Appointment Made to Sign...

[mdl]

Ok, I had my "free meeting" a couple of weeks ago and was given the laundry list of items to bring back. So I called today and asked for an appt. to bring them all in. She said we would sign and they would file that day.
Do they sit there and punch all my info in and file or file and then do all the paperwork?
Does that question make sense?

[lillymarlene]

I suppose it must depend on your state/district and your attorney. It was about 4 months from my free consult to my filing.

[daxtell]

wow yea that sounds short. from the time i had my meeting in november, and went back and forth with reviewing and and talking... i was not filed until late January.

[mdl]

What were the reasons for it taking so long? Did you not have all the needed paperwork?
Or am I just lucky?

[lillymarlene]

You must be lucky. Do you only have a few creditors, and very little paperwork? I had several creditors and ended up with a folder about 3 inches thick.

[mdl]

Well, ours is a 13. We are keeping the house and the car.
Priority debt is taxes - about 34K
Secured (car) - 16K
Unsecured - about 54K
So, maybe its easy, because the priority will be the one that gets paid
If we sold everything non exempt in a 7, the unsecureds would still get nothing
So maybe thats why....

[mdl]

Oh, its 19 credit cards

[lillymarlene]

Your 13 is probably easier than mine. I kept my house, car and part of my business. I had over 40 unsecured creditors, credit cards and business vendors. I spent 2 solid days myself, calling people to verify addresses, and phone numbers. (It was difficult, since some were fairly hostile by the time I was about to file.)

[Pandora]

Hmmm... I'm going to put a different spin than everyone else, so bear with me as I do:

1. met with attorney, free consult, given paperwork to fill out, documents requested and told to bring them back.
2. You did all of the above, but attorney nor paralegal has reviewed or "ran the numbers", nor given you a "ballpark figure" for your Ch. 13.
3. Now telling you once you bring in/drop off, they'll file that day, and you'll be on your way.

Correct thus far?

Okay - now onto my thought on this (not that its worth that much..but...) You shouldn't be dropping off paperwork and FILING the same day, period. Your attorney's paralegal should punch in all numbers, review everything, and then meet with you to ensure all numbers are correct and that you arent missing anything. At that point your entire file should go to the actual attorney handling your case, who if they're worth their salt, will ensure you are getting to keep as much as possible and have as little going to unsecureds as possible. AFTER all of that is done and reviewed once more with you - it is THEN that you sign and file your case. Where does your house payment come into play? You dont mention how thats being handled in your posts above re: debt.

Now, with that being said, if your attorney is looking to file quickly, then amend later...(has been known to happen due to suits, garnishments, etc) then thats different, but from what you've stated, thats not the case. Either way everything should be gone over with you in detail...

I would be very very hesitant to agree to a filing before going over all the paperwork IN DETAIL with the attorney or at the very least, the paralegal - first. Doing so can result in the debtor being very shocked when the 13 payment plan that's proposed isn't feasible....

[sunshinepa]

Pandora is right on the money. Do not sign anything you have not reviewed for accuracey and etc. Don't let yourself open for disappointment and/or surprises. Insist it all be reviewed with you, make sure you understand everything and then is you are satisfied, sign it. If your not being sued, a few days is not going to have any impact on you. But inaccurate paperwork may!

[mdl]

Sorry to confuse!
The attorney gave me a rough number at first meeting based on info I did give him then. We are looking at $1000, of which $615 is for IRS, $275 for my car and remainder for trustee, attorney and unsecureds. Basically unsecureds will get nothing.
It's just my income, dHs SSDI.
House isn't in it.

[sunshinepa]

That fine however you still need to review everything for accuracy. People have been dismissed for mistakes made by attorneys on paperwork. It is your call if you want to sign it before reviewing it but I personally would not.

[Pandora]

It's just my income, dHs SSDI.
House isn't in it.

SSDI doesnt count in means testing but does count on Schedules... so make sure all were done correctly. As to the proposed payment, $1000 per month is pretty high, especially on a $44K income with 3 people (not including hubby's SSDI) - so basically in the Schedules nearly all of your husbands SSDI will be going towards your Ch. 13 payment (assuming you are +DMI on your Schedules). Are you certain you are getting all allowances (IRS Standards) and claiming expenses for every single thing that you can? Actually your house is included in your plan when you file BK, it's just being paid outside of your plan since you apparently dont have any arrears to be paid.

Before you sign make sure you can afford everything all the way through your Ch. 13; your payment can go up once your attorney and trustee work everything out. Our "proposed plan" org. was around $450 a month... once we got filed and trustee looked over everything, it went to $600, so nothing is in stone.

[PANSYFACE]

This sounds familiar to me - I met with the attorney 5/27 - given a list of things to get to him, paid him in full. Get a call for us to come in and sign!!!!!! sign what???? - and I haven't even given him the info yet PLUS I am still working on old taxes. Have called him 3x with questions - still have no return call!!!!!!! I am getting really angry - I am surrendering the house but don't want to file until i have to because we WILL be homeless - DH income very low and I am jobless. this guy has a good reputation here but I am freaking out - and DH is pissed that I paid him in full but I paid him before the money gets eaten up with regular bills and we couldn't pay .

[sunshinepa]

This sounds familiar to me - I met with the attorney 5/27 - given a list of things to get to him, paid him in full. Get a call for us to come in and sign!!!!!! sign what???? - and I haven't even given him the info yet PLUS I am still working on old taxes. Have called him 3x with questions - still have no return call!!!!!!! I am getting really angry - I am surrendering the house but don't want to file until i have to because we WILL be homeless - DH income very low and I am jobless. this guy has a good reputation here but I am freaking out - and DH is pissed that I paid him in full but I paid him before the money gets eaten up with regular bills and we couldn't pay .

Don't blame your DH, I would be steaming. Heck, I would probably be placing 10 calls a day, 20 emails a day and etc. if I had paid in full with no response! Keep after him, he's paid and needs to do his job!!!!