Attorney never returns calls . Need answers.

[Coldplay]

Hi everyone,

Great site by the way. Loads of information.

Our attorney (provided thru work) hardly returns phone calls. We only really get to speak to his clerk. He's not helpful at all.

We are currently about 5 months behind on our mortgage. We also stopped paying our CC's in October. We are planning on filing Chapter 7 soon. I have a couple of questions if someone could take the time to look them over and give some answers I would be soooo appreciative. Here goes...


1. We have answered the phone when creditors call. We simply tell them that we are filing Chapter 7 and give them our attorney's name. They've all pretty much stopped. How would I know if anyone of these creditors is sueing us ? Would I get notified ? I have gotten letters from collection agencies and I've called them and given them the information . Do I need to do anything else ?

2. We're trying to stretch out our time until the kids get out of school here. That is why we are sitting on the petition. Our lawyer said from beginning to end it should take about 3 months before we have to get out. Is this correct ? Isn't the BK and foreclosure 2 different issues ? We are not reaffirming the debt and plan on surrendering the house. Does that speed up the process ?


3. We haven't paid our mortgage for 5 months and are saving the money to make a clean start. Will the trustee ask us for this money when we go to our meeting ?

4. My Mom was living with us for a while and she opened up a checking account and put my name on it. Will that account be considered mine ? It is not my money and she only did it because at the time she was living with me and occasionally she needed me to pay some of her bills. Will this be a problem ? Should she take my name off the account or close it ?

That's all I can think of for now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Again ~

[dspii]

1. The calls will stop for a while, but will begin when they don't see your filing. If they sue, it would likely be discharged in BK. If there are suits against you, you would be notified by mail.

2. If your 5 months behind on your mortgage, foreclosure is soon to follow. Not sure why you would wait to file BK, the automatic stay created the day you file will give you SOME time. The mortgage company will ask that the stay be lifted so they can foreclose on your house.

3. Any cash you have on hand the day you file is property of the estate minus any exemptions you may have. The trustee doesn't care that you need it to get another house.

4. You will need to prove to the trustee that the money is not yours and then I am not sure if your OK, but don't take your name off it now, unless your lawyer say's it OK, it could appear that your dodging the trustee.

I have a suggestion, keep reading all the good stuff on this site. Look at all the sticky's, you need to strategize your BK, you can't be sitting on lots of cash and although foreclosure takes awhile, but I fear you are getting real close to receiving papers.

[LostNFound]

I'm assuming your waiting for the kids to finish school to possibly avoid any "issues" that may come up if others hear of it? That, or you want to move after they finish the year and, since you plan to surrender the house, you hope to live in it as long as you can?

I would say that it's going to be a flag that you are on your mother's account. Hopefully, you can prove that all the deposits made into her account are hers, not yours. You will have to keep close records of your income and expenses. I would also HOPE that you haven't used your mom's account to pay for any of your expenses. You really need to be able to draw the line on this one.

Our kids get out of school in May. If your kids are out about the same time, starting your BK filing this month will be about perfect timing.

[espo1357]

Hi everyone,

Great site by the way. Loads of information.

Our attorney (provided thru work) hardly returns phone calls. We only really get to speak to his clerk. He's not helpful at all.

We are currently about 5 months behind on our mortgage. We also stopped paying our CC's in October. We are planning on filing Chapter 7 soon. I have a couple of questions if someone could take the time to look them over and give some answers I would be soooo appreciative. Here goes...


1. We have answered the phone when creditors call. We simply tell them that we are filing Chapter 7 and give them our attorney's name. They've all pretty much stopped. How would I know if anyone of these creditors is sueing us ? Would I get notified ? I have gotten letters from collection agencies and I've called them and given them the information . Do I need to do anything else ?

You will get a summons from the Court, and them will serve you. You are way ahead of them. Also, you can do a public records search with you name to see if they have anything on you.

2. We're trying to stretch out our time until the kids get out of school here. That is why we are sitting on the petition. Our lawyer said from beginning to end it should take about 3 months before we have to get out. Is this correct ? Isn't the BK and foreclosure 2 different issues ? We are not reaffirming the debt and plan on surrendering the house. Does that speed up the process ?

Depends on the state. You have the right idea. Stay in the home as long as possible (my friend has for over one year). They have to serve you papers, and can't just boot you. In the meantime, get your stuff ready and have the gameplan as to where you are going to leave. Save that cash.


3. We haven't paid our mortgage for 5 months and are saving the money to make a clean start. Will the trustee ask us for this money when we go to our meeting ?

