Lanigan & Lanigan, P.L.
831 W. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, Florida 32789
407-740-7379
Contact Us
The Law
Florida is the retirement capital of the U.S., and as such has a massive number of financial gurus, real estate experts, investment specialists who flock to the state because of the high number of senior citizens with valuable investment funds. Florida is a common place for retirement. Living in sunshine is a dream for those who have worked hard all their lives and who have saved, put together their 401(k), IRAs, annuities, savings, pensions and social security funds for their retirement years. Knowing that there is a predisposition in the state for a higher than average number of both retirement assets and a large group of people with those assets, there is also a large group of people determined to take those funds from seniors and others who come to Florida to retire. While senior citizens, retirees, the elderly are targets and marks in many scams, anyone who has saved, who dreams of retiring early, striking it rich, or who believes in get rich quick scams can be lured into investing in the wrong kind of investments. What is an Investment Scam? Investments are an agreement between two parties but when one party defaults by using fraudulent tactics to keep your money the agreement is broken. The investment becomes an investment scam. If you have been ripped off on an investment of any kind your first step should be to consult with an experienced Florida securities and investment attorney to find out if you have a chance to win or recover your investment. If you have been ripped off, you are not alone. In the U.S., the Securities and...
The Law
The asset protection laws in the State of Florida are some of the nation’s most liberal and debtor-friendly. Coupled with the lack of state taxes and employer-friendly laws, whether a business will be home-based or is aiming to become a Fortune 500, businesses are attracted by the thousands to launching in Florida. Eric Lanigan and Roddy Lanigan work with businesses of all sizes to protect them from the destruction of creditors. The prime time for this to occur is before the business is incepted. However, anytime is a good time to protect assets. Consult with an attorney to plan your business structure to properly protect your assets. What is often left out of the business plan is the asset protection, the legal assurance that the business owner’s assets are safe from creditors. It’s interesting because the entire idea behind asset protection is planning ahead to protect personal assets and business assets in advance of any legal problems. Asset protection is the legal planning for separation of business and personal assets from creditors in a lawsuit. Every business plan should account for asset protection at the front just as it plans for insurance, investments, taxes, advertising, sales, employees, etc. Business owners do not want to incur legal fees to create and maintain a legal entity. However, in addition to other advantages, conducting business through a legal entity may offer substantial risk management benefits. The legal advantage of operating a small business through a business entity instead of an individual sole proprietorship is that the business entity can shield the individual owner against personal liability from business creditors and protect the...
Real Estate
Florida Real Estate Contract Issues Should Be No Surprise Florida real estate contract law is clear in terms of what the buyer’s and seller’s obligations are. But whether buying or selling property, protect yourself by hiring a Winter Park, Florida, attorney with experience in real estate to review every contract. Winter Park, Florida, real estate attorney Eric Lanigan has practiced Florida law since 1976; Orlando, Florida, real estate attorney Roddy Lanigan since 2007. What happens frequently to investors trying to take advantage of foreclosed properties or short sales is that real estate deals are done without consulting an attorney. Reliance on a realtor who is capable, yet not an attorney, is a mistake for buyers and sellers. Standard, template or form contracts are used. Contingencies, addenda and key elements are not included which can ensure that expensive mistakes will be made. Forgoing process, legal, inspection, title and other elements of a short sale or a property in the initial stages of foreclosure are skipped. Then, there are issues not covered to protect both buyer and seller for properties that have been sitting empty, sometimes for years, with no maintenance, improper and illegal repairs, non-licensed rebuilds, add-ons, roofs and buildings. Then, a buyer agrees to the use of a contract created by the seller’s attorney and foregoes hiring an attorney to review the contract. There’s no assurance that everything is in order. The rush-through contract is used and the buyer agrees because the seller just wants out from under a mortgage they couldn’t afford. There couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with this, right? Wrong. If you buy a property, there...
