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As parents you try to do everything you can to ensure the well-being of your family.  Sometimes it can be difficult to talk to your children about financial problems, especially when you can’t afford to get them that special something they wanted.  Other parents may not think their filing will affect their children, and in [...]

Last week, a former client called and tried to refer me a new Chapter 13 client who was facing foreclosure.  While I appreciated the referral, I could not take the case because the potential client was calling from out of town at 5pm on the Monday before his house was schedule to be sold at a foreclosure sale on the courthouse steps.  The potential client did not have a credit counseling certificate and because he had filed before twice, the automatic stay would not go into effect even if he did file.During our conversation, the potential client told me that he had been negotiating with his mortgage company and that until that Friday, he was led to believe that a modification and restructuring of his loan was likely.I hear the same story from vehicle owners who have fallen behind by two or more payments but who are talking to the customer service reps at their lenders.  I remember one case involving a woman who had never had any credit problems before but was struggling to pay her car note because of a job layoff.She explained that while she was talking to the customer service agent, her conversations were friendly and the agent assured her that the lender wanted to work with her.  Two days later, after the car was picked up, the agent’s tone became much more hostile and my client was told that she would need to pay the entire balance 1 or her vehicle would be sold at auction.  We ended up filing a Chapter 13 and used a Complaint for Turnover to get the vehicle back.My point is this: if you have led a respectable middle class lifestyle, there is a good chance that you have had minimal contact with loss prevention personnel employed by vehicle lenders or mortgage companies.  You tend to believe that most people – especially employees of major corporations – are going to tell you the truth.It may not have occurred to you to think that a mortgage company representative would lie to you about a modification to prevent you from taking action (i.e., Chapter 13) to stop a foreclosure or that a vehicle lender would lie to you about a payment plan so that your vehicle would be easy to find by the repo man.Unfortunately when you are facing debt, especially on big ticket items like houses or cars, the company representatives will out and out lie to you and there is not much you can do about it.Yes, we can stop, but not “undo” a foreclosure. We can get your car back after repossession if you act quickly.  But you are much better off acting proactively than reactively.So if you are like a lot of my clients – someone who has always paid his bills and has never had to deal with late payment or collection phone calls – do not allow yourself to be victimized by company representatives who stretch the truth (lie) about your payment options.  Instead, call a bankruptcy lawyer like me to gain perspective about what you are really facing.  I am happy to help you – my number is 770-393-4985 or you can reach me by email as well.

1. This is what is known as an acceleration clause in the contract. ↩

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If you filed bankruptcy in the past you may have questions about whether to file again.  Understanding when you can file again is important to help save time and money.  But, technically speaking, if you received a discharge when you filed previously, this helps in determining when you can file again, if you are looking [...]

Often when I meet with clients who are dealing with Creditors Bureau USA I can see the worry and exhaustion in their eyes.  Many creditors have earned a bad named for unethical practices. 

Many times here in Fresno County people who get sued by Creditors Bureau USA will try and represent themselves.  How quick they find out why practicing law is a full time profession – they get flooded with paperwork both from Creditors Bureau USA and from the Fresno Superior Court.

On your own, you will struggle to find out what all this means.  For instance, if you have not already attended the Case Management Conference, you will learn that it is not trial, but a meeting with the Court's staff to set up a trial date.  Thus, it is not the end, but, but only the beginning. 

If you aren’t sure what the paperwork means you end up spending all of your evenings searching the Internet hoping to find information that is useful.  Maybe you are doing that now.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Frankly, one of the greatest benefits of hiring an attorney to help you with your Creditors Bureau USA lawsuit is peace of mind.  You can hire a lawyer full time and you get your life back.  You can hire a lawyer for consultation services, so you can quickly get on track and know you are doing things right. 

Hiring an attorney like me is not going to break the bank.  It will cost money, but it will be worth it.  There are attorneys like myself that have alternative billing practices (as compared to most attorneys), that will make it some what easier to get an attorney involved.

So the question you have to ask yourself is if it will be worth hiring an attorney, at least on a consultation basis.  The alternative is spending hours wondering if you are doing it right.  I am biased.  Truly, though, you are much more likely to get a favorable outcome.

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