Chapter 7 and 13 Bankruptcy Blog

CHAPTER 7 AND 13 PETITION PREPARATION SERVICE

Kelly Thrasher More Clients NOW Phone: 317-370-5032 kelly@moreclients.net http://moreclients.net/

BANKRUPTCY APPRAISER FOR VENTURA AND LOS ANGELES COUNTY CALIFORNIA DEBTORS

Stuart Groten Certified General Appraiser Phone: 805-553-9562 stuartlane@adelphia.net http://www.realtyappraiser.com NETWORK WITH BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS

Karen Fairchild http://www.karenfairchild.com

Marc Mathys and Doug Miche http://bkfreedom.wordpress.com/ Complete List: http://www.bankruptcylinks.info/about/attorney-references

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Bankruptcy Attorney Start-Up Kit http://www.coloradobankruptcytraining.com/bankruptcy_attorney_startup_kit.pdf

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Tools to Start Your Law Firm http://www.bankruptcylinks.info/about/free-supplies

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This information is provided to you by Victoria Ring, CEO of Colorado Bankruptcy Training. Please call us at 719-375-1504 if we can help your law firm. We work hard to earn and keep your business. http://www.coloradobankruptcytraining.com

A total of 78 new pages of Chapter 13 documentation was added to My Bankruptcy School today at: http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com

This new documentation includes two exercises, complete with computer screen shots to assist you in advancing your knowledge of Chapter 13s. In addition, an entire section provided by the Chapter 13 Trustee’s office is provided to help students understand the process before and after Plan confirmation.

Be sure to login to your Chapter 13 Course and download the following new documents:

Chapter 13 Class – Lesson 1 Chapter 13 Class – Lesson 2 Chapter 13 Class – Lesson 3 Chapter 13 Class – Lesson 4

or, if you are not currently enrolled as a student, you can enroll at: http://mybankruptcyschool.com/enroll

Note: My Bankruptcy School is rapidly growing. We are adding new materials as well as training videos on a frequent basis ensuring that you get MORE than your moneys worth. Plus, all students received 1 hour of free, one-on-one training and support every month.

TESTIMONIALS FROM TWO BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS:

I liked your class 1 training videos. Good stuff here. I would endorse them for new attorneys, or attorneys who are new to bk, as a tool to get some practical advice on nuts and bolts of the practice.

Rick West, Esq., West, Hurley, Malkiewicz Board Certified Bankruptcy Attorney http://www.debtfreeohio.com/ I just returned from attending Victoria Ring’s one-on-one bankruptcy training for attorneys. I am setting up my own office after several years doing 7s and 13s with law firms in Sacramento.

I was stunned by the fact that in this world you can get more than your money’s worth. There is no other Victoria Ring. Her personality exudes confidence. She has so much experience that it spills out. Yet, she tailors everything to you! Bring your questions, ask her what you want. You’ll get it. She does not direct you. She can more than fill two days with practical steps for setting up the office, turning out petitions, and letting potential clients find you. She is 100% committed to you.

I was not the same person on the plane home and the individual work has stayed with me. Do not pass up having Victoria Ring train you and your staff!

Karen Fairchild, Esq. http://www.karenfairchild.com

 

Board Certified Bankruptcy Attorney Richard West of West, Hurley and Malkiewicz in Springboro, Ohio, sent us the following feedback after reviewing My Bankruptcy School training videos for Class 1:

Dear Victoria:

I liked your Class 1 bankruptcy training videos.  I would endorse them for new attorneys, or attorneys who are new to bankruptcy, as a tool to get some practical advice on nuts and bolts of the practice.

The next step would be to do some videos on common mistakes made in preparing the petition, schedules, etc. Actually, Judge Stephen Rhoads (Michigan) did a study on that topic. I heard him speak on it as he was conducting the study, that was back in 05 or 06, I think, he was speaking in Dayton, and he noted that almost all petitions have some errors.  Some minor, some not.  A review of the schedules and forms would be a good thing to do.

One idea you might pass along would be to ask the trustees who they think consistently does a good job on petitions, and then call that attorney and see if he would give the name of a client he has that has a representative case.  The new attorney could download the petition from pacer and have an example of a petition, done by a good practitioner, and well received by trustees.  That way the form of presenting the data can be mimicked by the new attorney.  And, the experienced attorney won’t have to do anything but give a name.  As you point out, good practitioners are busy.  But if a newbie asked me that question, I would be willing to do it.  Actually, I routinely answer bk questions for other attorneys.  The old-timers did it for me, and I am now one of them, I do it for the new attorneys.

Also, if you formed a group of experienced (board certified like I am or not) attorneys – you could call the group whatever you wanted – who would endorse the training you could get additional credibility – like a testimonial.  And, those attorneys who were willing to do that could appear on the site, in a bio format, with links back to our websites, and we could link to you, and to each other, and form a kind of link-wheel, thereby benefiting all of us.

Rick West, Esq.

For more information about My Bankruptcy School visit: http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com

To visit the website of Attorney Richard West, visit: http://www.debtfreeohio.com

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 »

I had two attorneys this week send us bankruptcy cases where they wanted to propose a Cram Down on the FIRST mortgage and a Strip Down of the SECOND because the house was underwater. Unfortunately, both of the bankruptcy clients were not eligible for a cram down. I had to call both attorneys and let them know. They were shocked and were not aware that pre-qualification was necessary to propose a mortgage cram down and strip. This is when I decided to write this article to help other attorneys and their law firms. 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=39Knm0X6TTs

MyBankruptcySchool.Com is the first online school developed for bankruptcy attorneys, paralegals and legal professionals to teach Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy petition preparation skills. This video walks you through the benefits provided to students who enroll in the online courses.

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

View changes at:  http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com/

We are now into our third online bankruptcy school class.  Two problems I have found is that (1) some people are unable to attend all the classes for the course they registered for; and (2) with every class, I am developing new training materials and adding it to the course materials.  Since I want to make sure everyone has access to the same tools as future students, I decided to add a method of solving these two problems.

YOU CAN NOW ENROLL AT ANY TIME

Here’s how it works:

There are two components to every Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy course:

Component 1

Once you pay your registration fee you are granted immediate access to the online school where you can watch videos, listen to audios from previous classes, download all the training materials, take the class exercises and online quizzes.  This way, you can learn at your own pace regardless of when the live, instructor-led classes begin.

Component 2

The second component is the LIVE, instructor-led online classes.  We have ongoing Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 classes that are offered every month.  That way, if you miss a class, you can attend any that you missed in future months when the same class is given.

IN FACT . . .

As a registered student you receive THREE MONTHS OF FREE ACCESS after you enroll in our courses.  This means that you can attend all the live classes a total of 4 times if you wish.  Plus, you have access to all new training materials that are developed for future classes since you are able to login and use the system up to ninety (90) days after your enrollment month.

GET STARTED TODAY and learn the skills you need to improve the services you provide to clients and protect the debtor in the best manner possible.  These are important skills that are rarely taught in any other legal course.  Take advantage of the opportunity to get started now.  Visit:

http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com

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 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

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.