Bankruptcy, Podcasts
Click to Listen. Right Click Audio as it’s playing to download to your device. Winter Park Attorney Never Recommends DIY Law Winter Park lawyer Eric Lanigan said do not attempt do-it-yourself bankruptcy because Chapter 7, 11, or 13 bankruptcy requires extensive knowledge. Handling any of the paperwork, filings or planning is absolutely not recommended. Bankruptcy courts and judges have zero tolerance for inexperience and ill-prepared cases. “Bankruptcy is handled in a Federal courtroom,” Eric Lanigan said. “The judge has no leniency nor will there be any time spent waiting, explaining or telling a lay person the legal intricacies involved in bankruptcy. When you walk in there without an attorney you are wasting the court’s time because you don’t know the law.” If you decide to file bankruptcy you’ve weighed the options about your financial future before deciding to file. The next step is to find a skilled bankruptcy lawyer you trust, who is experienced and who knows the ins and outs of bankruptcy law. “There is no way that you can possibly prepare or provide information to a Federal bankruptcy court judge,” Lanigan said. “You could lose everything without the complete direction and legal support of a very qualified Florida bankruptcy attorney. No lawyer will ever tell you that this is a procedure that you can handle on your own.” Eric Lanigan recommends that you hire an attorney who regularly practices bankruptcy. The attorney should have filed many, many bankruptcies and you need to ask about his or her experience. “Just because they’re an attorney, doesn’t mean that they know bankruptcy law or that their knowledge in another area of law extends into bankruptcy,” Lanigan...
Podcasts, The Law
Click to Listen. Right Click Audio as it’s playing to download to your device. Roddy Lanigan of Lanigan and Lanigan in Winter Park, Florida talks about the adversarial process in probate. Probate is the process by which a deceased person’s property, known as the estate, is passed to his or her heirs and people named in the will. Visit the Lanigan&Lanigan YouTube channel to view a video about “Florida’s Adversarial Probate Process.” Challenging a Will The death of a loved one’s a trying time and often it’s made even more trying time when it becomes as an interested party of an estate to defend or dispute the validity of a will. Wills are contested in the probate in what we call the adversarial process. The adversarial process is essentially a lawsuit in the probate proceeding. Adversary actions are generally brought when an interested family member or contestant challenges the validity of a will based on undue influence exerted over the person making the will. Lack of testamentary capacity or the soundness of mind of the person making the will, or fraud. An adversarial action can also be brought by a creditor against the estate for inappropriate actions of the personal representative like hiding assets or misappropriating them. If you need to contest a will or defend against a creditor of the estate, then you will need a knowledgeable lawyer who practices in the field of probate litigation. Probate litigation is a complex field which requires a thorough understanding of the Florida probate code and the ability to litigate. If you have a question, feel free to call me anytime at...
The Law
Eric Lanigan is an attorney in Winter Park Florida, with Lanigan and Lanigan. He’s been practicing law for 36 years does a great deal of real estate litigation which involves foreclosure litigation which is something in the news a great deal these days. “Avery disturbing course of events occurred over the last few days,” said Eric Lanigan who is litigating foreclosure cases. “I had three different people come to me all who had been represented by the same attorney and they all sort of told me the same story independently of each other didn’t even know each other. In terms of nothing was getting done,they didn’t know what was going on and now they were told they had to move into a whole new plan. “I went and pulled up the docket for each of those cases and found out that out of the three cases the attorney had only filed one pleading one document in one out of the three cases. Now of course they had all “run their course” and it was time to move onto “Plan B” because of course nothing had been done. “So I wanted to give a minute about how do you follow up to see what’s going on in your case how do you follow up or even so much as how do you first determine who to hire in this situation? “First of all I’ll give you the basics on who to hire: You want to look them up on the Internet. You want to check with The Florida Bar. You can go to the Florida Bar web page. You can...
Bankruptcy
There are generally sighs of relief when bankruptcy relief is filed. Debtors receive formal relief when the bankruptcy is filed and then granted by the federal bankruptcy court. Families and individuals are no longer underwater in their home, credit card, medical and other debt and bills. Bill collectors stop calling and the stress of feeling that you’ll take the rest of your life paying off your bills is over. But there are usually many questions about what should be spent and what can be perceived as bankruptcy fraud after the bankruptcy is filed. 4 Kinds of Bankruptcy Fraud There are generally four ways that bankruptcy fraud can be committed. Bankruptcy fraud is often coupled with other financial crimes such as using false aliases, stolen identities, stolen credit card or social security numbers, filing bankruptcy in several states. Bankruptcy fraud is a simple white collar crime to commit. But intentionally defrauding the Federal Bankruptcy Court holds severe penalties with many years in prison. Pleading ignorance will not alleviate the penalties because when you file bankruptcy the papers you are provided and which you’re required to sign state the many ways that bankruptcy fraud occurs no matter what state you file in or what chapter of bankruptcy you decide to file. 1. The number one form of bankruptcy fraud is intentionally hiding or concealing assets. Giving family, friends or relatives property or assets in order to hide them is considered bankruptcy fraud and if you are caught, you can receive jail time. You may not leave out or omit assets. You may not give things away or loan them to escape...
