There is a common thread among potential bankruptcy clients who call seeking bankruptcy relief. They are most concerned about the cost involved in filing for bankruptcy and getting out of debt. I'm not referring to the court costs. Most potential clients are aware of the court cost because they have been asking this question over and over again among many different bankruptcy lawyers. They fully understand that the filing fee for a chapter 7 bankruptcy case is $335.00 and the filing fee for a chapter 13 bankruptcy case is $310.00.  What they are truly seeking is the actual attorney fee that's going to be charged. Bankruptcy lawyers are not like a computer store or an electronics store. It + Click Here For Read More

Timing is critical when filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy case. If you are wise, you can get out of debt and still be able to protect your much needed tax refund. The key is to file either several months before or several months after your tax refund is either expected or received. The problem is when the refund is received too close to filing chapter 7 bankruptcy or it has not yet been received and you are appearing before a chapter 7 panel trustee who was inquiring as to your refund. Let's examine the first scenario: The bankruptcy trustees are typically looking for tax refunds in close proximity to when refunds are issued by the federal government. Thus, if you file for bankruptcy several + Click Here For Read More

This is a true story that happened last week for one of my chapter 13 bankruptcy clients. The client received a notice from the Illinois Secretary of State that his driver’s license was going to be suspended for failure to pay parking tickets by a specific date. He sought my advice on chapter 13 bankruptcy because he knew that entering into a chapter 13 repayment plan would prevent his driver’s license from being suspended. We worked incredibly hard to get his case filed before the actual suspension date. We filed the case, we faxed proof of filing to the Secretary of State in Springfield, Illinois and we awaited some good news regarding his driver’s license. Regrettably, what we found out + Click Here For Read More

If you are thinking of filing bankruptcy without an attorney, please be aware of the following: the bankruptcy clerk and the bankruptcy judges are going to hold you to the same standard as that of an attorney. This means that you must comply with all of the filing regulations as well as courtroom standing orders as you get set to file your case. You are also required to follow the bankruptcy code as far as pre-filing requirements, notice requirements, petition and schedules preparation, appearance at a 341 meeting of creditors, compliance with the two hour financial management instruction course, and additional court appearances if necessary throughout your case. You will also be required to + Click Here For Read More

I want to take a moment and thank all of the people that helped make 2014 such an exceptional year. I have had the privilege and the blessing to work with some truly dedicated people this year. People who really chose to put the client first in every regard. We were able to recover hundreds of vehicles that were either repossessed, booted by the city of Chicago or impounded. We were able to give our clients an opportunity to reorganize and repay the debt either related to those vehicles or otherwise associated with the vehicle such as parking tickets. The overwhelming majority of those clients still possess those vehicles that we worked so hard to recover. We also worked hard to save + Click Here For Read More

When it comes down to consumer bankruptcy, the official forms do a pretty good job of setting forth the facts of the case, the assets involved in the case, the liabilities in the case, and the debtor's statement of financial affairs. However, there is a very important document that is missing from the official forms, in my opinion, in a chapter 13 bankruptcy filing. That form is known as a payroll control order or payroll control authorization. Here's how this could work: The Payroll Control Solutions In any chapter 13 bankruptcy filing where the debtor is going to be on payroll control, the official forms should have a check box which indicates whether a payroll control or payroll + Click Here For Read More

This may be the season for giving. However, the city of Chicago is looking to do some taking. What I'm talking about is an expanded effort to attack those who have outstanding parking tickets. If you have three or more outstanding parking tickets, you are subject to the boot. If you are unable to pay the amount necessary to remove the boot, your vehicle will be towed and impounded and you will continue to incur storage fees. There is nothing worse than going out to your vehicle and noticing that you have a boot on it.  So what do you do if you can't pay it? Well, this has become such an epidemic in the city of Chicago that there are now advertisements specifically targeting those that + Click Here For Read More

If you are thinking on spending extravagantly on Christmas, just remember that you may lead yourself toward the verge of filing bankruptcy. One of the main causes of bankruptcy filings is overspending via credit cards. There is no greater use of credit cards than during the month of December. Many people don't realize that high-volume spending in December may come back to bite them in February, March and April. Before you spend this Christmas, please keep a few things in mind: Don't spend more than you have. If you are putting all your Christmas gifts on credit cards, you're going to have to pay that debt at some point. If you don't pay quickly or within the grace period, the interest on + Click Here For Read More

For nearly 10 years or so, there was a document filed in every bankruptcy case known as an electronic filing declaration. This declaration was signed by the debtor and it basically said that the case was being filed electronically and that the signature on such document was the equivalent of a signature on all the documents. This assured the court that the debtor had met with the bankruptcy attorney and had signed the document. Without the original signature, the bankruptcy court could not be assured that the debtor ever saw the petition that was filed on his or her behalf. This system was working well. Skipping forward a few years, the bankruptcy clerk's office and the bankruptcy judges + Click Here For Read More

Exemption Amounts Every homeowner who is considering filing chapter 7 bankruptcy, understandably wants to know whether or not their house is going to be protected if they file for bankruptcy. In most cases, the home is going to be protected through the process. This is mostly due to the fact that there is not significant equity in the real estate. Equity equates to the ownership portion of the property. For example, if you have a house with a market value of $400,000 and an outstanding mortgage balance of $300,000, then you have $100,000 worth of equity in the property. In Illinois, you as an individual filer are able to protect up to $15,000 worth of equity in your real estate. In the case + Click Here For Read More