Inteviewed first lawyer today..interesting stuff

[taramaxed]

I spoke with my first attorney today. I was so scared. I was literally shaking while on the phone. I even gave a fake name I don't know why. I told him our situation and right off the bat he said chapter 7 no problem. I asked him about our car that we have a loan through with a credit union (and a personal loan). I told him we wanted to keep the car but he said get rid of it. He said credit unions 9 times out of 10 will not reaffirm. He suggested we buy a new car before we file and just keep making payments on it or wait and buy one after bankruptcy. He also said good luck with trying to redeem because alot of those companies are dissapearing because of the credit crunch right now. I thought that was interesting. He said US bank is still doing them but because we owe them they probobly will not give us the loan. He said to buy a nice used car with low miles. He highly advised against ever buying new because it will lose its value as soon as we drive off the lot. We still owe alot of money on our furniture too. Actually haven't started paying yet (until 2010) and he said to keep paying but still list it in our banruptcy just in case. As long as we keep paying they won't come get it. I was worried about that and was going to wait to file even longer because of it but he said no problem with that. He also said that making small purchases as long as they are for living expenses like gas and food should not be a problem within 90 days of filing. No cash advances at all or purchases over 600 though. He did congratulate me for doing my homework on a lot of questions I had for him. I think I will interview a couple more tomorrow.

[phigment]

Best of luck. I just had my first face to face attorney consult this week and learned a few new things too. I am going to interview a few more before we proceed with actually filing.

May I ask what price you were quoted for the CH7? I was told $2,500 was his base price but my income situation would make mine $3,000.

[taramaxed]

It was 2100 but I called a bunch just for prices only and the norm seems to be from 1600-2500 (roughly) for chapter 7 only one offered a payment plan. None of the ones (called about 7) I called mentioned anything about pricing on how much income you have though.

[NoMoreRed]

I was pretty nervous when we had our first consultation, but remember....if you are talking to the attorney they are on your side (working for you) and you should be up front and honest. Ask them every question possible about any scenario that you may be concerned about. We were worried that we would lose everything when we filed. That is what the credit card companies want you to think though. There are alot more choices throughout the process than I ever imagined and our attorney has been pretty good with everything. Now the Trustee is another story. Only give them what they ask for and no more. Answer their questions directly and honestly and don't elaborate.

One thing to note though is as far as credit unions are concerned, be careful with reaffirmations. They have cross-collateralization clauses that will allow them to collect on the accounts you owe so be sure to not sign one unless they specifically state in writing in the reaffirmation that they are waiving cross-collateralization. CU's can be nasty, I know...my wife works for one.