In this week’s episode of the Crushing Debt Podcast, I cover three different topics:

1. Beneficial amendments to Florida’s Documentary Stamp Tax statutes, eliminating this particular tax for transfers of property between spouses.

2. Partition lawsuits and why it is never a good idea to gift real estate to your significant other, and expect to be repaid when for household expenses when the relationship ends.

3. The difference between in personam jurisdiction (personal) and in rem jurisdiction (property), and how that relates to the bank’s ability to get a deficiency judgment in a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit.

Please remember to visit our new sponsor - Attorneys First Insurance at www.AttorneysFirst.com.

I want to do another listener-question show.  Please send me any legal questions you want me to answer in an upcoming episode(s). If I don’t know the answer, I can find an attorney in my network who will.  Shawn@YesnerLaw.com or www.YesnerLaw.com. 

Student Loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy, right? Maybe they are!

This week’s Crushing Debt Podcast Episode is about the case Rosenberg v. NY State Higher Education Services Corp. For those of you who want the case cite, it is pending in the Bankruptcy Court in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York.  Case No. 18-35379, Adversary Proceeding 18-09023.

The majority of states (including Florida) use a standard for dischargeability of student loans spelled out in the Brunner case, (Brunner v. N.Y. State Higher Educ. Servs. Corp.) which interpreted Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code.  To discharge a student loan, the borrower must prove that paying that loan creates an “undue hardship.”  The Brunner case interpreted “undue hardship” to require that the borrower prove:

1. That the debtor cannot maintain, based on current income and expenses, a “minimal” standard of living for herself and her dependents if forced to repay the loans;
2. That additional circumstances exist indicating that this state of affairs is likely to persist for a significant portion of the repayment period of the student loans; and
3. That the debtor has made good faith efforts to repay the loans.

What makes the Rosenberg case so interesting, and good for student loan borrowers, is that the Court refuses to consider the cases that restricted the Brunner decision, making student loans difficult to discharge, and rules that the Debtor’s student loans are dischargeable in bankruptcy court!

The debtor, Mr. Rosenberg, borrowed student loans during his undergraduate time at the University of Arizona between 1993 and 1996, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. After serving five years in the Navy, he attended Cardozo Law School at Yeshiva University, and borrowed again between 2001 and 2004. After graduating from law school, Mr. Rosenberg consolidated his student loan debt in the principal amount of $116,464.75. By the time he filed bankruptcy, in 2018, Mr. Rosenberg owed over $220,000!

The decision is on appeal and, regardless of how it is decided, the case would not be binding authority other than in the State of New York, but this case certainly has grabbed the attention of Judges and lawyers all over the Country.

Stay tuned to the show to hear future developments in student loan dischargeability.

Please also visit our NEW sponsor, Attorneys First Insurance, if you are an attorney or title company looking for Errors & Omissions Insurance (called E&O Insurance or Malpractice Insurance).  You can contact them at www.attorneysfirst.com.

If you have any questions or comments for me, you can reach me at Shawn@YesnerLaw.com or www.YesnerLaw.com. If you enjoy the content, or know someone struggling with student loan debt, please share this episode! 

Almost every year, I attend the Judge Alexander Paskay Memorial Bankruptcy Seminar sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).  By attending at least every other year, I earn all of the Continuing Legal Education I need for each 3-year reporting cycle.

At this year’s seminar, I was able to grab some quick interviews with four attorneys:

• Traci Stevenson - Chapter 7 Trustee, and Bankruptcy Mortgage Modification Mediator
• Michael Barnett - Bankruptcy Debtor Attorney (www.TampaBankruptcy.com)
• Jessica - a Creditor’s (bank’s) Attorney
• Carmen Dellutri - Bankruptcy and Consumer Attorney, and a guest on Episode 101 of The Crushing Debt Podcast (www.DellutriLawGroup.com)

If you enjoy the show, it would mean a lot to me if you could share it on social media or subscribe (which is free) so you automatically get each week’s new episode as it is released - every Thursday morning at 6 AM (Eastern).  You can contact me at Shawn@YesnerLaw.com or www.YesnerLaw.com.

On this week's episode of the Crushing Debt Podcast, I interview structural engineer, Australian, Real Estate Investor, Author and Podcast host Reed Goossens.

You'll hear Reed's story of how he left Australia to move to the United States and ended up building a portfolio of over $200 million in multi-family real estate holdings.

You will hear about Reed's influences, including Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki, the power of scaling (i.e. syndication), and his advice on how to get started in real estate investing (hint - attend meetings, get a good coach & mentor, have the right mindset - patience).

You can find Reed on his website www.reedgoossens.com and contact him at Reed@wildhorncap.com. Also on his website, you can pick up his books, Investing in the US- the Ultimate Guide to US Real Estate, and 10,000 Miles to the American Dream - Our Story of Financial Freedom.

If you have questions for me, please email me at Shawn@YesnerLaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com. If you enjoy the content, it would help me if you would share these episodes on social media, or recommend the podcast to any other podcast listeners you know.