PBCBA BAR BULLETINS pbcba_bulletin_Oct. 2019 | Page 7

BANKRUPTCY CORNER
You Don’t Need a House to Claim the
Homestead Exemption
JASON S. RIGOLI
The Eleventh Circuit, in an unpublished improvements thereon, ... or if located
The Solo and Small Firm Committee
opinion affirming the bankruptcy court within a municipality, to the extent of one-
(Mark, J.) and District Court (Williams, J.), half acre of contiguous land upon which the
held that Florida’s homestead exemption exemption shall be limited to the residence
protects a debtor’s interest in real property of the owner or the owner’s family.
despite not complying with local zoning
or permitting ordinances or having a Gamboa , at *2 (quoting Fla. Const. art. X,
permanent structure built on the land in §4(a)). To qualify for Florida’s homestead
presented by Arif Boysan
which the debtor was living. Advanced exemption a debtor must “(1) show intent
Credit, Inc. et al. v. Gamboa (In re Gamboa) , to make the property his permanent
Certified Business Coach, Speaker and Trainer
No. 18-14367, -- Fed.Appx. --, 2019 WL3917180 residence;
live
on Firm
the property.”
The and
Solo (2)
and
Small
Committee
(11th Cir. August 19, 2019). Gamboa filed a Gamboa , at *3 ( citing Hillsborough Inv. Co. v.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy in September 2016 Wilcox , 152 Fla. Lunch
889, 13 So. &
2d Learn!
448, 452 (1943)
and two creditors objected to his claim of (“The character of property as a homestead
a homestead exemption in a 14-acre parcel depends upon an actual intention to reside
Is your legal practice giving you
6 Steps to a Larger, More Profitable Practice
of land in unincorporated Miami-Dade thereon as a permanent place of residence,
the financial, professional and
presented by Arif Boysan
County where he was residing in a trailer. coupled with
the fact of residence.”). There
Certified Business Coach, Speaker and Trainer
personal lifestyle you imagined?
Id. at *1-2.
is no language in Florida’s constitution
Is your legal practice giving you the financial, professional and personal
to narrow or modify
those
requirements,
lifestyle you imagined?
• Need to decrease your non-billable
The key undisputed facts can be including the need for a completed house
•
Need to decrease your non-billable time?
time?
summarized as follows:
or that too
the much
structure
being resided
in be
•
Spending
time on marketing
and sales, with
little to no results?
•
Spending too much time on marketing Cer
“legal.”
Id.
at
*3-4.
(citing
In
re
McClain,
•
Would you like to spend more of your time actually practicing law?
increase
average
hourly M.D.Fla.
billing rate 2002)
without losing key clients?
(1) when Gamboa filed his bankruptcy • Want
281 to
B.R.
769, your
773
(Bankr.
and sales, with little to no results?
petition, he was living in the trailer on If
a so,
(stating
a debtor actually
Is to your
legal practi
then that
Join “so Us long
on as
Wednesday,
October
16th you like
• Would
spend more of your
14-acre parcel of land located outside of a lived on real property being claimed as
Noon to 1:30 pm, Bar Office
time actually practicing law?
municipality; (2) the parcel was classified exempt, a non-exempt
tree-house
1507 Belvedere Road
West Palm Beach or
33406 tent
as agricultural for property tax purposes, would establish
the
requisite
degree
of
•
Want to increase your average hourly
EARLY REGISTRATION INCLUDES LUNCH, PLUS
2.0 GENERAL
CLER CREDIT
and Gamboa did not claim the homestead permanency”)). The
Gamboa
Court went
• losing Need
to decrea
billing rate without
key clients?
PBCBA members: $20.00, Non-Members: $30
exemption for property tax purposes; (3) on to distinguish
its
case
from Drucker v.
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online
@ PALMBEACHBAR.ORG
•
Spending too m
Gamboa was living in the trailer in violation Rosenstein , 19 Fla. 191 (Fla. 1882), because
presented b
presented
by
Arif
Boysan
of a Miami-Dade County ordinance; and (4) in Drucker , the debtor had not resided on
•
Would you like
at all relevant times, Gamboa intended
to
the
property
when
the
creditor
sought
to
Certified Business Coach, Speaker and Trainer Certified Business Co
•
Want to increa
reside permanently in the trailer.
force the sale of property in Florida that the
was beginning
to build
a house
Is on,
your
legal 12 practice
giving
you th
Is your legal practice debtor
giving
you the
financial,
professional
personal
pm - and
1:30 pm
Gamboa, at *5.
compared to Gamboa , where the Debtor was
lifestyle y
lifestyle
you
imagined?
Bar Office
residing
on the property
at the
same time
Article X, § 4(a) of Florida’s Constitution he was building a dwelling to comply with
Belvedere Road
exempts a debtor’s
from
forced local
ordinances.
Id. at *4.
Need 1507
to decrease
your non-billa
• homestead
Need to
decrease
your
non-billable
time? •
sale. Reading in pertinent part:
West
Palm
Beach
33406
too
time on mar
•
Spending too much
time on marketing and • sales, Spending
with little
to much
no results?
Conclusion
EARLY
REGISTRATION
(a) There shall
Would
you like law?
to spend more o
• be exempt
Would from
you forced
like to spend more of your time • actually
practicing
sale under process of any court, and no The plain language of Florida’s constitutional
INCLUDES LUNCH, PLUS 2.0
• rate Want
to increase
your
average h
• or execution
Want to shall
increase
your average
billing
without
losing key
clients?
judgment, decree
be a homestead
exemption hourly
protects from
forced
GENERAL CLER CREDIT
lien thereon, except for the payment of sale real property on which the debtor
taxes and assessments thereon, obligations resides and intends to make his permanent
PBCBA Members: $20.00
contracted for the purchase, improvement residence.
Non-Members: $30.00
or repair thereof, or obligations contracted
RSVP
online at PalmBeachBar.org Noon to 1
for house, field or other labor performed on This article Noon
is submitted
by Bar
Jason
S.
to 1:30 pm,
Office
the realty, the following property owned by Rigoli,
Esq.,
Furr
Cohen,
2255
Glades
Road,
1507 Belvedere Ro
1507 Belvedere Road West Palm Beach 33406
a natural person:
Suite 301E, Boca Raton, FL 33431, jrigoli@
Lunch & Learn!
6 Steps to a Larger,
More Profitable Practice
The
6 Steps to
The Solo and Sm
The Solo and Small Firm Committee
Lunch & Learn!
Lunch
6 Steps Practice
to a Larger, M
6 Steps to a Larger, More Profitable
If so, then Join Us on
Wednesday, October 16th
If so, then Jo
If so, October
then Join 16th
Us on W
If so, then Join Us on Wednesday,
(1) a homestead, if located outside a
municipality, to the extent of one hundred
sixty acres of contiguous land and
furrcohen.com
EARLY REGISTRATION INCLUDES LUNCH, PLUS
2.0 GENERAL CLER CREDIT
PBCBA members: $20.00, Non-Members: $30
RSVP online @ PALMBEACHBAR.ORG
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN
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