Bankruptcy Attorney in Tucson, Arizona
Bankruptcy Attorney in Tucson, Arizona
Why you should Hire me
There are a lot of reasons why you should hire us. We’re one of the most prolific filers of bankruptcy petitions in Arizona, both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. We have a system that virtually eliminates any possibility of mistake in your case. We review every single case on a weekly basis to see where the case has been where it is now and where it needs to be in the future to make sure you get your discharge injunction. And we have a money back guarantee. Look if we fail to obtain a discharge injunction for you because of a mistake that we made we’re going to refund 100 percent of the legal fee by the way I’ve been practicing since 1992 and that’s never happened ever.
We also have a system to communicate effectively with our clients. We have something called a call block. I hate playing phone tag with my clients when my clients, when my clients want to talk to me, I want to give them an answer but I’m not always available to come to the phone when you call. So if you call me and I’m not available my staff will invite you to be placed in my call block. It’s a one-hour block of time every day where I return my phone calls. This way we won’t play phone tag and you’ll be able to know exactly when we’re going to speak.
How Do I Know if Bankruptcy Is the
Right Thing For Me?
Deciding to file bankruptcy is a really personal decision. But there are a few red flags which probably mean it’s a really good option. So if you’re considering going into your retirement account and borrowing money to pay off unsecured debts like credit card debts and medical debts, that’s a pretty good sign that it might be time to file bankruptcy. Look your retirement funds are earmarked for your retirement. They are 100 percent exempt in bankruptcy. So if we file a bankruptcy for you nobody can touch your retirement account. So why would we take the money out of your retirement account and pay off debts that are dischargeable in bankruptcy. It probably doesn’t make sense.
If you have credit card debts that are going to take longer than five years to pay off. Taking into consideration the interest, I mean most credit card debt is accruing at 25 to 29 percent interest, if you’ve got $50000 in credit card debt you’re paying an enormous amount of interest on that debt every year. Chapter 7 bankruptcy will allow you to pay none of that debt. Chapter 13 will have you pay pennies on the dollar most of the time that usually is a good indication of it’s going to take longer than five years to pay off your debt. If you’re about to retire and your income is going to be reduced and you’re going to be living on a fixed income and that fixed income can’t support your unsecured debt load that’s a good indication that bankruptcy might be a good option for you. If there’s a wage garnishment, if your house is about to be lost in foreclosure, all good reasons to think about bankruptcy as a fresh start.
Am I Eligible to File Bankruptcy?
Everybody can file bankruptcy. There are two kinds of bankruptcies that are typically used by individuals Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. And so yes there are requirements that have to be met in order to file chapter 7 Bankruptcy. And they have to do primarily with your income. But even if you can’t file chapter 7 because you make too much money, Chapter 13 is eligible to everybody and both in chapter 7 and Chapter 13 you will receive a discharge. That’s really the reason you’re going to file bankruptcy is to obtain a discharge. It’s the discharge that protects you from your unsecured creditors, your unsecured creditors. Are companies like credit card companies, medical debts broken leases repossessed cars all of those debts will go away either in chapter 7 or in Chapter 13. Yes, it’s true in Chapter 13 you may have to pay back a portion of those debts. But for most of our clients even in Chapter 13 they’re paying back a very small percentage of those debts. So yes you’re eligible to file bankruptcy. Look all the things that you heard about in 2005 where they changed the bankruptcy laws they made it more difficult for people to file bankruptcy. There was a lot of hype in that that’s really not true. The laws in 2005 were targeted at a very small group of people to force them into Chapter 13 because Congress believed they could pay back a portion of the debt. But even if that were the case in your situation most of the time the portion of the debt that you have to repay is small.
