Chapter 7 and 13 Bankruptcy Blog

DEAR VICTORIA

I would love to enroll in your Chapter 7 class starting on July 5, but I may not be able to attend all the classes.  Do you give credit for any classes that I miss?

REPLY

Yes, when you enroll, any classes that you miss will be credited to you.  We will assess this on a case-by-case basis, depending on the number of classes you missed compared to the number of classes you were able to attend.  However, regardless of the outcome, you will receive full credit for all the classes when you enroll.

To enroll for the first class beginning on July 5, visit: http://www.bankruptcytrainingproducts.com/home/web-and-teleconference-training DEAR VICTORIA I had a question regarding illegal immigrants. I have a pro bono client that has been using a made up social security number for 10 years. He just informed me that the social is not valid and he is in the country illegally. Under the federal rules there is no explicit law stating that he has to be a citizen however I know at the 341 meeting they will ask for a valid social security card. Any thoughts?

REPLY

An illegal alien cannot file bankruptcy. To be truthful, I would immediately report this person to the authorities.  I personally think what this client is asking of the United States is a total outrage and I encourage you to get him or her out of your life immediately.  People like this do nothing but cause havoc within the system because they have spent years taking advantage of the United States.  This illegal client should have obeyed our laws and got a green card many years ago.

Again, I think this is an outrage and total abuse of the system if this client can even conceive trying to take advantage of our laws simply because he cannot pay his bills.  I doubt he ever paid taxes to the United States because he worked illegally in our country for 10 years and now he wants more?  This is not fair, let alone right!!!

RESPONSE FROM ATTORNEY

Thank you. I completely agree with you. I received the client from a public law center in Orange County that was supposed to prescreen clients. The client gave me his phony social and then called me a week later to inform me that it was made up.  I was not sure if I had a legal obligation to continue to represent him however I actually just spoke to him and informed him that I have to withdraw and that he is committing fraud. It is amazing how long he was able to use a false social for employment and credit. Again thanks for your help.

SUMMARY FROM VICTORIA

Back in the old days when someone went to an attorney to file bankruptcy, they normally needed to file bankruptcy.  It was not a wonderful thing to do.  Most people felt very bad that they had to file.  But today, people look for loop holes in the bankruptcy law so they can take advantage of the system.  This is sad, and it means that honest people need to get wise in order to prevent as much fraud as possible.  If we do not fight for the prevention of fraud, the innocent people will suffer.

One way to prevent fraud is to use the tips in my latest video, which you can view online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oInwBLMGvKA

DEAR VICTORIA

A little over a decade ago, attorneys were not permitted to advertise.  But today, attorneys have the right to do so.  The problem is that many attorneys have no clue about marketing.  Is this a subject you teach?

REPLY

I incorporate marketing skills training when I set up operational procedures for law firms.  It is my personal belief that marketing needs to be a part of the day-to-day life inside the law firm.  From the person who answers the telephone to the attorney sending an email to the client; all methods of marketing must be implemented in order for them all to work together for the benefit of the law firm.  In this manner, marketing is free or very low-cost.  Personally, I do not think it is a good idea to pay others to market your website.  With all the fraudulent marketing schemes out there; it is more advantageous to do the job yourself and control the entire operation.  This way you can also fine tune your law firm income and adjust methods as necessary.  No hired marketing firm is going to do that or care that much for your law firm.

MONEY-SAVING LINKS TO HELP YOU

Free: Add Your Website to Our Directory http://chapter7and13bankruptcyblog.com/add-your-name

Free and Low-Cost Marketing Links for Attorneys http://www.bankruptcylinks.info/about/marketing-links

Free Stuff to Reduce Your Office Overhead Costs http://www.bankruptcylinks.info/about/marketing-links

Free Ebook: How to Start a New Bankruptcy Practice http://www.coloradobankruptcytraining.com/free-ebook

Free Training Videos – Watch Online Now http://www.youtube.com/user/MsVictoriaRing

Helpful Links When Preparing Bankruptcy Petitions http://www.bankruptcylinks.info/about/prepare-petitions Prequalify Your Debtors with the Initial Intake Form Product http://www.bankruptcytrainingproducts.com/home/initial-intake

If the video does not automatically appear in the area above, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oInwBLMGvKA

DO YOU ENJOY MY VIDEOS?

