Jeffrey Lawson Baxter's Answers

What action should I take after receiving a five day serving time for eviction summons?

You can always contact the Clerk and request to file the Motion to Dismiss on your own. The court on its own motion will dismiss for a lack of prosecution.

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Do I have to inform the mortgage lender if I have the intention to walk away from my mortgage? Will I get fired from my job?

I am sorry to hear about your predicament. To answer your question, No. Eventually, the lender will start the foreclsore process (with or without you). I highly recommend that you reach out to your lender and try to work out/request a loan modification. If you can qualify for the modification, the foreclosure process will eventually start anyway. You may have defenses and a viable foreclosure defense. You will need to contact an attorney to invesitigage if you have a defense.

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If my lender is doing a loan mod through Fannie Mae, are they a lender or an agency at this point? They want $7000 up front.

Up Front, do you mean before the Closing. Dont do it.! Contact a real estate attorney immediately. If they are charging you $7k on top of the principal and making you pay over the term of the loan, that does seem excessive, but not unusual.

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How do i get an irrevocable trust back in my name?

how did you aunt get control? Who was the Trustee and/or Personal Representative? Contact the Trustee, if you dont have any success, contact your own lawyer.

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Father passed and left condo in trust for brother and myself. My brother died, is his wife entitled to half the condo.

Did the trust provide for another successor trustee? If not, there are couple of issues that spring from that answer. Did the truset leave the property to your brother as joint tenants in common (with right of survivorship) - meaning that if one pre-deceased the other, the remaining brother would get 100% or did he leave it as a tenant in common for the 50% share to be passed pursuant to his estate.

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How do I find out who bought the property at the auction?

You can always check the docket for the foreclosure case and contact the attorney for the lending/foreclosng party. It is quite unusal that they have filed a foreclosure case and did not serve you. However, check with Clerk and find out the docket and attorney information and inform them of your situation.

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FL real estate law regarding utility easements

If the utulity was unknown to the owner/developer of the subject property, I would review the survey and title insurance on the property. You would have negligence claim against the surveyor if the missed the policy and possible a title claim on your title insurance policy.

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Can an incorporated business in Florida sue an incorporated business in New York, in a small claims court?

I agree with my collegues here. In order to survive a Motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, you will need to allege certain facts of ties that the Defendant has to the jurisdiction. If the facts do not support such an facts, you will need to bring the action against the defendant in their home state. In order to collect on teh judgment, you will need access the NY court system anyway to start attaching the personal assets located in that jurisdiction.

What type of disclosure do I need to put in my lease if I plan to short sale my property?

First, an approved short sale will not be any different than a typical purchase/sale -- The new buyer will take subject to the terms and conditions of the lease. The scenario you need to be aware of is a situation where the lender will not approve the short sale, and they start foreclosure proceedings against you and your tenant. If you are worried about a disclosure in the lease -- I would not worry: (i) lender approves short sale and you are out; (ii) lender does not approve short...

Florida landlord deducts money from deposit prior to notifying tenant, preventing them from disputing damage claims.

Florida statutes very clearly define the procedures for notifying a tenant of any disposition of a security deposit. From the facts you have given above, this landlord has violated the notice provisions regarding a claim on a security deposit. You will have several options available and I recommend you seek the advice of an attorney to get your security deposit back. I would think a simple demand letter from a attorney would suffice. Best of Luck