1. When will creditor harassment end?
Answer: Immediately upon retaining Farmer & Ready. Once we are retained, you will refer any calls from creditors to us. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits a creditor who knows about your legal representation from contacting you directly. Once the bankruptcy case is filed, you will have the additional protection of a court order that prevents creditors from calling. Violation of either of these contact prohibitions can result in monetary sanctions imposed against your creditor.
2. Will I lose everything if I file for bankruptcy?
Answer: No. Well over 95% of bankruptcy cases filed from the San Luis Obispo/Santa Maria area result in no assets being taken from the debtors. The purpose of a bankruptcy is to allow you to get a fresh start in your financial life, and retaining items such as your house, your vehicles, and your personal belongings, as well as your retirement accounts, is essential to that fresh start. Each potential client has his or her unique set of property and we will discuss that with you at our initial meeting and tell whether any of it is at risk.
3. l'm married. Does my spouse have to file?
Answer: No. The better question is "Should my spouse file?" This is a fact - intensive inquiry focusing on your assets, your spouse's assets, when you were married, and when the debts were incurred. That's one of the reasons we ask you to fill out our form provided to us before our visit.
4. Who knows about my bankruptcy?
Answer: The list obviously includes you, the bankruptcy court, your attorney, and all of your creditors. But filing bankruptcy is a public act and the public has access to the records. Your employer is not notified. Currently, there is no local publication listing who filed bankruptcy cases. Some bankruptcy filings gain notoriety because of who they are, i.e. Los Osos Community Service District, Etate Financial. Your employer is not notified.
5. Will I be able to rent an apartment after I file bankruptcy?
Answer: Yes. Last year there were over one million bankruptcy cases filed in the United States. Certainly not all of those people are homeowners or homeless; they are renters. If you are currently a renter and do not owe any back rent, your landlord should not learn of your bankruptcy and there should not be any problems in renewing that lease, On the other hand, if you are applying for a new lease, a prospective landlord may run a credit check which will show your bankruptcy. The existence of a recent bankruptcy may be an indication that you are a better credit risk than a credit report showing you are being pursued by credit card companies and collection agencies.
6. Can I get rid of student loans or tax obligations?
Answer: Generally, student loans will not be discharged in bankruptcy. There are some exceptions, and we will be happy to discuss those. Income taxes may be discharged if tax debts are more than 3 years old and you filed a timely and accurate tax return. If you filed a late tax return, taxes are generally dischargeable only if you file bankruptcy more than 2 years after filing that late tax return.
Of course, these are only general rules and you should talk with us about your personal issues.
7. Can I get credit after filing bankruptcy?
Answer: Yes. Credit is your ability to borrow money. Lenders consider all sorts of factors while determining whether to lend you money. Most prospective lenders focus on the debt-to-income ratio. Since filing bankruptcy eliminates most if not all of your debts, it will improve your debt-to-income ratio, making you a more attractive borrower.
Many of our clients who thought they could not live without credit cards find that debit cards are an easy and available solution, removing the temptation to step back into a cycle of overwhelming debt.
8. How do I choose a bankruptcy attorney?
Answer: The first criteria should be knowledge and experience. Last year at Farmer & Ready, bankruptcy consumed 75% of our workload. The other 25% consisted of financial litigation. We don't do criminal law. We don't do divorces. We don't do personal injury and we don't do estate planning. We are entirely focused on commercial and property law. We are a firm with the only Certified Consumer and Small Business Bankruptcy attorney in San Luis Obispo County. Paul Ready and David Farmer not only regularly attend educational bankruptcy conferences, they lecture on the issue. No other local firm can duplicate our firm's knowledge base, or experience.
The second question you should ask in choosing a bankruptcy lawyer is whether you will get personal attention. While we may deal with hundreds of bankruptcy cases a year, you will only deal with one in your life. Be assured, that if you retain us, you will have our undivided attention to ensure the easiest passage possible through the bankruptcy process. Your case will not be handled by a paralegal. While our staff members may contact you for necessary information or to give you a status report, David and Paul will be your primary source of contact.
9. How long will this take?
Answer: Once you retain us and provide all necessary information for preparation of your bankruptcy petition and schedules, it usually takes us 2-3 weeks for us to complete the paperwork so that you can sign it and we can file it with the bankruptcy court. A hearing in Santa Barbara, before a trustee, not a judge, is usually scheduled 4-6 weeks thereafter. In most cases, a discharge is granted about 3 months after that hearing. Add that up, and it comes out to 5-6 months from hiring to completing the bankruptcy process.
10. How much will this cost?
This is the only question to which we cannot provide an answer here. Each case is unique. Some are difficult, some easy. We are only able to make that analysis when we sit down with you at your first conference. At that time you will be quoted a fee. It will not be an estimate. It will be what we will charge you including all costs such as court filing fees.
Farmer & Ready
1254 Marsh Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Phone: 805-541-1626
Fax: 805-541-0769
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