Over the past few weeks I have received several emails from bankruptcy prospects who have indicated to me that they didn’t feel that they could afford to file for bankruptcy relief. Most of the people that feel this way are mistaken. Now they may have checked on the Internet are called a few law firms and heard about some crazy high prices to file for bankruptcy. However, they have not found the right law firm as of yet. There are bankruptcy law firms that have a heart. There are bankruptcy law firms that will work a reasonable payment plan based upon your budget. In some cases, the payment plan can be as little as $50 every two weeks. So when you’re talking about $25 a week to go towards your bankruptcy case, it is clearly an affordable payment plan.
Now there are some people that are simply unemployed with no source of income whatsoever who are exploring the idea of bankruptcy. For these people, with no money coming in whatsoever, they need to wait. However, they can have all of their information gathered. They could meet with an attorney so that they can have the attorney in place. They could start doing smart things prior to filing and they could be in a position to be ready when the money starts coming in. Too many people wait until a garnishment, a bank seizure or other court action requiring their appearance before they decide to move forward with the bankruptcy case. By being proactive, a person can eliminate a lot of stress which comes with being on the wrong end of a collection case.
Once you get on a payment plan with your bankruptcy attorney, you are able to notify creditors that you have representation. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you cannot be harassed or contacted by a creditor once you advise them that you have legal representation. All correspondence and all communications must be sent through your attorney from that point forward. This fact alone will provide a tremendous amount of relief in that you are not fielding creditor calls at home, at work and on your cell phone.
Lastly, you may be surprised to find out that there are bankruptcy attorneys that will work with low income clients at a reduced rate. The filing fee with the Clerk of the United States Bankruptcy Court at the time of this writing is $335 for a chapter 7 filing. The attorney fee will vary based upon who you hire and the nature and complexity of your case. In my practice, I have seen cases filed for $600 total all the way up to $1900 total depending upon the case. When you factor in the $335 that’s being applied towards the filing fee, the remaining attorney’s fees will not appear or feel to be that drastic. With a payment plan in effect, you can get out of debt in a very manageable way. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t give up. You can be helped by the right bankruptcy lawyer.
