Chapter 7 and 13 Bankruptcy Blog

On October 6, 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs in Denver, Colorado, approved the training provided online at MyBankruptcySchool.Com under Vocational Rehabilitation Chapter 31, Title 38. This opens the door to both retired and disabled veterans; a respected segment of our community consisting of thousands of attorneys with many years of excellent legal experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Colorado Bankruptcy Training is pleased to announce the release of the first bankruptcy training videos ever produced to train the skills needed to prepare a well-detailed Schedule B within the bankruptcy petition. As you may know, we just released the Voluntary Petition and Schedule A training videos last week. Read the rest of this entry »

If the video does not automatically appear in the area above, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojn-TWS6aAA

This is an 8-minute excerp from our Means Test training class. This video provides you with great tips and information but it also lets you experience the type of online classes available to you through MyBankruptcySchool.com.

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

The first Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Petition Training Class began on July 5, 2010. The first class consisted of eight students; four attorneys and four non-attorneys.  I asked the students if the online class was different compared to purchasing the training videos.  Three comments I received were:

The online class is much different from the videos.  You provide different information in the online class so I would recommend someone purchase both for well-rounded training.

I really prefer the online class because I can ask questions directly to the instructor and get an immediate answer.  I also like the personal touch because a video is a recording and the online classes are LIVE.

I like the videos because I can watch the lessons over and over again; however, the online class does provide an advantage in the fact that different information is covered compared to the training videos.

The Cost Saving Advantage to Online Classes

The biggest advantage to attending online classes is the cost savings.  For example, to attend a one day seminar you could invest as much as $2,000 for airfare, hotel and meals; let alone the time spent away from work.  But by attending online classes you CAN SAVE 90%. The Chapter 7 class is only $275 and the Chapter 13 is $150.  Plus, you attend online and have absolutely no overhead costs.

I noticed this benefit immediately during the development of the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Petition Training Class.  From 2004 until this year I traveled throughout the United States speaking at seminars.  The average overhead cost for me to book a hotel meeting room, rent the audio visual equipment, make copies of manuals and buy food for attendees was about $3,000.  That meant that I needed 10 people to sign up for a $300 seminar just to break even.  Rarely did I ever produce a profit, but I knew the training was necessary for attorneys and virtual bankruptcy assistants, so I continued doing the seminars as long as I broke even; but my business suffered because I was out of town; just like your law firm would suffer if you had to miss work to attend a seminar.

However, now, with the development of the online class, I can conduct a class if only one person signs up.  That’s because instead of paying $3,000 in overhead expenses for a one day seminar, I only pay $7 a month for hosting the website.  My costs are reduced – the costs for the student are reduced; and it is a win/win situation that I am sure more people are going to enjoy.

Why are some people apprehensive about online classes?

One reason people have trouble accepting online courses are that the quality of many of them is extremely poor.  I signed up for a class that had absolutely no live interaction from the instructor.  In fact, she would not even reply to my emails.  I had to actually call the school and complain just to get the instructor to respond.  Also, the materials were only available online, not in a classroom setting; and the materials were very scanty and contained poor content.  The information was only theory and contained nothing that I could actually put to use in my real work life.

These are just a couple of reasons why online schools and classes have a bad reputation and are destroying the reputation for professional schools like MyBankruptcySchool.com.  I hope you give us a chance because the materials we provide are the best in the field and are taught by the developer of the virtual bankruptcy assistant industry.  This is top level training at low prices designed for bankruptcy attorneys just starting a law firm and operating on a tight budget.

Questions from Attorneys Regarding the Online Classes

Q: Why is the Chapter 7 class so long?  Can I jump ahead and take the class in a few days?

A: The online courses that I developed are not intended to dictate to you like grade school.  If you want to download all the handouts and quizzes, never attend a class and complete your training in a few days; that decision is entirely up to you.  I will tell you that you get so much more from attending the live meetings because you learn a great deal from the instructor.  But whether you attend or not is your decision.

Q: What materials do I receive once I enroll in the course?

A: Prior to the first day of the course you will be emailed a username and password so you can have access to My Bankruptcy School online.  A video showing you a visual tour around the interface is provided at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc-598gBlxQ

Once logged into MyBankruptcySchool.com you will have access to:  (1) extensive handout materials; (2) quizzes to check your progress; (3) audios of previously recorded classes; plus (4) all the other features of the interface.

