has not agreed in
writing to allow the garnishment or attachment of his or her wages,
all the wages are exempt from any court process of attachment,
income deduction or garnishment.
Florida
statutes
state that wages, salary, commissions and other compensation for
personal services paid to the head of a family cannot be garnished
by any creditor if properly claimed as exempt. The ‘salary
exemption’ is an important part of the Florida asset protection
laws. The definition of a ‘head of family’ has been the subject
of many Florida court
rulings. As long as any dependent, even an adult, depends on his
provider for more than 50% of financial support, the provider can
claim to be a head of family. The provider does not need to be
married and the dependent does not need to reside in the same home
as the support provider. In fact, one court ruled that a dependent
may even reside outside of the State of Florida. You must file a
sworn affidavit with the court to declare your ‘head of family’
status, to claim your exemption
and to protect your wages from being attached or garnished. Florida
Homestead Services can help you to find out more in regards to your
wage exemption in order for you to declare certain issues that must
comply with the law for income protection. Protect your income now!
Florida
homestead
exemptions
are available to real property owners in Florida
which
covers two separate types of homestead exemption, one homestead
exemption for real property ad valorem tax purposes and an often
mis-named homestead 'exemption' for real property asset protection
purposes. The two are totally unrelated in regards to the statutory
law. The fact that you have one type of homestead exemption, such as
the ad valorem property tax exemption, does not mean that you have
the other type of often mis-named 'homestead exemption', such as the
asset or real property protection exemption, as each legal statutory
exemption has distinct, separate and different legal requirements.
Specifically, the homestead exemption for real property tax purposes
merely provides an owner of real property with a twenty-five
thousand dollar reduction from the assessed taxable value of the
property, thereby reducing the amount of real property ad valorem
taxes usually between six to eight hundred dollars per tax year. In
Florida, since real property taxes are paid in arrears similar to
the interest on your mortgage note, the property tax exemption is
only available if the owner is the permanent resident of Florida as
of December 31 of the prior year, and the owner files an application
for the property tax exemption at the county property appraiser’s
office on or before March 1 of the current year.
The
homestead property tax exemption has a separate legal or statutory
basis than the homestead asset protection exemption, which allows
you to 'set apart' and 'claim' your homestead. Do not confuse the
homestead property tax exemption with the other, commonly and
incorrectly referred to as "Homestead Exemption", and do
not allow anyone to convince you it is related. It is not. In
addition, the protections afforded to your real property by the law
is often confused with, and considered to be associated incorrectly
with the homestead exemption from real property taxes. Under
Florida
law,
homestead exemption may not be used to shield property from: (1)
payment of taxes and assessments thereon; (2) obligations contracted
for the purchase, improvement or repair thereof; or (3) obligations
contracted for house, field or other labor performed on realty.
Florida
homestead law complicates
real estate titles and conveyances, the descent and distribution of
decedents’ estates, and the collection of money
judgments. Every Florida
resident is entitled to have
his or her interest in the real property on which he or she resides,
his or her properly
claimed ‘homestead’,
exempt from forced sale for the collection of money judgments, most
liens and debt, or for almost any other reason, but the homeowner
must make a legally sufficient and proper claim. After the owner’s
death, this protection transfers to his surviving spouse and heirs
at law who inherit the homestead. The key to the 'Homestead’ asset
protection is that the asset protection portion of the exemption
must be properly drafted, claimed as a matter of law and recorded in
the public record. It is not automatic but may be claimed at any
time. Florida
Homestead Services provides
this valuable, unique, exclusive and affordable service at the
closing table, or at any time, for virtually any Florida real
property homeowner.
We
are also a referral service for attorney's who specialize in asset
protection and estate planning. If you need help, contact us and we
will help you to find the best of the best.
Read
our Frequently
Asked Questions for
more information!
Free Homestead Information Request Form
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