Podcasts, The Law
Click to Listen. Right Click Audio as it’s playing to download to your device. Roddy Lanigan with Lanigan and Lanigan in Winter Park, Florida, talks for a minute about defense of deportation and immigration court in Miami and Orlando Florida courts. If you find yourself as a defendant in immigration court facing removal proceedings in Florida, contact Roddy Lanigan. Finding yourself in need of any emergency legal service is a frightening prospect. What’s worse is to have to tackle a defense of deportation case in Florida without having a good, experienced immigration attorney. Watch the video “Defense of Deportation,” on the Lanigan&Lanigan YouTube channel. What is Defense of Deportation Defense of deportation exclusion is a method of exclusion used to keep people from legally entering the U.S. A person at any air or sea or land border can be excluded from the U.S. in a process called expedited removal. Expedited removal means a person can be physically removed from the U.S. without a hearing before an immigration judge. No matter where you are in the world, it can be a scary situation. But for U.S. purposes, deportation is simply the removal of a non-U.S. citizen from the country of a non-citizen who is in the U.S. and has not followed U.S. immigration laws. Breaking the law is one way that you can be immediately ejected. But what if you didn’t break a law and were wrongfully accused? What attorney will you reach out to? You need an experienced immigration attorney who knows what it takes to prevent the deportation. Defenses From Deportation Waivers – aka, forgiveness: is an...
Bankruptcy
Hi I’m Roddy Lanigan with Lanigan and Lanigan in Winter Park, Florida. He talks briefly in a new video on the Lanigan YouTube channel about the number one myth in bankruptcy law. The number one myth in bankruptcy law is that you can’t rebuild your credit for eight years. While the bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for eight years you begin rebuilding your credit report right away. “I’ve experienced clients that have rebuilt their credit within 24 months acquiring scores of over 700,” Roddy said. “You can rebuild your credit, don’t listen to the detractors bankruptcy might be the best option for you.” When you file bankruptcy it’s imperative that you begin rebuilding your credit. You can do so by paying all bills on time. Taking out a personal loan and keeping it open as a line of credit without using it for a period of at least two years. It’s important to take out a secured auto loan that you pay back on time every month. You can also get a secured credit card and not only use it for regular purchases, but pay it off in full every month. Don’t leave a large balance on it for any reason. Pay cash when possible and when you’re not able, pay on a credit card and pay it off in full. Consultations with Roddy Lanigan can be made by calling 407-740-7379 before coming into the offices located at 831 W. Morse Blvd., (Winter Park, Florida). Free parking is available behind the...
Podcasts, The Law
Click to Listen. Right Click Audio as it’s playing to download to your device. One of the first things that Roddy Lanigan will discuss with new businesses hiring and employing vast numbers of employees who have come from around the world is employment-based and investor-based visas. This is becoming more and more common with the technological capabilities and exceedingly competitive markets that U.S. businesses have had to compete within. Roddy is a business and civil litigator and has been a partner of Lanigan and Lanigan in Winter Park, Florida since 2007. Roddy practices and works with companies and businesses dealing with employment-based and investor-based visas issues. Roddy has wide array of experience in corporate structuring and immigration. Feel free to contact him to setup an appointment at his 831 W. Morse Blvd., Winter Park office. Roddy practices primarily in the areas of corporate law, litigation, bankruptcy, foreclosure, mortgage workouts, asset protection, corporate reorganization, white collar criminal and immigration. “I have a wide array of experience in corporate structuring and immigration. I practice primarily in the areas of corporate law, litigation, bankruptcy, asset protection, corporate reorganization, white collar criminal and immigration. Feel free to contact me to setup an appointment at my office.” Call the Winter Park, Florida, office at...
