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Staff Spotlight on Mandy Sorenson

Mandy was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. She is a legal assistant in our office who handles the Florida replevins, Georgia Writs of Possession, and pre-judgment Georgia cases for our clients.

In her time away from the office, Mandy’s favorite thing to do is read. She is always getting new books from the library and loves a good suspenseful mystery or historical fiction book. Mandy also enjoys spending time with her pup, Chewie (a miniature schnauzer), especially taking him on walks. She is looking forward to the weather cooling down so they can venture out more. A newer hobby that Mandy has recently dived into is perfecting homemade pasta! She and her dad, Jim Sorenson, love spending time with each other in the kitchen working on mastering this together. Sure sounds delicious right?!

Mandy is also excited about her upcoming trip to Disney World for her nephew’s first birthday. The Sorenson family cannot wait to celebrate Tripp. This will be Tripp’s second visit to Disney!

Thank you for being such a valuable employee here at Sorenson Van Leuven, Mandy! We look forward to many more years with you as a part of our team.

Attorney Spotlight on Zaydee Portomene

Zaydee is one of our associate attorneys at Sorenson Van Leuven. She was born and raised in Havana, Cuba, where her mother was an attorney. Zaydee spent most of her childhood at her mom’s law office – this is where Zaydee’s interest in the law was born. Zaydee learned that she loved helping others and wanted to follow in her mom’s footsteps.

Zaydee began her college career in Cuba and came to the United States after three years. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice in 2015 and her law school degree in 2019, both from Florida International University in Miami. She is currently working with our clients on collection and post-judgment issues from Miami in a fully remote role. Even though we miss seeing her in person each day at the office, we keep in touch with her via zoom, phone calls, and her visits to Tallahassee for quarterly meetings and other events.

Away from the office, Zaydee loves to binge watch TV shows on Netflix, exercise, go running, and, on the weekends, her and her boyfriend Carmine enjoy escaping to the beach to roller blade. Recently, Zaydee and Carmine returned from their two-week vacation to Italy! This is Zaydee’s favorite place to travel and she has been there many times since 2014. Her and Carmine love to escape to Italy to visit family and friends. This past trip included a wedding in Avellino (where Carmine is from), and they were able to meet Carmine’s baby niece, Sveva, who was born while they were visiting! Zaydee also was able to explore the city of Sorrento, which is a small, touristy town, close to the sea. It was her first time visiting the city of Sorrento and while there, her and Carmine visited a gelato place that is “famous” for their special treat, they tried “Sorrentino” pizza for the first time (so good!), and they were able to enjoy a food and music festival!

Thank you Zaydee for your dedication to our firm. We are happy to have you as a part of our team and enjoy hearing about all of your adventures!

SVL SourcExpo 2022

On July 20-22nd, Sorenson Van Leuven had a successful SVL SourcExpo conference at the Renaissance International Plaza Hotel in Tampa. We want to thank everyone who attended – the SVL team thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with each of you.

The SourcExpo is our annual learning event for Credit Unions that focuses on collections, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and other related issues. The goal of the SVL SourcExpo is to instruct, innovate, and inspire. We do this by having the attorneys from our office provide training over the three-day event. Additionally, we help Credit Union representatives network with other Credit Unions in attendance to share ideas. And we work to inspire your team to improve its processes.

We are excited to announce we will be hosting again in Tampa at the Renaissance for our SVL SourcExpo 2023. The dates for next year’s conference will be July 12- 14th. Be sure to save the date and join us!

More details will be posted at https://svllaw.com/sourcexpo-2023/ in the coming months. We cannot wait to instruct, innovate, and inspire you! See you in July 2023!!

Eleventh Circuit Overrules the Hunstein Opinion

On April 21, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in the case of Hunstein vs. Preferred Collection and Management Services. The Court found that the debt collector’s use of a third-party mail vendor violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This ruling resulted in an increase in lawsuits against debt collectors (third-party agencies) and raised serious compliance concerns for creditors under the Florida Consumer Collections Practices Act.

On Wednesday, November 17, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order vacating the previous decision. Additionally, the Court issued an order to rehear the case before the full Court panel. The original case was heard before a panel of three judges.

The case was reheard before the full panel of judges for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The court issued their latest opinion on September 9, 2022. The court has reversed the original decision. The court found that the Plaintiff did not have standing to bring the lawsuit because the Plaintiff had not suffered a “real” injury. The court focused on the fact that the Plaintiff had not suffered any harm. It is important to note that the court did not get to the issue of whether the use of third-party mail vendor violated the FDCPA.

The effect of the Court’s action is that the prior opinion of the court is no longer valid and does not have authority over lower courts. The Plaintiff could seek to appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, or the Plaintiff could refile the suit in state court in Florida. Florida law provides a different standard for standing that may allow the case and allegations to move forward. We will continue to monitor this matter and will provide updates as this case moves forward.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Justice Dept. Issue Warnings to Auto Lenders about Servicemember Protections

On Friday, July 29, 2022, the CFPB and Justice Department issued a Joint Letter reminding auto lenders of their responsibilities to recognize important legal protections for military families under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). This letter comes months after the CFPB issued a compliance bulletin on repossessions. The CFPB also addressed repossession compliance issues in its Spring 2022 Supervisory Highlights.

The Joint Letter was a reminder to lenders of key provisions within the SCRA, including:

  • Wrongful vehicle repossessions: The SCRA prohibits a lender from repossessing a motor vehicle during the borrower’s military service without a court order. The letter reminders lenders that a violation of this law can lead to criminal penalties.
  • Failure to terminate vehicle leases without penalty: The SCRA allows servicemembers to terminate motor vehicle leases early and without penalty in certain situations.
  • Violations of auto loan interest rate benefits: The SCRA limits interest rates on loans incurred prior to military service to no more than 6% per year. This cap on interest includes a cap on most fees. If servicemembers make a proper request, a creditor must forgive any interest greater than 6%. Any interest already paid must be refunded to the borrower.

A copy of the Joint Letter can be found here.

In light of the CFPB’s focus on repossessions, if you have not recently reviewed your Policies and Procedures related to repossession, especially involving those protected by the SCRA, we recommend you review those policies and procedures now. If you have questions or need a legal review, please do not hesitate to contact a lawyer at Sorenson Van Leuven.