not sure what to do

[wellspring]

ok here's my question: I met with an attorney back in April, paid him in full on May 1st to file Chapter 7. I keep checking on Pacer to see if he has filed yet and it's not there. How long does it usually take for the lawyer to file the paperwork? Does it depend on how many cases he has before you? I'm thinking I should call him on that, but I have another question: I have been making the minimum payments on my charge cards and I am wondering if I should continue to do so until he files or should I just stop now and direct all calls I might receive to his office? I am filing because of an old debt which is 30,000.00 and there is no way I can even make payment arrangements with these people. I live in NY. Thanks for any help, I am so confused at this point; do I or don't I pay on these cards???

[jal1129]

There is no reason to pay the cc if you are committed to filing bk. So stop paying. When did your lawyer tell you he/she would file your case? Did'nt they give you some type of timeline? Have you taken care of all the paperwork? If you don't know the answers to these questions I would give the lawyer a call and found out whats going on.

[juststupid]

Don't pay the credit cards. You would be throwing money down the toilet.

And as for how long it take to file the paperwork....

Have you already signed the petition? If not than it might take a little while to get it ready for you to sign.

But if you have already signed, you need to call to ask why it has not been filed. I know we signed our petition on March 30, and it was filed 10 minutes after we were done signing because he filed it electronically.

[wellspring]

There is no reason to pay the cc if you are committed to filing bk. So stop paying. When did your lawyer tell you he/she would file your case? Did'nt they give you some type of timeline? Have you taken care of all the paperwork? If you don't know the answers to these questions I would give the lawyer a call and found out whats going on.

He never said anything about a timeline. I called him once and the girl I spoke to said if there was anything they needed they would call me. I gave him just about everything at the first meeting; ( April 24th) paystubs, credit report, list of debts, the filing fee, etc. I dropped everything else off on May 1st, his payment in full, my life insurance statement, value of vehicle, copies of savings bonds. I guess I'm going to have to call him to see when he's going to do this. I checked Pacer and it's pretty full of people who are using him to file...he appears to be pretty popular in our area. I worry that my paperwork got lost or they mailed me something and I didn't get it...jitters I guess....I need to calm down about this, but it's a huge step for me and it's scary

[wellspring]

Have you already signed the petition? If not than it might take a little while to get it ready for you to sign.


I never signed a petition...the only thing I signed was an agreement form stating that I understood about the credit counseling thing, my rights, etc. He just took notes that first meeting and looked over the things that I brought, and asked questions about what I owned. So maybe this is just a paperwork thing....

[SinkingFast]

I never signed a petition...the only thing I signed was an agreement form stating that I understood about the credit counseling thing, my rights, etc. He just took notes that first meeting and looked over the things that I brought, and asked questions about what I owned. So maybe this is just a paperwork thing....

Your attny cannot file your case until he's completed the BK paperwork and had you come in and sign your Petition.

If you've stayed current on your recent obligations, and you're not in any imminent danger of being sued, Foreclosed, or evicted from your home, then the attny can afford to wait to file your case.

It's basically a judgement call on the attny's part. He doesn't need to rush, for whatever reason, to get you filed.

Maybe your last CC charges and/or cash advances were within the 70/90 day time period. Could be the attny is waiting to put more time between your filing and your last charge activity.

As far as making payments,.............. As others have said, you'd be throwing money down the toilet. Keep the money you'd spend on making payments and learn how to live a cash and carry lifestyle.

[jal1129]

It sounds like your paperwork is not completed yet if you have not signed the petition. You may want to give the office a call and see when they think they'll have things ready for you to sign. How long it takes really varies by lawyer. We did all paperwork and signed the petition in about an hour sitting in the office, but others have waited up to a couple of months to get paperwork ready.

[wellspring]

ok I will let the credit card payments go and call him to see what's going on with this, I guess I am just anxious to get it over with as everyone else probably is too, get it behind and get on with life...thank you everyone...and I'm sure I will be posting more questions, it helps so much to have people who understand what I am going through and who have/are been in the same situation helping me out with advice...it is so appreciated!

[nottold]

My spouse had to literally be there when the Attorney filed. We're in Ct and that's what he had to do. In fact, when he first filed it didn't go through so he had to go back to the attorneys office and be there when he filed it and it took. Hope this helps

[JRScott]

Yeah stop paying the credit cards. No need to throw your money away. When they call if your late, just give them your lawyer's name, number, chapter your filing, stuff like that .

I'd call the lawyers office and get an estimate on how much more time .