I've been reading through many of the posts in this forum, and I have to say that the information is incredible...but it has left me very, very worried. Here is why....
Early in October 2004 I received a notice that I was being sued by one of my credit card companies. They were suing me for a debt of about $15,000. I had been considering Ch.7 for many months, but getting that notice of a law-suit put the fire under my butt. I went to see an attorney within a few days of receiving the notice of the court date. This attorney is supposedly one of the best in town and I paid him immediately so my BK could be filed as soon as possible. I asked him what I should do about the summons I had received, and he said that I didn't need to do anything because he would draft a letter to the CC company, and the court stating that I was in the process of filing BK. He told me that the letter would put a halt to and judgements which may have been made against me. He told me I didn't have to go to court because he was sending them a letter. Well, a couple weeks after the court date, I received a notice of judgement in favor of the Plaintiff, of course. But not only did I owe them the original 15 grand, I now owed them 19 grand because of court costs! I took this paper to my attorney and he told me not to be concerned because it would be discharged in the BK. He said that even though someone files BK, court cases still go through and judgements could still be awarded. But he said those judgements are discharged as long as the creditor was listed in the BK file.
My BK hearing is this coming Tuesday, the 16th, by the way.
So, after reading some of the posts on this board, I find myself confused and getting angry. Did my attorney screw me up? I have read that if a judgement was made prior to your BK hearing, the judgement slips through and you still end up owing the money. I am angry because I feel that my attorney totally misled me into thinking I was going to be okay. I didn't even turn in my BK paperwork to be filed until 2 months after I paid the attorney because I had to go through all my bills and make sure I wasn't missing anything. Basically, I took my sweet time and now I feel it was a mistake. If my attorney would have told me I needed to file my papers BEFORE the case went in front of the judge, I wouldn't have waited so long to get my papers back to him. I really feel like he didn't advise me well at all, especially if I am now going to be stuck with paying this 20 thousand dollar judgement. And he never told me about any option to file a motion to discharge or avoid a judicial lien.
I feel like I have been totally screwed over by my attorney. I paid him in full a couple days after I went to see him...700 bucks...and I had the summons in hand the day I consulted with him. Why didn't he advise me that there was no time to waste? Why didn't he have his paralegal get my forms ready and sent to me within a couple days instead of a couple weeks? And for Heaven's sake, why didn't he advise me to go to the court hearing and tell the judge I was filing BK? He said his letter would fix everything, but now I wonder if he even sent a letter at all....and no, I never got a copy and didn't ask for one because I trusted him.
Basically, it comes down to this...if this judgement makes it through the BK...and according to the Moderator of this board, it will...what the heck am I supposed to do? I thought everything was going to be fine and dandy because that is what I was being told by an attorney who has done thousands of BK's. I guess you can call me naive and accuse me of not covering my own butt by following up with what he said he was doing...but when you pay an attorney, you are supposed to be able to trust them.
Someone please give me some advice...it's much needed. What can you do if your case was not handled properly and you end up on the losing end?
I'm sorry this is so long...thanks for reading.
Early in October 2004 I received a notice that I was being sued by one of my credit card companies. They were suing me for a debt of about $15,000. I had been considering Ch.7 for many months, but getting that notice of a law-suit put the fire under my butt. I went to see an attorney within a few days of receiving the notice of the court date. This attorney is supposedly one of the best in town and I paid him immediately so my BK could be filed as soon as possible. I asked him what I should do about the summons I had received, and he said that I didn't need to do anything because he would draft a letter to the CC company, and the court stating that I was in the process of filing BK. He told me that the letter would put a halt to and judgements which may have been made against me. He told me I didn't have to go to court because he was sending them a letter. Well, a couple weeks after the court date, I received a notice of judgement in favor of the Plaintiff, of course. But not only did I owe them the original 15 grand, I now owed them 19 grand because of court costs! I took this paper to my attorney and he told me not to be concerned because it would be discharged in the BK. He said that even though someone files BK, court cases still go through and judgements could still be awarded. But he said those judgements are discharged as long as the creditor was listed in the BK file.
My BK hearing is this coming Tuesday, the 16th, by the way.
So, after reading some of the posts on this board, I find myself confused and getting angry. Did my attorney screw me up? I have read that if a judgement was made prior to your BK hearing, the judgement slips through and you still end up owing the money. I am angry because I feel that my attorney totally misled me into thinking I was going to be okay. I didn't even turn in my BK paperwork to be filed until 2 months after I paid the attorney because I had to go through all my bills and make sure I wasn't missing anything. Basically, I took my sweet time and now I feel it was a mistake. If my attorney would have told me I needed to file my papers BEFORE the case went in front of the judge, I wouldn't have waited so long to get my papers back to him. I really feel like he didn't advise me well at all, especially if I am now going to be stuck with paying this 20 thousand dollar judgement. And he never told me about any option to file a motion to discharge or avoid a judicial lien.
I feel like I have been totally screwed over by my attorney. I paid him in full a couple days after I went to see him...700 bucks...and I had the summons in hand the day I consulted with him. Why didn't he advise me that there was no time to waste? Why didn't he have his paralegal get my forms ready and sent to me within a couple days instead of a couple weeks? And for Heaven's sake, why didn't he advise me to go to the court hearing and tell the judge I was filing BK? He said his letter would fix everything, but now I wonder if he even sent a letter at all....and no, I never got a copy and didn't ask for one because I trusted him.
Basically, it comes down to this...if this judgement makes it through the BK...and according to the Moderator of this board, it will...what the heck am I supposed to do? I thought everything was going to be fine and dandy because that is what I was being told by an attorney who has done thousands of BK's. I guess you can call me naive and accuse me of not covering my own butt by following up with what he said he was doing...but when you pay an attorney, you are supposed to be able to trust them.
Someone please give me some advice...it's much needed. What can you do if your case was not handled properly and you end up on the losing end?
I'm sorry this is so long...thanks for reading.
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