Look if you take advantage of my free consultation and I know what your income is and I know what your household size is, I will be able to tell you with a relative high certainty right at the initial consultation. If you have to file Chapter 13 Here’s what you would have to repay to your unsecured creditors. It’s usually not very much and you will get a discharge order meaning that you won’t have to pay the remainder of that debt. So we urge you to come in take advantage of that consultation. We’ll show exactly what your options are. We’ll let you know if you qualify for Chapter 7 if you don’t qualify for Chapter 7 and you have to file Chapter 13 We’ll let you know what the chapter 13 payment is. So you’ll be able to make an informed decision.
What’s the Difference Between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?
Chapter 7 offers immediate relief and an immediate fresh start the day we file your Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition all of your creditors have to stop pursuing you. So if someone is garnishing your wages it stops immediately. If there is a trustee sale meaning that there’s a foreclosure that’s going to happen on your house it stops it immediately. None of your creditors can pursue you as far as calling you at work sending you letters calling you on your cell phone trying to collect the debt as soon as we file that chapter 7. Also in chapter 7 the case should be over and done with in less than a year. So in less than a year you’re going to receive a discharge and the discharge works against your unsecured creditors. So if you have credit card debts, repossession debts from car medical debts broken leases the discharge relieves her obligation to pay that. So you get a permanent fresh start. And it comes quickly. Chapter 13 takes a little bit longer. Usually there is a payment to the trustee. You’ll pay the unsecured creditors, pennies on the dollar. The plan the chapter 13 plan lasts anywhere from 36 months to 60 months. And that’s depending upon your income and the discharge doesn’t come until you’ve successfully completed the plan. But many times even for folks that have to file Chapter 13 there are huge advantages inside of it because it’s a typical Chapter 13 plan has a payment to unsecured creditors to let’s say 3 percent 5 percent. So if you’ve got $100000 of unsecured debt you pay back three percent of it through the plan and then the remainder of that is discharged at the end of the plan. So usually 95 percent of the time if a client is eligible for Chapter 7 we put him in chapter 7 because it’s quicker it’s easier. You can also recover more quickly from a chapter 7 in terms of your credit.
Look I tell my clients the day after you file chapter 7 bankruptcy the best way to start recovering your credit is to go get a credit card go to creditcards.com and apply for a credit card and then start using that card responsibly. If you’ve got a thousand-dollar limit on the card charge $500 per month and pay for $500 a month and in three years you should have a 690 credit score. Recovering from a chapter 13 takes longer. Usually the recovery process doesn’t start until after the chapter 13 plan is completed. And again that’s 36 to 60 months away. So those are some differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. There are some other issues connected to stripping a lien off of your second home. And I’m going to do a video on that. So look through the rest of these to hear about that. If you own a business you may have to file Chapter 13 for that reason, we’ll do a short segment on that as well. But the other thing to keep in mind is we have a free consultation and if you come in and talk to me I’m going to explain all of your options to you. Take as much time as you need to understand all of your options. I’ll answer all of your questions. And when you leave that consultation you will be in a position to make a really good decision on whether or not bankruptcy is right for you. And if so should you proceed with Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.
Why Some Clients Prefer Chapter 13
Stop The Madness
So a lot of my clients prefer Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 and here is why. We have a lot more flexibility in Chapter 13 than we do in chapter 7. If you have an asset that you’re concerned about losing and we think the Chapter 7 trustee might take it for the benefit of your creditors more likely than not, I can find a way in Chapter 13 to allow you to keep it. We also have more power because even if a Chapter 13 trustee says she wants to take that asset for the benefit of your creditors we can always move to dismiss the chapter 13 something we cannot do in chapter 7. So when we move to dismiss you keep everything and your back in your original position as if you had not filed the bankruptcy petition. Again not possible in chapter 7 and a very powerful tool.
A lot of my clients also feel better about paying back a percentage of their debt in a chapter 13. So the goal is not to pay back 100 percent but we pay back 10 percent maybe 15 percent. My clients feel better about it and depending upon whose opinion you read on the internet when you pay back a percentage of your unsecured debt it seems like your credit score isn’t damaged as much or if you’re going to buy a house in a few years and they see you have filed Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7 and you paid back a percentage of your debt that you’re looked at more favorably for home loans and car loans.