Q: What other topics do you cover in the course that are not listed on the website?

A: Every class is very intense and contains a great deal of information.  However, every class is different because the topics are structured around the needs of the particular students in that class.  However, some popular topics I cover to help attorneys are: (1) how to set up electronic files; (2) how to incorporate marketing techniques into your operational procedures to produce long term results; (3) client intake interview tips; and (4) social media for marketing.

Do you have any other questions?

Fill out the contact form at: http://www.coloradobankruptcytraining.com/contact-us

What classes are available?

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Classes are available at: http://www.bankruptcytrainingproducts.com/home/web-and-teleconference-training

How do I find the My Bankruptcy School website? http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com

Sample Bankruptcy Games

Bankruptcy Terminology Game http://www.quia.com/cc/1983817.html

Bankruptcy Hangman Game http://www.quia.com/hm/665546.html

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

Beginning on June 15, 2010, the federal government will begin mailing one-time $250 rebate checks to Medicare beneficiaries who have hit the drug plan’s coverage gap known as: the doughnut hole.

The payment is part of the new health care reform law and people on Medicare do not have to apply to receive the rebate.  Checks will be mailed roughly every six weeks until the end of the year.

Help with drug costs will continue in 2011 when those on Medicare will receive a 50 percent discount if they reach the doughnut hole.  Savings will continue to increase over the years until the doughnut hole is closed in 2020.

What Does This Mean For Those Who Prepare Bankruptcy Petitions?

If you have a debtor who receives an income from the federal government, you need to ask them if they receive Medicare.  If so, ask them if they received the $250 rebate check.  If so, this additional income will need to be added to Schedule I and the Means Test within the bankruptcy petition.

For more information visit: http://www.medicare.gov

Upcoming Bankruptcy Training Seminars

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

CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY PETITION TRAINING COURSE Course Length: 30 days

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 a complete course description, visit:

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

CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY PETITION TRAINING COURSE Course Length:  5 days

This course is an advanced course.  Students should have either completed the Chapter 7 Petition Training Course or have six (6) months of working knowledge in preparing Chapter 7 petitions prior to taking this course.  For a complete course description visit:

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

HOW TO TRANSITION YOUR BANKRUPTCY LAW FIRM TO A PAPERLESS OFFICE Course Length:  2 hours

This teleseminar will focus on transforming your law firm to a paperless office. We will explore a wide variety of different operational procedures starting at the initial client intake through the filing of the bankruptcy petition. You will learn insider tricks and techniques used by paralegals working inside the law firm for many years. They have been tried and tested and passed on to you when you attend this class.

OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES AND TIME SAVINGS TECHNIQUES FOR BANKRUPTCY LAW FIRMS Course Length:  2 hours

This teleseminar will focus on operational procedures and time saving techniques specifically for use inside your law firm.  This is also an excellent training course for paralegals and legal assistants if you are not a solo practitioner.  BONUS:  Designing and maintaining your own law firm website using WordPress.

Get more information and register for courses at: http://www.bankruptcytrainingproducts.com/home/web-and-teleconference-training

If you have worked in bankruptcy longer than 1 minute, I am sure you know that one of the most time-consuming tasks in preparing a bankruptcy petition is waiting for the client to provide you with the information you need.

ATTORNEYS DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM IN A NUMBER OF WAYS:

1.  Some attorneys designate one specific person in the office to follow-up with clients and make sure the client intake forms are filled out properly as well as gathering all the documentation BEFORE the petition even begins the input cycle.

2.  Some attorneys will enter in the data they have.  Then, as new information comes in from the debtor, they add to the information in the bankruptcy software until the petition is completed and ready to file.

3.  Some attorneys bring the clients into the office and does a live client intake interview to speed up the process.  In the interview the debtor is made to answer all the questions on the forms and sent home with a list of documents they need to bring back to the office before their petition is filed.

4.  Some attorneys just put everything in a file and do not do anything until the debtor pays their entire attorney fee in full.

MY SOLUTION:

After preparing and working with literally thousands of bankruptcy petitions, the method that works for me is NOT to enter the data into a Schedule until you have all the information you need for that particular Schedule.

