New Bankruptcy Laws: Illinois Lawyers: Lakelaw Bankrupcy Center Attorneys serving Waukegan

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Certain provisions of the law ARE NOW in effect. The remainder will go into effect on October 17. Chapter 7 court costs are going from $209 to $274 (Chapter 13 costs are going down $5). In general terms the Bankruptcy Reform Law (after October 17th) impacts people in four ways:

If your family earns over the median income, you MUST file Chapter 13, you are not eligible to file Chapter 7. For those close to the median, you may not qualify to file a Chapter 7 and you may have too little income to file a Chapter 13. Using IRS Guidelines we calculated incomes likely to be covered by the means test. If your income is greater than the allowed expenses from the IRS Guidelines - expect Trustees AND CREDITORS to object to a Chapter 7 even if your income is below the median. In Illinois, the median income for an individual is about $42,000 and for a family of four, it is about $75,000.

BEFORE you file, you will be required to get a “ticket in” to bankruptcy court by attending a briefing (although it may be offered by phone or internet) that explains the various types of bankruptcy and what the pros and cons of each is. Leibowitz Law Center can’t do this. You must get this from an approved not-for-profit agency. AFTER filing, you will be required to attend financial management courses to get your so-called “ticket out” of Banrkuptcy Court. Initially these will be provided by the Credit Counseling Services...the same ones that get paid by the Credit Card Companies. You must complete the courses - and pay for them - before getting any bankruptcy discharge.

Bankruptcy will no longer protect you if you are a tenant facing eviction. If you filed a bankruptcy in the previous 2 years, you will have little or no protection from foreclosure either. You may find yourself with fewer exemptions than in the past as well.

Your bankruptcy attorney, whether it is us at Leibowitz Law Center or anywhere else will have to check and verify everything you tell them.

You will need to provide us:

o three years of tax returns, not your copy, the transcript from the IRS;
o at least one year of bank statements, credit card statements, loan statements;
o at least 6 months of pay stubs (for all employers);
o an appraisal on your home and vehicles;
o a comprehensive list of personal property - furnishings;
o a year of utility bills;
o Exact addresses used by all of your creditors, at least twice in the
last 90 days.

If you miss anything, and if the attorney doesn't catch it in the review of your paperwork, the Trustee, the Court or ANY CREDITOR can object to your case and we will have to PROVE our figures and information. If we can not, WE will have to pay the costs of their attorney's objection. And, you may not get a discharge of some or all your debts. There is no limit to OUR liability. Insurers of bankruptcy attorneys are already warning of 20-33% increases in premiums right from the start...with no guarantee that the increases will be in any way limited in the future. Some insurers are not planning on continuing coverage. This means we are facing some stiff increases in costs, costs that will be reflected in the fees that we charge. We estimate that current Chapter 7 fees will double and Chapter 13 fees will triple.

In the past, attorneys, including us, allowed clients to pay part of their fees before filing and part after filing (or inside the Chapter 13 plans). This is over. A recent case before the court allowed debtors to discharge the amount owed to their bankruptcy attorney for filing. Attorneys in Chapter 13 cases were considered a priority, but will not be in the new law. We have no choice but to require you to pay all fees and expenses before we file a bankruptcy case for you.

New Bankruptcy Laws: Lakelaw Bankrupcy Center, serving Waukegan, Illinois