Requesting that fees paid in advance be returned

[xraya]

I am finally getting my act together and filing Chapter 7 in the next few weeks. I received a Supplementary Process Application to appear in court for a judgement that a credit card company has on me. I have a second outstanding judgement that I haven't heard anything on, which is surprising as it is almost a year old.

I had been working with an attorney that participated in a prepaid legal plan that I have through my work. This attorney has been dragging his feet IMO and it really feels like he is blowing me off. When I asked for advice on what to do about the Supplementary Process I received, his response was basically "you need to go to court on X day." Like that's not obvious to me, I was just wondering what I need to bring with me and what to expect. All in all, not a good feeling at all from this guy.

So I met with another attorney whose specialty is bankruptcy and laid everything out on the table with her. Turns out, I got some bad advice from Attorney #1 in reference to my husband's unemployment. I have decided to use this attorney to file my BK. One of her partners is a Trustee in the area and she participates BK forums with other attorneys in the area, so she is pretty up to date on the case law in the area and what can and can't be considered income for the means test.

Last summer, I prepaid the court fees to Attorney #1. At the time, I thought I would be filing within a few weeks and paid him when I had the money. Since I am not going to be filing with his office, I am requesting a refund of the court fees I previously paid. I wrote a simple, short letter requesting a refund of the fees. When I mail the letter, should I get a return receipt? Would it be better to send it in an email?

[bcohen]

I had been working with an attorney that participated in a prepaid legal plan that I have through my work. This attorney has been dragging his feet IMO and it really feels like he is blowing me off... All in all, not a good feeling at all from this guy.

Yeah, that's the thing about so-called "home warranties", pre-paid legal "insurance", and other similar schemes. The company selling the policy (such as American Home Shield) makes all the money, and pays the subcontractor so little that they HAVE to "half-ass it" in order to not lose money. I am sure the pre-paid legal plan is the same way. The attorney receives maybe $200 flat-rate per case (which is what American Home Shield pays per service call to a plumber/electrician/HVAC contractor)* and then has to eat the remaining costs/time. Hence, they don't have a lot of incentive to do stellar work.

* I know this for a fact, because I worked as a HVAC service technician for more than 7 years, and I worked for more than one employer who was on "flat rate" compensation with American Home Shield, and my supervisors always wanted me to do a "half-ass" fix so the customer's unit would run at least another 30 days (at which point, we were no longer responsible for it) and falsify records that would indicate the need to replace equipment, which again we would have to eat the cost of. In fact, there were times that I had to work very hard to NOT find the leak in someone's A/C!

[TRfromillino]

Hope you can get your filing fee back! I would *think* that you should considering that you haven't filed yet. I didn't have that option, had to pay upfront for the whole thing, then when I realized that the attorney and I were definitely NOT on the same page, he would only allow me half of a refund. Not enough to hire another attorney. so I'm stuck. Hope you have better luck!

[despritfreya]

The funds you paid for the filing fee do not belong to the attny. The funds are held "in trust" for your benefit. The attny must return the $306.00 you paid upon request. Request can be by phone, email, snail mail or actually showing up at the office. Personally I would call ahead and then go to the office to pick up the check (which should be written out of the attny's trust account). I would do it this way so that there is no delay in the return of funds or some under-handed activity like claiming "the checks in the mail" but it's not.

Des.

[xraya]

Thanks Des. I emailed Attorney #1 this morning, saying that I was going in a different direction and I wanted a refund of the fees and told him when I was available to pick up the check. Almost immediately, he replied saying it would be available tomorrow and that they would close my file and good luck. That is that fastest reply I have ever gotten from him.

What I don't understand is, if my case was too complicated or beyond his understanding of the law, why didn't he suggest I go to a different attorney? If he doesn't make much money from legal plan cases, why even take them on? I have been delaying my BK on his advice and because of it, I now have 2 judgements and have to appear in court in 2 weeks to go over my income and expenses in front of a judge. It's beyond frustrating for me.

[Floridagail]

Can you attorney sent a response to the court that you are in process of bankruptcy to avoid you having to go. Or just go ahead and file asap.

[xraya]

Floridagail, my attorney is working on filing ASAP, but just in case she can't get all the paperwork together in time, she advised me to give the attorney a call a few days before the hearing and let him know that I'm filing BK and does he really want to drive all the way out in the sticks to go to this meeting when he won't be getting any money out of it. I am working on getting my direct deposit switched to a Walmart Card though, just in case they try and seize my bank account in the mean time, so I won't be calling them until I know that's done. If worst comes to worst, I will just go to the hearing and tell the judge that I am filing BK in the very near future and see what he says to that.

[Pjmax]

It might be more effective if your attorney called.

[xraya]

man my new attorney is fast! I turned in my paperwork to her last Thursday and she called me today to let me know that she had all the preliminary paperwork drawn up. She just needs a few more things from me that I will get to her tomorrow along with the other half of my fees and then I can file! Hopefully, before my court date next Thursday.

[tobee43]

very cool!!! it's so nice when one has an excellent atty and it's excellent when an atty has a great and cooperative client! that's the way things get done.

[xraya]

Thanks tobee! I think it helps that I'm super anal about paperwork and documentation.

[EandGWZ]

man my new attorney is fast! I turned in my paperwork to her last Thursday and she called me today to let me know that she had all the preliminary paperwork drawn up. She just needs a few more things from me that I will get to her tomorrow along with the other half of my fees and then I can file! Hopefully, before my court date next Thursday.

Yes, filing would have been a disaster if my attorney was not organized. As you know, a lot of deadlines which if missed present some major problems.

[xraya]

documents have been turned on and I have an appointment Monday morning to file! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted in the past week. It feels so good to not have this hanging over me and to feel like I am in limbo.