can I do this?

[B65]

My lawyer had sent me papers to sign, either to check if we wanted him to represent us in the raffirmations papers for our car, 3 choices, we do it ourselves(court) he signs for $450 or it may cost hourly if it goes to a judge. They asked us to come in fri to choose one, they said either we reaffirm or amend to surrender.(i know they will not write on to keep and pay).
so maybe I should cancel apt... fill in papers to lawyer we will sort out the reffirmation ourselves.
then contact Capital one and say.. not happy with your papers , lower interest rate and send new papers, Then if we just neglect to fill in and send papers within the 60days then what??
Nothing right....? Can i get in trouble with the lawyers/courts for saying on petition I will reaffirm but then not doing it??
as soon as the 60 days are up I intend to just ride through and pay a week early every month as long as i want the car...
can I do this??

[justbroke]

Simply, if you're represented by an attorney, you can only do the re-affirmation through the attorney.

This is because all re-affirmations go through the judge and if an attorney doesn't concur, then it won't happen. You can't circumvent the attorney without firing them first and motioning to proceed in pro per.

Now, you're talking about "dragging" your feet. There have been cases where a debtor stated that they were re-affirming on their Statement of Intentions and later, never even filling out the re-affirmation agreement. The creditor sued in an Adversarial Proceeding (AP) stating that the debtor intent is what prevails. This was because the debtor tried to surrender the cars later and claim the debt was satisfied because they never re-affirmed.

The court agreed in several of those cases. It is how you act. If you actually attempted to re-affirm, and a judge even denies it, but you did all the paperwork and turned it in... most caselaw suggest that the reaffirmation is indeed good. Even with the judge dissenting. (So long as you continue to pay.)

So, it may work in your case, to arbitrarily delay the process.

I don't know, but offered up my opinion for the sake of it.

[B65]

what if I

turn the paperwork in on day 40 say I send it back to the lender, and I believe they have to file with the courts... so i can do the reaf pro se, then will it delay my discharge or my closing date until the hearing has been held?

I have heard of so many ppl on here just not signing or sending in the paperwork and thought it was voluntary...

Thanks

[lrprn]

turn the paperwork in on day 40 say I send it back to the lender, and I believe they have to file with the courts... so i can do the reaf pro se, then will it delay my discharge or my closing date until the hearing has been held?

Assuming you are talking about reaffirmation....

If you file pro se and wish to file a reaffirmation for an asset loan, then the judge will schedule a mandatory hearing to review your proposed reaffirmation. This is to protect you from signing your life away because you didn't understand the terms and implications of the reaffirmation.

I have heard of so many ppl on here just not signing or sending in the paperwork and thought it was voluntary...

The bk law states that you have three choices about what to do with your secured assets when you file - reaffirm, redeem, or surrender.

When the current bk law passed in 2005, there was a lot of confusion whether a "ride through" still existed (if you kept a secured asset without reaffirming and kept on making payments on time, the lender would not repossess).

Since 2005, case law decisions have been made by judges in some districts that make trying a ride-through more risky. Other districts still look the other way and let the dice roll between the filer and the creditor.

A few states (Kansas is one of them) have separate credit legislation forbidding lenders to repossess an asset if payments are current.

Bottom line - it's a crazy quilt. Only an experienced bk lawyer is going to know which way the "reaffirm or not" winds are blowing where you are.

[Never_Again]

Am I to read this that your lawyer wants an additional $450 to sign the reaffirmation papers?

That sounds insane to me! Our lawyer handled the reaffirmation that we did on our house (one mortgage) as part of the bankruptcy. That way, you do not have to go before the judge. I can not imagine a lawyer wanting more money for that simple act, or that he would not have included it with his fees. It takes him all of, what, four tenths of an hour tops?

[B65]

yes

he wants more money to sign but he wont say he will sign he then wants you to sign saying if he does not want to sign you then have to pay $350 more an hour to go infront of a judge.

so from what i am reading in my state I may not have choice other than reaffirm or surrender so i can do it pro se but i do not know if it will extend my discharge date or closing date if it is later within the 60days.

[justbroke]

Many lawyers charge additional fees when it comes to re-affirmations and adversarial proceedings. The reason is, that their standard fee (or flat fee), usually only includes the 341 and the confirmation hearings.

Even in States where the Courts have mandated "no look" fees... the lawyer is still free to charge for things "outside the box".