How to select bankruptcy services

There is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing a serious, hard-working family with their backs against the wall in bankruptcy proceedings being kicked out of their home because someone directed them to cheap and unreliable bankruptcy services to help them solve their problems. Things are so tight these days, even a few days of layoffs in the family can bring everyone to the brink of financial disaster. People with temporary problems like this know that things could get better very soon; And to prevent creditors from foreclosing on your home, you could hire an attorney outside of the yellow pages who specializes in bankruptcy services. Lawyers don’t much dislike it for no reason; they can often just take your money, sell you hope, and just never do their job. They could save their conscience with something silly like, “bargain prices, what did you expect, all my attention?” This type of work is not even that complicated: you will only have to show up and give your commitment that you intend to pay your debts. But if you don’t, they will rule against you, and you won’t even know it until the day the bailiff shows up to inform you that you are now an intruder in your own home.

They call these cheap bankruptcy firms bankruptcy factories, you get the idea, they just provide you with a run-of-the-mill revolving door service. These are huge offices with hordes of new bankruptcy petition writers and law students working in sweatshop conditions who, for a fee, will be happy to give you cheesy advice on how to reorganize your money, keep debt collectors away debt and avoid the chances of foreclosure. You will get a lot of spam from them, and they also advertise everywhere. Some of these services run out of real law firms. You may be impressed by the law firm name on the door, but this department may actually be run by just a hundred overworked secretaries led by one very frustrated attorney who couldn’t care less. The other type of bankruptcy factory doesn’t really call itself a law firm; They are called bankruptcy petition preparers. These are just people who have some kind of experience, having once worked with or under the direction of a lawyer. They operate out of a store, and boy are they cheap.

So what happens when you go to one of these people? How bad can it be? These meat grinder practices can cost you your life savings, your home, and your chance for future happiness. These bankruptcy services, called mills, can give you information so bad you’d have a hard time believing you’re in the United States, a country where everything is supposed to be properly regulated. Consider the case of three students in upstate New York who suffered crushing student loan debt. They thought they could approach a store bankruptcy petition preparer to file Chapter 7 and get their student loan discharged. Of course, such a thing is not possible, but that bankruptcy service was perfectly happy to take your money and tell you a couple of days later that the job was done. And then the collection agents started calling a couple of years later, and they have this on their credit history.

We could go on and on, but the bankruptcy mills have apparently balked at this. They say that given the volume they handle, a few bugs here and there are to be expected. What do you do when you can’t afford a lawyer? You need someone, right? Bankruptcy services say that they do not promise to give you a complete service for the $200 they charge you. They will only do the bare minimum and it is up to you, the client, to make sure all t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted. But how does someone defend himself by giving wrong information?

This reminds me of a trip to Mexico once; someone was selling sneakers on the street for $1.50 a pair. This was amazing of course and I thought I’d check them out. They had used nails to nail the soles to the tops; and the nails protruded from the inside of the shoes. When I asked him about the idea behind it, he simply said what did he expect for $1.50? No, bloody feet, I’m sure.