Q: Will I lose my house/car?

A: In the vast majority of cases, no. Bankruptcy can help you to catch up on missed mortgage payments, car payments and back taxes by making payments over time - and get rid of credit card and personal loan debt forever.

I will complete a thorough and complete case analysis before filing your case. I have never had a client lose property against their will in a bankruptcy case.

Q: What if I'm being sued or my house is in foreclosure?

A: Filing bankruptcy will STOP any legal action against you to collect a debt - including lawsuits, foreclosure actions, tax sales and sheriff sales.

Once we have stopped those things from happening, bankruptcy can get you back on track and stop those legal actions from ever starting again.

Q: What if my creditors won't agree to this?

A: As long as we comply with the bankruptcy laws, your creditors have no choice and no say regarding your case. Bankruptcy is an option protected by federal law.

Q: Who pays my credit card bills after bankruptcy?

A: No one. The goal of bankruptcy is to get a discharge. A discharge is a court order stating that you are no longer obligated to pay certain debts. Debts that are discharged are not paid by you or by the government, and after the bankruptcy filing your creditors are forbidden to bother you again. No more phone calls, no more letters, no more threats, no more bills.

Q: Didn't Congress do away with bankruptcy?

A: No. In 2005, changes to the bankruptcy laws made it more difficult to file bankruptcy, but bankruptcy is still available and legal.

Q: Will bankruptcy destroy my credit rating?

A: Bankruptcy has a negative impact on your credit eligibility. But if you are overwhelmed enough to seriously consider bankruptcy, your credit is already damaged. Remember that bankruptcy provides a Fresh Start. In the long term, discharging debt through bankruptcy may make you a better candidate for credit in the future.

If you are overwhelmed enough to seriously consider bankruptcy, the last thing in the world you should be thinking about is how you can incur more debt. The ironic truth is that those who need credit the least have the easiest access to credit. Learn to live without credit as much as possible.

Q: Why are your fees higher than other lawyers?

A: I can't speak for other attorneys, but I know how my office works. I am with you from the initial consultation, to the case filing, at the "meeting of creditors", until your discharge is entered.

We start taking calls from your creditors as soon as you retain my services - we tell them to stop harassing you, and they listen. We get your credit report from at least two reporting agencies to make sure that we have the best information available.

I sit down with you and complete a thorough interview process to help identify and avoid any problems. I sit down with you again to review everything before filing. After filing, we help keep the creditors at bay and work with the court and the trustee to deal with any concerns.

I could charge a lot less if I hired data entry people to do all the work. I'd rather make sure your case is handled properly.

Q: What about "credit repair", "credit counseling" and "credit consolidation" companies? Isn't that a better option?

A: It is always a good idea to learn more about how credit works. Some people find themselves in financial distress because of overspending. Those people can certainly benefit from a good financial education program - and many good ones are available. In fact, bankruptcy laws require that those who file bankruptcy receive some financial education.

But in my experience the vast majority of those who find themselves in financial trouble have not spent money irresponsibly - they have suffered a drop in income due to job loss, illness, injury or other factors.

For those individuals, the "bankruptcy alternatives" listed above can be very bad news. To understand why, you need to look at how those programs work.

Most work something like this: The company promises to have you debt free in X months. You are told to stop paying your credit card bills and start making a monthly payment to the "bankruptcy alternative" company.

You start the monthly payments. The company takes their fee and begins negotiating with your credit cards. Some cards will negotiate, some will not. In the meantime, credit card fees, interest and penalties keep adding up. Eventually the credit cards begin to pursue legal action against you for non-payment, including lawsuits. THE "BANKRUPTCY ALTERNATIVE" COMPANY CANNOT STOP THEM FROM SUING YOU.

The credit cards who sue you will get judgments against you in court, and may even take steps to come after your property. The "bankruptcy alternative" company will continue taking your monthly payments and depositing the money in an account. When they have enough in the account to pay a negotiated settlement with one of your cards, they will do so. Then they start "saving up" again to pay the negotiated settlement with the next card.

If you can keep up the payments long enough, you will be debt free. Unfortunately, if you cannot keep up the payments, you may end up worse than you started, with thousands of dollars in fees and interest tacked on to your bill.

Bankruptcy is very different. Most people don't have to make any monthly payments. Those that do have to make monthly payments only have to make them for 3-5 years - and never longer than 5 years. If payments are required, they are determined by your financial situation - not by what your creditors think you should pay. The total amount of money you pay back is almost always dramatically less than what a "bankruptcy alternative" plan costs. With bankruptcy you have the power of the federal courts on your side - stopping creditors from harassing or suing you, and you also have an attorney to stand up for your rights.