Tuesday 14 January 2014

Why Debtors Can Better Afford Bankruptcy Without Attorney - Cost Of Filing Bankruptcy Using Attorney

By Frank Miller


On October 18, 2005, the new bankruptcy law, called the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Prevention Act of 2005" (BAPCPA), went into effect in the United States. At that time, there was no anticipation that a rising higher bankruptcy costs would sooner result with the new law. However, recent reports find that the new law brought such results, and that there are more American debtors going bankruptcy without lawyers. The new law had been prompted principally by the general clamor and intense outcry and lobbying of the well-financed, well-organized, and properly connected but powerful, American banking and credit card industries and the bankruptcy lawyers, who had contended that the old bankruptcy law was supposedly "too soft on debtors," and that the "excessive generosity" of the old bankruptcy system supposedly encouraged abuse and allowed many undeserving debtors who, they said, could well have afforded to pay their debts, to take undue advantage by using Chapter 7 bankruptcy to avoid repaying their debts.

Alright, How Do the Services and Fees Compare, Between the bankruptcy Attorney and those of the Full Service bankruptcy petition preparer? But what are the Costs of filing Bankruptcy using Bankruptcy attorney? Can debtors afford bankruptcy without lawyers? And, is there really any real, tangible, legitimate difference for the DEBTOR, both qualitatively and nominally, between the Full Service bankruptcy assistance that online-based non-attorney BPP agencies provide debtors, and that which is provided by online bankruptcy attorneys to debtors?

One view of it, popular in certain quarters among non-attorney online providers of bankruptcy filing assistance, is simply that there is "no difference," or "little to none," in terms of the actual or qualitative value of their work products for the debtor. The principal argument is that for each side, the actual, principal work that each side does or turns up for the debtor - the relatively simple but time-consuming, paperwork required to be prepared for the debtor's use in filing for bankruptcy - is more or less basically the same content and quality for the non-lawyer prepared document, as it is for the lawyer prepared. In each case, the argument goes, the same set of documents are turned up by people who are seemingly experienced and trained or skilled in document preparation, and, in deed, in many real instances, are one and the same paralegals who work, or might have previously worked, for the bankruptcy lawyer's office or the non-lawyer document preparer's company. Or for both. But, in any event, in the final analysis, the finished bankruptcy documents that both sides, the lawyer as well as the non-lawyer, provide the debtor, are generally the same and of the same quality. The Bankruptcy Courts generally accept them, process them, and act on them, just the same! In deed, it is a specific provision in the Bankruptcy Code that authorizes and sanctions that such persons may prepare such documents, and not just lawyers!

To a hard pressed and destitute debtor, the vexing, bothersome issue, is what justification, then, is there for the great disparity that exists in the prices the bankruptcy lawyers charge for bankruptcy work, relative to what the non-attorney bankruptcy document preparers charge for turning up essentially the same work for the debtor? Bankruptcy lawyers would, of course, advance all sorts of convoluted arguments and conceive all kinds of fancy justifications in defense of their extremely higher and disproportionate charges. That aspect, however, is a matter for another place and another day for us.

Indeed, that right is one of a handful of fundamental rights specifically named by the original U.S. Constitution and guaranteed under it. However, contrary to that fundamental American value, the new bankruptcy law of 2005 introduces into the bankruptcy system, perhaps for the first time ever, elements which drastically limit the extent of the exercise and enjoyment of this basic right by the average debtor. It does this by placing an array of new hurdles, financial as well as legal, on the path of the overburdened American debtor who seeks the "fresh start" protection that bankruptcy has traditionally offered the American debtor.

The second type of credit you must prove that you can handle is an installment loan, such as an auto loan, student loan or mortgage. Loan officers looking over your application for after bankruptcy credit need to see a rock-solid installment payment history. If you still have a student loan, that usually isn't dischargeable in bankruptcy, you can use it to quickly reconstruct your after bankruptcy credit. Remember, it is absolutely imperative to make your payments on time every single month, with no exceptions. And try to pay more than the monthly minimum even if it is just $50 bucks or so more each month. It will help you regain the trust of your lenders. Paying down your open debt is one of the best ways to prove you're after bankruptcy credit worthiness. Personal bankruptcy loans, auto bankruptcy loans or mortgage after bankruptcy loans are the other types of installment loans you need to apply for to reconstruct your after bankruptcy credit and improve your poor credit rating. There are a lot of after bankruptcy loan companies available to choose from, however some of them may try to take advantage of your situation and charge you outrageously high interest rates and slip in hidden costs and fees. Beware when you apply, learn all you can about your options before you sign on the dotted line.




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