If you file a 13, you will be on a payment plan with scheduled payments. Don't do a 13 if you don't want to keep the home. Anyway, it sounds like you are in a 7, especially if you income is not that high.

4. My Mom was living with us for a while and she opened up a checking account and put my name on it. Will that account be considered mine ? It is not my money and she only did it because at the time she was living with me and occasionally she needed me to pay some of her bills. Will this be a problem ? Should she take my name off the account or close it ?

You are looking into this too much. You seem like a smart person, as you are not leaving anything to chance. Good thinking. Don't worry about the accounts, just be honest with the lawyer and the court.

That's all I can think of for now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Again ~

Bottom line:

I would file when/if the ccc's sue you or when you can't handle the stress or when you leave the property (you don't want any crap coming down the road).

After you file, don't worry about anything else, you will be fine.

Live in the home as long as possible.

Find another lawyer if this idiot won't return your calls (assuming you haven't paid them yet).

Good luck. Don't quit. Never surrender. You will be good.

[Coldplay]

Thank YOU !

Thank you all for your responses...

My Mom's account is only hers. I've never deposited any money into it and I don't even know the account number.

My kids get out closer to the end of June. So I may need to hold off a bit longer in filing.

The stress of not knowing what is coming down the pike is almost too much to bear some days.

We haven't paid anything to our lawyer. He is provided thru work and so we don't need to pay him anything. I need to look into another lawyer and see if work would pay for him as well. Not sure about that one.

dspii.... You Said....Any cash you have on hand the day you file is property of the estate minus any exemptions you may have. The trustee doesn't care that you need it to get another house.

What does that mean ? The money we have in our checking account ? We recently did our taxes and got back $4000 in our tax refund. We were planning on using this for the first 2 months rent and rental deposit. Would this be seized ?


Thanks to everyone for their replies.

[LALADY]

Using your tax refund to pay for rent and deposit must be part of your strategy in determining when to file. If you have that $ when you file and it is not part of your exemptions, it is part of the bankruptcy estate. For my own ease, I view all my assets, all my debts and all of my exemptions as part of the BK estate and don't do anything with any of it until I am informed that I am free to do so. It keeps me safe from possibility of dismissal of my case.

[LALADY]

I have two different friends. Both are over 1-1/2 years behind in their mortgage payments. The banks call them once every couple of months to see if they plan on making any payments. The banks haven't started any foreclosure proceedings, filed no notices of default, nothing. Depending on your bank, and depending on where you live, determines how quickly the bank is going to act on your defaulting.

[LALADY]

Depending on where you live, your neighbors may never find out you filed BK. Many, many places don't post it in a newspaper. They're more apt to learn of it if your house falls into foreclosure, which is separate and apart from BK filing until it becomes part of the BK estate.

[momofthree]

If you're not being sued, I would delay filing until the foreclosure process is near completion, then move, spend the cash you have on 1st/last month's rent and deposit and then file. Live rent-free for as long as you can. In this economic climate, it's not unheard of to be able to stay in your home without making payments for 1-2 YEARS!

In the meantime, if you have extra funds, you can put them into a retirement plan (retirement funds are exempt in bk). Or if you're in need of a new car, buy a car--be sure to finance it so that it's covered by your state's exemptions. Get any medical care taken care of -- eye dr. appointments, dental visits, etc that you may have been putting off due to being broke.

There's nothing wrong with planning out your bk for months (or sometimes years) in advance....

[dspii]

dspii.... You Said....Any cash you have on hand the day you file is property of the estate minus any exemptions you may have. The trustee doesn't care that you need it to get another house.

What does that mean ? The money we have in our checking account ? We recently did our taxes and got back $4000 in our tax refund. We were planning on using this for the first 2 months rent and rental deposit. Would this be seized ?


Thanks to everyone for their replies.

In strategizing your BK, it is very important that all of your assets are covered by your state exemptions. If you have $4000 in the bank on the day you file and your state exemption is only $2000 for cash, you lose $2000 to the estate. Prior to BK, as others have replied, you can use the money you saved from your mortgage, taxes and earnings to buy necessities, but don't splurge.

I might have misunderstood your original posting that said you had not paid your mortgage in 5 months and your saving the money for a new place. If so, this is a serious problem, as I stated above. The estate is created the day you file and is a snapshot of your finances on that day. If you have loads of money in the bank, it belongs to the estate. Once you get in touch with your lawyer, I am sure he will explain this, but in the mean time, look up the allowed exemptions for your state and keep reading other strategy for filing.

This is a link to a stickey in this forum...take a look

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=17149