Met with attorney today....

[Rob517]

This was the last attorney on my list to consult with. He runs a firm of his own here in MI. He seems to have it together and sent me home with a packet to fill out and I have not even retained him as of yet. He spent a long time with me and was willing to answer all of my questions. I got a good vibe from him that he knows what he is doing.

My only question/concern is that he looked over my spreadsheets I made about income and debt and knew within a minute (60 seconds) that I would be good to go for ch. 7. Is this normal? Do the good attorneys just know this stuff? Seemed quick to go that route. His fee is 1800 out the door which includes all copies, letter, phone calls he makes etc...no extra charges. 900 up front to get it all started. He will also be with me at 341 and not send a paralegal. He was also pretty confident I would be able to keep my car by re-affirmation. I was really concerned about that.

He says I should go ahead with filing ASAP since I am giving up my home and will be a ch. 7. My goal was to save some cash to move out of my soon to be foreclosed home but he said even after the BK I will have a few months to get out which I did not know. I thought when the BK was final and discharged I had to get out of the house at that point. The mortgage companies are moving slow here in MI.

Rob

[southernbelle]

From my experience, I met with most of the BK atty's in my area (including one Trustee) and what I found was shocking. Most of them dismissed me off as a 13 almost immediately without taking any additional factors into consideration and only looking at my income, but with the support of this forum, I felt I had a good chance at a successful Ch. 7.

The atty. I finally hired was similar to the last one you met with (not saying you should hire him) but my atty gave me the impression that he knew what he was doing and gave me a flat rate and was with me every step of the way. The one thing that made me feel more comfortable was the fact that he was always available for questions which makes the process easier if you feel comfortable with the person you hire to take you through this experience.

In my opinion, I think you should re-evaluate all of the attorneys you met with to determine if the person you would like to hire has all of the criteria you are looking for because this experience is hard enough without extra stress from your atty. To put yourself more at ease you should call this atty and ask him more questions about some specific concerns like the car. Good luck and I hope everything works out for the best.

P.S. If you feel rushed by this atty. and would like more time to live in your house before moving, make sure you tell them that so that you are both on the same page.

[KeithG]

Can i ask what area of MI are you in, i am in the process of aquiring a lawyer for a chapter 7 on the east side (Warren, Clinton Twp, Harrison Twp. area)

[keepmine]

Once a bk is discharged, the lender still has to jump through all the legal hoops your state specifies for a foreclosure and evicton to be legal. There is no rush just because you had a bk discharged.

[Rob517]

Once a bk is discharged, the lender still has to jump through all the legal hoops your state specifies for a foreclosure and evicton to be legal. There is no rush just because you had a bk discharged.

Thanks...I didn't know that...good info.

I am near Lansing...Attorney was near Brighton.

Thanks for the replies.