Saw the lawyer today!

[ducksinarow]

Well I decided on the lawyer today. Paid him, and have been working on filling out all the paperwork since then! WOW, what a lot to go through.

I have it almost ready and will be going tomorrow to take it back so he can file.

I already had two creditors call. My lawyer advised me to give his name/address/number and to not tell them my business at all - not to tell them I am filing bankruptcy, etc.

The first creditor refused to take his information and berated me for a few minutes before I hung up on him.

The next creditor took the info and was very polite.

Anyways - I am still nervous, can't wait till this is over...

[sunshine08]

You need to try and have a little more patience, the phone calls are almost over. Try not to answer the phone until it is filed and you get a case number, then have the case number, attorneys name and number by the phone for a couple weeks. Also tell them not to call you again, you have filed bankruptcy, but make sure when they call, you get their name, number, and the company they represent.
I found that if you talk to the creditors with only giving them attorney's name and number, they start asking about bankruptcy etc. I know the calls are annoying, they started with us at 7:45 am up until 9:00 at night, sometimes a little later. The answering machine and caller id were my friends. If you don't have either, tell them you aren't home and take a message.

[ducksinarow]

Well my lawyer told me to answer the calls and give his information to him and nothing else.

[StaciMM]

Are you happy w/ the attorney, and was this the only you met with? I don't regret deciding to do it Pro Se but I know if we'd met w/ a better attorney I would have gladly let him handle it!

Well my lawyer told me to answer the calls and give his information to him and nothing else.

[sunshine08]

I only found that when you talked to some of the creditors and gave them the attorney's name and number, they already feel like you are filing bankruptcy and will ask a zillion questions. Some of them refused to call my attorney (said the account was in my name not the attorney's name) just kept calling until I gave them a case number. Another problem I ran into was asking if I was filing bankruptcy, which chapter, when, etc. Some also want you to settle.
Also, your attorney probably isn't going to talk with them either. The secretary will just take a message. After all, a few days after filing the creditors will be notified.
You still may get a few calls after filing because they have turned these accounts over to collection agencies and the original creditor fails to pass this on.
Just food for thought.
Good luck.

[ducksinarow]

Yeah, that's why I am answering - because most of them are not even calling from the original creditor and I need their info in order to add them to the bankruptcy list. KWIM?

Yes, I like him very much. He does strictly bankruptcys and was very straightfoward and easy going. Made me feel comfortable.

[sunshine08]

I got a phone call about a month ago from a collection agency in reference to an account that had been notified already about the bankruptcy. I called them back and they told me that the company had not passed on this information and they were sorry to bother me.
Our case was a little different from alot of cases on here, in that I am surprised that many of our creditors had let us go as long as they did without us making payments. it had been about 9 months before we filed since we had paid the creditors we were in the debt consolidation program with.
also, our attorney found a couple "old" debts we didn't know about.

[ducksinarow]

Well it's been even longer for us! I stopped making payments on almost all the big ones in May of 2004 when we had emptied our savings paying them for the 6 months previous when I stopped working and was in the hospital in and out. I have no clue who all the people are that are calling or who they are calling for since the actual companies (cc, hospitals, etc) don't call anymore. They sold the accounts long ago to collection agencies.