what is avg atty fee for bk13

[busbis]

I found an atty through a website totalbankruptcy.com and the atty seems to be very knowledgable and has over 23 years experience. I'll be honest, I have only spoken to him, but my gut told me he is very trust worthy, he even returns my calls at 9 pm and I have had several phones to him at no cost so far. But it's that time to actually sit down with him and get to filing. He originally told me the filing fees in the 1st phone call, but when I asked him how much his fees ran, he mentioned $4500...yikes.

Is this a normal fee for filing and atty cost. He did say it could be rolled into the plan, but what is your experience on the cost?

[SinkingFast]

That sounds high.

Going rate here for a Ch 13 is $2500-$3K.

Consult around with other attnys, in addition to chatting with this guy. And if you haven't,........ Have a face to face with this guy. Voices can sound great on the phone. But you learn a lot from body language that you can see in a face to face.

[HHM]

$4500 is on the higher end...but not inherently unreasonable. It depends on where you are. In my district, $4,500 is the norm.

In most districts, the courts establish what they call a "no look" fee. Which basically means, it is the max fee an attorney can charge for the basic services of a chapter 13 without getting court approval. If you can find it, you want to see if you can track down the Chapter 13 trustee guide book for your area; that book will generally tell you what the no-look fee is in your area (but it can be difficult to get this document if you are not an attorney...note this is not the US Trustee Handbook for trustess, it is the specific chapter 13 guidebook that is given to attorneys).

If you really want to research fees, and have some money to throw around...get a PACER account and go look-up 10 recent chapter 13's filed in your district, by 10 different attorney's and see what they charge (assuming, of course, there are 10 attorneys doing chapter 13's in your area). You will want to look in the Document History and pull-up the Chapter 13 Plan (looking at the plan is cheaper, i.e. fewer pages, than pulling up the entire petition).

It is true that the attorney can roll the bulk of the fee into the chapter 13 payment plan, so your out of pocket tends to be much less.

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

My fee was about $3000 for the State of Virginia. However, $1000 of that fee was going to be paid back to the lawyer within the Ch13 plan. After I converted to Ch7 I no longer owed the $1000 and the lawyer didn't charge me any extra

Best Wishes, Catchmeifyoucan

[CindyLou]

that sounds very high to me, but the only way to know if to make a few more appts with some local attorneys and see what other quotes you are given and how comfortable you feel. Then weigh the pros and cons of each. Cheaper isn't always better, nor does most expensive means best. Finding someone you feel comfortable with that is also affordable is best. In the end you may choose this one, but don't go with it without exploring your options for sure!!!!