For example, the average debtor does not enjoy filling out debt sheets.  They want the law firm to pull a credit report and gather their own information, rather than caring enough to take responsibility and do the job right. (Note:  A credit report is a tool. It should never be used solely to prepare Schedule F.) Therefore, before I prepare Schedule F of the bankruptcy petition, I look through the debt sheets the debtors provided.  If the debt sheets are not at least 80% complete, I do not enter anything on Schedule F.  The same holds true for Schedule A.  If the debtors do not have a recent appraisal, know who they pay their mortgage to, provide account numbers, the date the debt was incurred and a balance owed on the mortgage, I do not begin Schedule A.

I have found that by following this procedure, I rarely miss important pieces of data within the bankruptcy petition.  If I enter one piece of info, close the software, find another piece of data, open up the software and enter it, then repeat this process over and over again until one Schedule is complete; errors are much more prominent.  Additionally, the process is much more time-consuming.  If you continually open and close your software program, entering data as it is fed to you, you not only increase your time spent working on the petition but you will greatly decrease efficiency.

DO YOU ENJOY THESE TIPS?

Visit http://www.coloradobankruptcytraining.com and take advantage of some of the unique, low-cost training options for attorneys and their staff.

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The problem: There is not enough left over for the debtors to make a Chapter 13 Plan payment.

I talked with an attorney today who said:  For a Chapter 13 Plan, I thought all I needed to do was take the amount left over between Schedules I and J and this was the Plan payment.

Unfortunately, in 90% of the cases, it is not that simple.  For example: Today I had a married couple who owed three mortgages on their home.  Here are the particulars:

$420,000 – Current market value of home

$320,000 – First mortgage $  20,000 – Second mortgage $200,000 – Third mortgage $  20,725 – Exemption allowance

Adding up $320 + $20 + $200 we have a total of $540.  The home is valued at $420, leaving the debtors with $120 in equity.  Minus out the exemption allowance and the debtors are UNDERWATER by  approximately $100.  This means that the attorney could propose a cram down on the THIRD mortgage and save the debtors $100,000.

This is a good thing, right?  Wrong.  Even with the cram down, the debtors only have $2,300 left over every month to make a Chapter 13 Plan payment.  After plugging in the figures into the Chapter 13 Plan, it would take a MINIMUM of $3,000 in a monthly payment just to cover the mortgage obligation, and still then, the unsecure creditors would only be paid 9 percent  (which could be a problem.)

BAD SOLUTION:

Some attorneys, when faced with a problem like this will reduce the expenses on Schedule J just to get the case filed.  But these are the types of things that will drive a Trustee insane.  Also, these are the types of things that can embarrass an attorney in court in front of their clients because they have not done their job properly.  They took the easy way out and left the Trustee to figure it out.

GOOD SOLUTION:

The best approach to solving this dilemma is for the attorney to meet with the debtors and explain the situation.  The attorney should start by giving the debtors a copy of Schedule J and ask them to look over the figures and let them know if everything looks okay.   After the debtors approve the figures (or change them) the attorney can explain the problem to the debtors in terms they will be better able to understand.

The attorney may say something like:  Since the figures are correct on Schedule J, you can see that you have $2,300 left over per month.  However, since your house payment is almost $2,000 that leaves you with only $300 to pay on your cars and the $250,000 in credit card debt.  As you can see, there is not enough money to do that.  Can you look over Schedule I and J and let me know if you can find an extra $700 so that I can make the Chapter 13 Plan work?

This puts control in the debtors hands and allows them to feel they are taking an active role.  If debtors understand issues, they will be more cooperative in staying in the Chapter 13 Plan.  However, if the debtors are unable to come up with a solution, at least they will be able to understand the problem and the attorney can explain different options.

WHAT IS THE BEST SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM?

If the debtors are unable to afford their home or do not anticipate increasing their income, the best solution would be to surrender the home.  This would give the debtors a fresh start and since there are only two of them, they could downsize and still leave a comfortable lifestyle.

However, people are attached to their THINGS, like homes and cars.  In fact, they are so emotionally attached that they cannot stand for a day to pass unless they have that particular home or particular car in their possession.  I personally do not understand it.  Everything in life comes and goes.  Everyone has a time when they have money and a time when they do not.  During the times when I have less money, I spend less and adjust my spending habits.  When I have money again, I celebrate and spend more.

Unfortunately, many people today are not willing to make sacrifices, but I hope this article at least puts the problem into a more understandable perspective.