If you enjoy my short videos specifically designed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/MsVictoriaRing Click on SUBSCRIBE at the top of page

If the video does not automatically appear in the area above, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bF3G8zCWmY

DO YOU ENJOY MY VIDEOS?

If you enjoy my short videos specifically designed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/MsVictoriaRing Click on SUBSCRIBE at the top of page

Course Number: 06262001 Duration: 2 hours Price Per Student: $35.00 Format: Instructor Led Online Classes CLICK HERE to Register

This 2 hour training course is designed to teach you how to develop your own bankruptcy related website at NO COST. We will use WordPress software and I will walk you through the various settings within WordPress so you can design your own company website within a few hours after attending this one class – guaranteed.

TOPICS COVERED:

Installing WordPress (free) Installing a theme (free) Making your own customized WordPress theme (Artisteer software costs $49) Customizing widgets and sidebars Installing plugins and activating them (free) Other tricks and techniques for personalizing your website

This is an INTERACTIVE web training seminar. This means that you are encouraged to develop your website right along with the class so that you can ask questions and get on-the-spot answers.

I look forward to helping you reduce your web design costs to zero and put the power in your hands so you can better control your legal business website.

CERTIFICATE ISSUED

After you attend this training course you will be issued a Certificate of Introduction to WordPress Web Design, personalized with your name. Print on your color printer and frame for your office. For low cost frames, we recommend purchasing from Office Max or Staples for $5.00 or less.

http://www.bankruptcytrainingproducts.com/home/web-and-teleconference-training/web-site-design-course

– by Victoria Ring, www.victoria-ring.com

From June 13-16, 2010, I had the pleasure of training the First Master Certified Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant (MVBA), Sonya Banks of VirtualPetitions.Com, LLC in Loganville, Georgia. Sonya arrived in Colorado Springs on Sunday, June 13 to begin training for the Master Certification.  Before her arrival, Sonya already had five years of experience working virtually for an attorney but she wanted to expand her services so that she could work for a variety of attorneys and advance her knowledge in bankruptcy and Chapter 13s.

Our training began with an intense review of Chapter 13s and a variety of different Chapter 13 Plans.  I trained Sonya using methods of deep case study in a variety of different consumer-based Chapter 13 filings found online through PACER.  In addition, I downloaded a case study review that is used by the American Bar Institute for the certification of attorneys.  Although many areas of the exam were completely over our heads (since the exam pertained to the logic of the law itself) it was still an excellent way to study cases and understand how they progress and are handled through the bankruptcy court process.

Next, Sonya and I again utilized PACER in the study of different pleadings used in the Complaint process as well as the various Adversarial Proceedings connected with bankruptcy filings.  This skill enables Sonya to be able to study cases and work with attorneys in updating the petition based upon the Trustee Recommendations as well as other problems that can occur after the 341 Meeting.  This level of skill is only achieved by Master Certified Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants.

To finish the training and for a better well-rounded education, I taught Sonya how to design her own website and maintain it.  This will save Sonya literally thousands of dollars and reduce her overhead expenses to zero.  I also taught her many different marketing methods and we customized a marketing plan so that she could return home and put a plan into action immediately.

After the training was complete I asked Sonya to comment about her experience, and her reply was:

This experience has been a life-changing event.  I learned more in 30 hours than most people learn in one year.  One important thing I learned was that I am marketing all wrong and now that I know how marketing works; I have learned how to incorporate it into my daily business routine.  Like Victoria, I have learned how to make marketing fun and exciting and I cannot wait to return home and try some of the ideas I learned.  Also, I feel very confident that I have the skills needed to do a very good job for attorneys and I did not have this confidence before coming to Colorado Springs for training. (Sonya Banks)

SUMMARY

If you are an attorney seeking to outsource your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 petition work, I highly recommend the services of Sonya Banks and her company.  Not only is she our first Master Certified VBA, but she is a kind, patient and wonderful lady with high moral character.  Your clients, as well as you and your staff will love working with her.  To contact Sonya:

Email: sonya@virtualpetitions.com Phone: 770-601-4730

DOES YOUR LAW FIRM NEED TRAINING?

Review the various training options available to you and your law firm staff at: http://www.coloradobankruptcytraining.com http://www.victoria-ring.com

The first Chapter 7 Petition Training Course will begin its first class in July.  This is your unique opportunity to work one-on-one with Victoria Ring in learning how to prepare a detailed Chapter 7 petition.  Along the way you will learn 100s of time and money-saving techniques that will improve your skills.

