AboutLos Angeles Bankruptcy Lawyer Leon D. Bayer Expertise Personal and small business bankruptcy. Mr. Bayer has successfully handled thousands of bankruptcy cases. You can view his personal web site at:
Publications Author, ?The Essentials Of Chapter 13,? Daily Journal Report, December 18, 1987.
Contributing Editor, Basic Bankruptcy, California Practice Handbook, Matthew Bender 1992, 1993.
CEB Consultant, CEB-Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Practice in California, 2003.
Awards and Honors President, 1995-1996-Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum; Member - Los Angeles County Bar Association Committee on Commercial Law & Bankruptcy, 1988. Law Advisory
Commission-Personal & Small Business Bankruptcy Law of the State Bar of California, 1996-2000
MR. BAYER SAYS: The big banks and credit card companys have been working overtime for many years to undermine the Consitutional right of the American people to be able to claim bankruptcy protection. In 2005 the banking lobby successfully convinced Congress and the President to make the laws and proceedures more complicated, hopeing that it will stymie legitimate people from filing bankruptcy. They succeeded in gaining these complex new legal proceedures by greasing the legislative system with hundreds of millions of dollars in "campaign contributions." The good news for the American people is that while the new laws have made the proceedures needlessly complex to the point where inexperienced people can't help but trip over the maze of new rules and regulations, the process is still doable, especially with a lawyer who is well trained and experienced in this specialty.
Question Thank you so much for your time and service. I am writing to you on my
parents' behalf. They have found themselves in a very bad situation upon
taking the advice given to them by Legal Aid of North Texas (a non-profit
agency that offers free legal services for those who qualify. My dad was sick
for several years and has accumulated a large amount of medical debt. He
has also not worked while accumulating this debt due to the same illness but
he does collect $800 a month in disability. My mom works as a custodian and
makes about (25K). Over the past years they have used their credit cards to
pay for a lot of medical bills and expenses. Now they are over their heads in
medical and credit card bills. The amazing thing about my parents is that
through it all they never once made even a late payment and have maintained
an excellent credit score. Three months they went to Legal Aid to ask for help
starting the bankruptcy process. I was with them. We were explicitly told by
the lawyer that they would not help us because all our accounts were current.
He explicitly said we needed to be behind by at least 90 days to qualify for
help. My parents were very reluctant to let their accounts go into poor
standing but they stopped paying and accepted responsibility for the
collection calls to come. Now that they have complied by letting their
accounts get 90 days past due, we went back to Legal Aid and, even though
everything else is as it was, they are refusing to accept our case. My parents
are very overwhelmed with the calls of course but also because they don't
know where to go next. Do they begin repaying on the late accounts? Do we
look for a lawyer? How can we find one that is cost effective? We need urgent
help.
I am so sorry that your family is facing this problem.
I am curious to know if legal aid gave any reason for turning the case down when you went back to them?
In any event it does not surprise me. Where I am located in Los Angeles, the various legal aid organizations rarely ever handle a bankruptcy.
It is time for your parents to go and see a private attorney. The good news is that most lawyers don't charge anything for an initial bankruptcy consultation. Hopefully you will find one that is a good match for your parents, and affordable.
Many lawyers will take a case with a small deposit, and allow you to immediately begin referring the bill collectors to the lawyer; that usually stops the harassment, and your parents can then work on getting the lawyer paid over the next several months, and then the lawyer will file the case after all the fees are paid in full.
Instead of using their available money to pay creditors, they can use it to pay the attorney and get this all taken care of.
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