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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    3

    Default ch.13 lawyer. not doing his job? would you say something to him?

    okay, after some miscommunication w/ the attorney we became behind in our payments, our attorney called at 9 pm to tell us that the people who had the lien on our one vehicle were coming to get the truck because they werent getting payments * we were 2 1/2 months behind. i freaked and hid the truck, the attorney was no help, no advice, told us not to talk to anyone. well my husband went against the attorney so called advice and called the company that owns the truck we explained we were catching up and the said no problem, so needless to say we got to keep the truck i was sending reg payments in to catch up they got payments. then we received a letter about a possible dimissal, called the attorney he said just try to catch before you get a court date, a few weeks go by im sending money every week trying to catch up, i get a dismissal court date, i called the attorney over and over finally i gave up and called the trustee who was sooo nice and helpful he extended the court date and said if we needed more time just to call him and to make sure i keep the attorney updated i left 2 messages w/ the attorneys machine telling him about the change, i never got a call back, now i have only half left to pay which wll be paid at the end of the week. i also called the attorney and left messages about payments i made no repsonse back. anyways the attorney calls last night to see what we are doing about court for tomorrow, i said we dont go to court tomorrow we go the 11th if we arent caught up, i explained again how i called the trustee. he was furious w/ me!! and the trustee!! but my thin is he waited until the day before court ( he thought) to call us!!! i thought that was riduclous. so after he confirmed w/ the trustee he called back and was so rude to me. i feel like the 2000.00 and some dollars we paid him for were for nothing. i had to pay him extra to see us one night. he said he couldnt fit us in, but i offered 150.00 to see and all of a sudden he has an open appointment. should i tell him he fired? or is there something i can say or do?? im so mad about having to do all the work myself. if i hadnt called the trustee or the trust people we would have lost it all. we already had the furniture company come and take the furniture. and the trustee said that if someone would have called earlier we wouldnt haven even had a court date. and also since the attorney knew nothing about the change in dates that means he didnt even try to help us, right??

    Wow My Spelling Was Really Bad, I Was In A Hurry To Work

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: ch.13 lawyer. not doing his job? would you say something to him?

    If you don't follow your lawyer's advice, don't work through your lawyer, go behind your lawyer's back, cut deals without informing your lawyer, and don't make your payments then, yes, there will be problems between you and your lawyer. If you wish to switch lawyers, I would suggest finding a replacement lawyer first.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: What do do if you suspect a Chapter 13 lawyer is not doing his job

    okay i dont think you understood. i didnt go behind his back, he fails to call or help, my "attorney" omits all the information and didnt call the trustee to help by changing the dates like i did, i tried to call him and get his help he never called me back well 30 days later he called back (no help there) i even left him messages of the change he never called back. i almost lost my truck because his advice was dont call anyone, well we did and we are now keeping our truck, just like when we first got notice of a possible dismissall he said dont do anything, just try to catch up before you get a court date, that didnt help, got a court date, called the attorney for a few days never got a returned call, called the trustee my self and was informed that if i had called earlier or the attorney we would not even have a court date. the trustee helped me..now i have paid this guy over $2000.00 he took the money and ran! he gives he gives no advice, the only way to get his attention is to flash $$$$, so no i dont think i did him wrong as you put it, i want what i paid for his adivce and help in these matters

  4. #4

    Default Re: What do do if you suspect a Chapter 13 lawyer is not doing his job

    Tammy, there are a few things I can let you know about, that your Chapter 13 office obviously has not informed you of. Let me first say that I'm in North Carolina (work for a Trustee in NC), and there are some things that can be different depending on the state you are in, but the majority of things I can tell you will be across the board regarding Chapter 13 cases.

    What you are saying about your attorney is VERY common. I don't know why this is the case so much, but not all attorneys are like that. I have however, run across many attorneys that just take the money, file your papers, and let the case run its course.

    About your truck, unless you are dismissed from Chapter 13, the company has no legal right to take the truck. In fact, they can't take it while you are IN Chapter 13. They can only reposess the truck if your case has been dismissed. Sounds like your attorney should have been more precise with his information to you.

    You can get another attorney and switch, but you may have to pay your new attorney the full fee to file Chapter 13 again.

    I will say that an attorney can be very helpful in your case, but not necessary. The majority of our cases of debtors that file pro se get dismissed although. You should probably just stick it out with your current attorney, but try to work with the Trustee's office as much as you can. If you miss a month's payment or two is when the dismissal motion will be filed, and you and your attorney are always informed, but if you make a full court ordered payment prior to the dismissal hearing, your case will remain in Chapter 13. The only catch is, that your payments will be increased to cure any arrearages you created when you missed payments. This is necessary, because if the plan is not caught back up, the creditors in your case can file a motion to have you dismissed from Chapter 13.

    I hope this helps some.

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