This course is designed to teach attorneys, paralegals and other law office personnel how to prepare a well-detailed Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. In the process the student will learn a high level of skills that enables them to curtail most (if not all) Deficiency Notices issued by the Trustee after the 341 Meeting is complete.

This course is for both beginners as well as advanced students.  The reason we can provide one class that meets the needs of a wide range of knowledge levels is because the course is structured to teach a higher level of detail than is normally never taught in typical bankruptcy law firms.  This allows those who have been trained in the haphazard, traditional training methods to apply their present knowledge and advance their skills tremendously through the lessons they learn in the Chapter 7 Petition Training Course.

Beginning students who have never been trained in the haphazard, traditional method of preparing a bankruptcy petition will have the advantage of being trained correctly from the beginning.  This will protect students at this knowledge level from many of the common problems that exist in the majority of bankruptcy law firms today; which originated from poor petition training methods.

For more information and to sign up, visit: http://www.bankruptcytrainingproducts.com/home/web-and-teleconference-training

This is the perfect tool for bankruptcy attorneys to use in developing their own website.  There is no cost or overhead expenses and you control the look, feel and the content.

If the video does not automatically appear in the area above, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkAy4UC9ANI

DO YOU LIKE MY VIDEOS?

If you enjoy my short videos specifically designed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/MsVictoriaRing Click on SUBSCRIBE at top of page

This is the perfect tool for bankruptcy attorneys to use in developing their own website.  There is no cost or overhead expenses and you control the look, feel and the content.

If the video does not automatically appear in the area above, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0kRobByfQs

DO YOU LIKE MY VIDEOS?

If you enjoy my short videos specifically designed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/MsVictoriaRing Click on SUBSCRIBE at top of page

If the video does not automatically appear in the area above, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsRl0svwmx4

DO YOU LIKE MY VIDEOS?

If you enjoy my short videos specifically designed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/MsVictoriaRing Click on SUBSCRIBE at top of page

Disclaimer: The information in this article is for training purposes only.  This article is written by Victoria Ring, a certified paralegal and bankruptcy specialist, who is not an attorney.

Normally when I work with attorneys on Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions, debtors want to keep everything they own even if they are unable to afford the payment.  However, today, I encountered just the opposite.

A little over two months ago I prepared a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition for an attorney I work with in the District of Colorado.  The debtor had three older motor vehicles and was 11 months behind on their mortgage.  We were able to propose a cram down to save the debtor about $85,000 on their mortgage as well as cram down on the motor vehicles, thus saving the debtor another $28,000.

The petition was finalized and everything was ready to be filed when the debtor called the attorney to say he was going to surrender two of the motor vehicles.  Because this was only the second petition my attorney had worked on, he naturally thought this would be a good thing for the debtor to do and did not see how it would affect the debtor in a bad way.  Therefore, he approved the transaction and emailed me to so I could update the bankruptcy petition.

WHY WOULD A DEBTOR GIVE UP ASSETS?

It is always helpful to understand why debtors do certain things because it will equip you to handle similar situations in the future.  Therefore, you may be wondering why a debtor would want to give up assets (such as the motor vehicles) when they are filing Chapter 13.  Through my many years of experience, I have often found that the core of the problem is normally derived from bad bankruptcy advice from non-attorneys.

When a person files bankruptcy, they will discuss their personal business with family, friends and neighbors BEFORE they will pick up the phone and ask their attorney for legal advice that they paid for.  And as you know, people who are not attorneys love to give legal advice.  It makes them feel important and knowledgeable.  However, you will find that family, friends and neighbors almost always tell horror stories about assets being taken in the middle of the night and people having to live on the street because they lost their home.  These stories often scare debtors and they will lose sight of what is logical and what is not.

Therefore, attorneys and their law staff need to be aware that this is a common problem when dealing with debtors and make it a point to educate their debtors and answer questions for them as it relates to their case.  A more informed debtor will make life much easier on the attorney and their law firm.

TIP: As a new bankruptcy attorney, you may not have all the answers.  That is why you may want to have your debtors watch some of the videos produced by the Federal Bankruptcy Court, which are excellent in answering many of the questions debtors have about bankruptcy.  The link to these videos is at: http://www.uscourts.gov/video/bankruptcybasics/bankruptcyBasics.html

Another good piece of advice to always keep in mind is that people only make changes when they believe the change is going to benefit them.  Therefore, someone has told this particular debtor that it would save them money if they gave up their motor vehicles.  But like all bad advice, this is not always the case.

