My husband and I saw a second lawyer yesterday and the visit was interesting.
He said he was a former chapter 7 trustee and boy did it show. First he insisted that we would be in a 100% payback plan at 1350 per month and that we had to include both our vehicles (First attorney told us we did not have to include any vehicles, just credit card debt in repayment). When I pointed out to him that it was confusing how he came to that conclusion without even figuring out how much disposable income we had, he said I worked for one of the top law firms in town and made "so much money" that it was a given we would be in a 100% plan but if I wanted to "fool around" or "bs" with the numbers he could see about doing that. So he did some recalculations at a 50% payback but said the trustee would probably object nad the payment was still over $1,000 per month. Ok.
Next, he was none too happy that we had purchased a new vehicle. That really seemed to irritate him. I told him that the first attorney we consulted that it was a good idea and then he trashed her a bit when he found how who she was. When he saw how shocked I was, he cleaned it up a bit because it turns out her father in law is a current U.S. trustee. Okay.
Then I ask him about cramming down our 2005 vehicle and he had the nerve to say that in his 30 years of doing these types of cases, he has rarely run into anyone wanting to do one and he would have to check the statute. I stared at him long and hard and told him the first attorney made it seem like it was something common. He went to his shelf and pretended to search for the statute and said it was so complicated he would have to call the trustees office on Monday and see if it was allowed.
The straw that totally broke the camel's back for me was when we discussed a vehicle that I co-signed for my son. He said I could not just "get out of it" that it was my responsibility and if my stopped paying on the vehicle then I would be responsible and it would mess up our 13. I told him that this is not the impression I got from our first attorney. But I could have misunderstood her. Then the attorney got visible upset with me and said there was no way I could get out of the debt, there was no way to include it in the 13, and if my son defaulted the car company would indeed come after me. He said it with almost glee.
I am just so shocked. No wonder this guy has 100% confirmations. He forces the uninformed into 100% paybacks - which as we were leaving he bragged about. He slogan is: "I will fight for you". Right. Seems to me like he's fighting for the creditors. If we could afford 100% payback, why would we be filing bk? And why should we pay almost $45,000 worth of car payments into our plan that one attorney tells us is unnecessary. Oh that's right, so the trustee can get a bigger fee. Sigh.
One last thing. In figuring out our monthly payment I asked about the trustee's fee. He said it could vary anywhere from 7-10% so he would "pad" or payment to pay the trustee extra "just in case". Needless to say, we will NOT be using that guy! Sorry this was so long. Just had to vent!
He said he was a former chapter 7 trustee and boy did it show. First he insisted that we would be in a 100% payback plan at 1350 per month and that we had to include both our vehicles (First attorney told us we did not have to include any vehicles, just credit card debt in repayment). When I pointed out to him that it was confusing how he came to that conclusion without even figuring out how much disposable income we had, he said I worked for one of the top law firms in town and made "so much money" that it was a given we would be in a 100% plan but if I wanted to "fool around" or "bs" with the numbers he could see about doing that. So he did some recalculations at a 50% payback but said the trustee would probably object nad the payment was still over $1,000 per month. Ok.
Next, he was none too happy that we had purchased a new vehicle. That really seemed to irritate him. I told him that the first attorney we consulted that it was a good idea and then he trashed her a bit when he found how who she was. When he saw how shocked I was, he cleaned it up a bit because it turns out her father in law is a current U.S. trustee. Okay.
Then I ask him about cramming down our 2005 vehicle and he had the nerve to say that in his 30 years of doing these types of cases, he has rarely run into anyone wanting to do one and he would have to check the statute. I stared at him long and hard and told him the first attorney made it seem like it was something common. He went to his shelf and pretended to search for the statute and said it was so complicated he would have to call the trustees office on Monday and see if it was allowed.
The straw that totally broke the camel's back for me was when we discussed a vehicle that I co-signed for my son. He said I could not just "get out of it" that it was my responsibility and if my stopped paying on the vehicle then I would be responsible and it would mess up our 13. I told him that this is not the impression I got from our first attorney. But I could have misunderstood her. Then the attorney got visible upset with me and said there was no way I could get out of the debt, there was no way to include it in the 13, and if my son defaulted the car company would indeed come after me. He said it with almost glee.
I am just so shocked. No wonder this guy has 100% confirmations. He forces the uninformed into 100% paybacks - which as we were leaving he bragged about. He slogan is: "I will fight for you". Right. Seems to me like he's fighting for the creditors. If we could afford 100% payback, why would we be filing bk? And why should we pay almost $45,000 worth of car payments into our plan that one attorney tells us is unnecessary. Oh that's right, so the trustee can get a bigger fee. Sigh.
One last thing. In figuring out our monthly payment I asked about the trustee's fee. He said it could vary anywhere from 7-10% so he would "pad" or payment to pay the trustee extra "just in case". Needless to say, we will NOT be using that guy! Sorry this was so long. Just had to vent!
Bankruptcy Wizard
(Negative almost $200/month. Assumed $1,500/month in payroll taxes.)
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