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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 valid
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 or lien's dead in their tracks.
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 designated homestead.
The protection is not automatic as the statutes require
certain actions.
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.
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.
Many individuals consider the equity in the primary
residence (homestead) as one of the more sacrosanct assets when it
comes to asset protection. Both the Florida Constitution and
Florida
law provide that the equity in our "homestead" as the
primary residence of a
Florida
resident, is exempt from creditors' claims, and the
Florida Supreme Court has issued opinions in the past that were
extremely protective of the "Homestead Exemption."
Florida
homestead is not limited to one owner per home or
property. All of the persons who jointly own and also reside on a
'primary residence' have homestead protection available to them, and
no creditor of either of the co-owners or of the co-residents can
force the sale of a property to pay the debt. If a partial homeowner
became a judgment debtor, the interest that they have in the
residence and that of the other owner would be protected from any
forced sale.
The
Florida
Constitution prevents the Internal Revenue Service from
foreclosing on a federal tax lien against a homeowner, and forcing
them to sell the primary residence to pay the tax debt. When the
homestead is sold, or when the owner dies, the IRS will take the
sale proceeds to pay the tax lien. Other exceptions to homestead
protection are voluntary liens, such as mortgages, construction and
mechanics liens for work done on, or goods supplied to your
principle residence.
FHS can properly claim your real property as homestead
property, immune from virtually lien or judgment. FHS can provide
this valuable, unique and proprietary service at the closing table.
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.
Homestead
protection is
effective against civil judgments, including marital settlement
decrees, but it does not stop courts from taking other measures to
enforce awards of alimony or child support.
Florida
statutes state that wages, salary, commissions and other
compensation for personal services paid to the head of household
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
household' has been the subject of many
Florida
court rulings. As long as the dependent, even an adult,
depends on his provider for more than 50% of the dependent's
financial support, the provider can claim to be a head of household.
The provider does not need to be married and the dependent does not
need to reside in the same house as the parent. 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 garnished. Florida Homestead
Services can help you with your claim of wage exemption and help you declare certain
legal issues that must comply with the law. We can also perform this
service at closing or at any time in a worker's lifetime.
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 a homestead exemption for real property asset protection
purposes. The two are totally unrelated. The fact that you have one
type of homestead exemption, such as the ad valorem property tax
exemption, does not necessarily mean that you have the other type of
homestead exemption, such as the asset or real property protection
exemption, as each legal exemption has distinct, separate and
different legal requirements. Specifically, the homestead exemption
for real property tax purposes provides an owner of real property
with a twenty-five thousand dollar reduction from the assessed value
of the property, thereby reducing the amount of real property ad
valorem taxes between six and seven 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 homestead
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. As previously mentioned, it allows a
resident of Florida
to exclude from the
calculation of his ad valorem real property taxes twenty-five
thousand dollars of the assessed value of his principal residence.
Do not confuse the homestead property tax exemption with
'Homestead', and do not allow anyone to convince you it is
related. It is not. Florida
homestead law complicates
real estate titles and conveyances, the descent and distribution of
decedents' estates, and the collection of
money judgments. In addition, it is often
confused with, or considered to be associated with the homestead
exemption from real property taxes. Every
Florida
resident is entitled to have
his interest in the real property on which he resides, his properly
claimed 'homestead', exempt from forced sale for the collection
of money judgments, liens or for almost any other reason. After the owner's death, this exemption transfers to his surviving spouse
and heirs at law who inherit the homestead. The key to the
'Homestead' protection is that the exemption must be
properly claimed
prior to a judgment.
Florida Homestead Services can provide this valuable,
unique, exclusive and proprietary service at the closing table or at
any time for virtually any homeowner.
Florida Homestead Services...protecting your home from
unsecured creditors one homeowner at a time.
Free Homestead Information Request Form
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