IF A DEBTOR GIVES UP AN ASSET, DOES THIS SAVE THEM MONEY?

In the bankruptcy case concerning the Chapter 13 debtor I worked with, the debtor actually caused harm to himself by giving up the motor vehicles.  Here is the breakdown to understand why:

Car No. 1 – Market Value = $6,125.00 Lien Amount: $10,640.00 Cram Down saved debtor: $4,515 Benefit in Chapter 13: Monthly payment would have only been $102.00 because the debt would have been paid prorata over the life of the Plan.

Car No. 2 – Market Value = $5,065.00 Lien Amount: $11,687.00 Cram Down saved debtor: $6,622.00 Benefit in Chapter 13: Monthly payment would have only been $85.00 because the debt would have been paid prorata over the life of the Plan.

THE PROBLEMS THAT DEVELOPED FOR THE DEBTOR As you can see from the data above, filing a Chapter 13 would have benefitted the debtor in several ways in regard to his motor vehicles.  However, by surrendering them, the debtor loses all benefit from the use of the vehicles as well as the financial savings from the cram down.

Secondly, the debtor also could have qualified under 722Redemption.Com to upgrade the vehicles and improve his situation.

Thirdly, the debtor lost the monthly IRS expense allowance which was $950.00 for three motor vehicles but only $260 for one.  This alone increased the Chapter 13 Plan payment by an additional $690 per month.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EXTRA MONEY?

When the debtor gave up the two motor vehicles, naturally he no longer made a payment to the lienholder.  This gave the debtor an extra $550.00 per month which was applied to the UNSECURE creditors.  Instead of the debtor being in a 15 percent Chapter 13 Plan, they were now in a 30 percent Chapter 13 Plan; which means that the debtor is paying MORE money to the unsecured creditors but gave up a secure asset in the process.

Also, notice that if the debtor would have kept the vehicles, the debts could have been paid PRORATA over the 60 month life of the Chapter 13 Plan.  This reduced the payments from $550 per month to only $187.00.  Again, the debtor lost again by surrendering the motor vehicles.

TIP TO HELP PREVENT SITUATIONS LIKE THIS FROM HAPPENING TO YOUR CLIENTS

Regardless if you are a new attorney or a seasoned attorney, you should never provide a client with a definite yes or no answer until you have had the opportunity to examine the issue from all angles.  I was at a legal seminar one time and an attorney said: Attorneys never answer questions with yes or no; they always answer with – IT DEPENDS.  The other attorneys in the room laughed, but all of us is aware this is an excellent response if you need more time to research the issue.

Therefore, instead of feeling like you are trapped into providing bankruptcy advice when you are unsure what that advice entails; listen to the client and make sure you get all the facts.  Tell your client that you will need to review their case before you can provide them with an answer.  Assure them that every bankruptcy case is different and what may work for one person may not work for them.  This will provide you with some extra time to either research and get the answer online, contact an attorney mentor, or contact our office at 719-659-0743 and we will try to help you.

NETWORKING WITH BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS

As a new bankruptcy attorney or an experienced attorney new to bankruptcy, you may want to join the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and the American Bar Association.  Both of these organizations provide you with access to a wide range of tools including the ability to join private forums and ask questions to experienced attorneys.

Another way to network is to find out if your local Bar Association offers classes and meetings for bankruptcy attorneys.  If so, make sure you attend and pass out your business card.  Not only is this a terrific way to find attorneys who are mentors but also you build your practice by accepting referrals from other attorneys who are often overloaded with Chapter 7 and 13 work.

A final suggestion is to join a social networking group such as LinkedIn and join all the bankruptcy attorney groups.  From your LinkedIn profile, click on GROUPS and do searches on the key words: bankruptcy attorney, bankruptcy court, chapter 7 attorney and chapter 13 attorney.  LinkedIn provides you with the ability to join up to 50 groups, so join as many as you possibly can.  Once you are a member, you can post questions to other attorneys and get help.

REFERENCE LINKS

http://www.linkedin.com http://www.nacba.org http://www.abiworld.org http://www.hg.org/northam-bar.html

TRAINING REFERENCE

http://www.bankruptcytrainingproducts.com/home/web-and-teleconference-training Have a wonderful week and keep working on ways to improve your skills in Chapter 7 and 13.