Car Lease Problem - Help!

[KatieBelle]

Hi..We are new here and have a problem replacing a lease that is due in november. Someone on one of the posts had mentioned that they were advised by their atty to let the lease go into the bankruptcy and get a new car. Our atty never suggested that. All she has asked us was if we would consider giving up the car earlier. Never elaborated on what would happen once we were in the thick of it. I told my husband that we should sue her for incompetence since that was not the only time she had mislead us or not given us the whole story. This car is the only one we have left and now are scrambling to get something. The atty is useless. I am so frustrated with this whole process. Our chapt. 13 was confirmed 12/09.

[NowImDownInIt]

I would create a new thread for this. It's kind of unrelated to the original post and this forum doesn't really like it when you bring back otherwise dead threads.

[lrprn]

KatieBelle, NIDIT is correct. Opening an inactive thread and posting to it is against our forum guidelines. When you have a problem of your own that needs suggestions from forum members like this one, it's best to start your own new thread rather than hijacking someone else's. I created a new thread for you

We're really happy you found the BKForum and hopefully you are finding answers to your questions. Welcome!

[KatieBelle]

KatieBelle, NIDIT is correct. Opening an inactive thread and posting to it is against our forum guidelines. When you have a problem of your own that needs suggestions from forum members like this one, it's best to start your own new thread rather than hijacking someone else's. I created a new thread for you

We're really happy you found the BKForum and hopefully you are finding answers to your questions. Welcome!

Thank you!

[KatieBelle]

I would create a new thread for this. It's kind of unrelated to the original post and this forum doesn't really like it when you bring back otherwise dead threads.

Thanks!

[keepinitreal]

Hi..We are new here and have a problem replacing a lease that is due in november. Someone on one of the posts had mentioned that they were advised by their atty to let the lease go into the bankruptcy and get a new car. Our atty never suggested that. All she has asked us was if we would consider giving up the car earlier. Never elaborated on what would happen once we were in the thick of it. I told my husband that we should sue her for incompetence since that was not the only time she had mislead us or not given us the whole story. This car is the only one we have left and now are scrambling to get something. The atty is useless. I am so frustrated with this whole process. Our chapt. 13 was confirmed 12/09.

Contact the lender for your car lease. Ask if you can extend the lease. It's pretty common that people extend their car leases beyond the initial end date when they haven't decided what to do about their car yet.

[BnkrptcyLwyr]

I'm going to argue for a little common sense here instead of "blaming the attorney" ... you knew that the lease was coming up, and that your credit would take a hit. What did you think would happen? Your attorney even brought up the fact by at least asking if you would consider giving up the car. What did you think that meant?

There is only so much an attorney can do to explain something. If you don't follow up with the question, you can't necessarily blame the attorney.

I'm VERY thorough when talking to clients ... and they're nodding along like they understand. Only later do I find out that something went right over their head ... and then they sometimes want to make it my fault and pretend like I didn't tell them when I KNOW exactly what I told them. And then I'm the idiot because they didn't understand. Oh well. Not saying that the client is the idiot in these situations, don't get me wrong ... but if the client isn't clear, then don't say you understand what the attorney is talking about if you really don't. Ask questions until you understand it. A good attorney will take the time to answer.

[KatieBelle]

I'm going to argue for a little common sense here instead of "blaming the attorney" ... you knew that the lease was coming up, and that your credit would take a hit. What did you think would happen? Your attorney even brought up the fact by at least asking if you would consider giving up the car. What did you think that meant?

There is only so much an attorney can do to explain something. If you don't follow up with the question, you can't necessarily blame the attorney.

I'm VERY thorough when talking to clients ... and they're nodding along like they understand. Only later do I find out that something went right over their head ... and then they sometimes want to make it my fault and pretend like I didn't tell them when I KNOW exactly what I told them. And then I'm the idiot because they didn't understand. Oh well. Not saying that the client is the idiot in these situations, don't get me wrong ... but if the client isn't clear, then don't say you understand what the attorney is talking about if you really don't. Ask questions until you understand it. A good attorney will take the time to answer.

Im glad your "thorough" with your clients, she is not. She asked the question. We answered. If we were wrong, she should have enlightened us. She is the attorney, not us. She has left us in the dark many times. We pay for her expertise and advice, she hasn't earned it. She is not " a good attorney," so we are stuck.

[KatieBelle]

Contact the lender for your car lease. Ask if you can extend the lease. It's pretty common that people extend their car leases beyond the initial end date when they haven't decided what to do about their car yet.

Thank you for your helpful answer.

[BnkrptcyLwyr]

Im glad your "thorough" with your clients, she is not. She asked the question. We answered. If we were wrong, she should have enlightened us. She is the attorney, not us. She has left us in the dark many times. We pay for her expertise and advice, she hasn't earned it. She is not " a good attorney," so we are stuck.

Just because she is the attorney doesn't relieve you of using common sense though. You are about to file bankruptcy. This will hurt your credit. That's not a hard concept, and everyone knows it.

You see, here's the problem ... I can give you perfectly correct advice that you shouldshould (like, nobody should be keeping their house in this market) ... and clients will all too often recoil, get angry, whatever ... (and yes, this happens all the time).

Or, I tell you what you want to hear ... like, sure, you'll make it making those payments, and your house will be going up in value before you know ... you're happy, I'm the best attorney in the world for confirming what you want to hear ...

This is why advising clients is not so easy ... clients say they want us to tell them the brutal truth ... but all too often, they really don't ... they have a pre-conceived notion about what the proper advice is, and they love the attorney who tells them what they want to hear.

What has happened to me personally is that my boss told a client one thing, and when the client met with me, I told them something different and advised them about their real prospects going forward and what they should be doing. The clients then complain about what I told them and want to go back to my boss who told them what they wanted to hear. Ok. So then, a year or two year later ... here comes the call from the client who didn't want to work with me and now tells me they realized I was right all along ...

C'est la vie!

My point ... it's not just the attorney ... you have to use your own brain, and common sense, and take the time to educate yourself in the process as well. Of course, there's good attorneys, great attorney's, lousy attorneys. To me, it sounds like your attorney did say something ... and maybe she thought you understood where she was going with the question. It sounds like a misunderstanding, unfortunately.

Now, here's some options ... you will get credit for a car ... it's not that hard unless you had really horrible credit. I've had clients receive all kinds of ads for credit for purchasing a vehicle after they receive their discharge. And here's the thing, if you had really bad credit before, then even if your attorney would've told you to get the new car prior to bankruptcy, maybe you wouldn't have gotten the credit anyways.

Option 2 - well, tax return time is coming - use the refund to buy a cheap used car. If you have to turn over the car before you get your refund, then rent a car for a few months (the monthly payment is roughly the cost of a car payment anyways).

Option 3 - pick up the option on the lease if you can - did you ask?

There are options, all is not lost, and I'm sure it will be ok.