Vincentown, NJ Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

The responsibilities of a bankruptcy attorney are defined in your contract with the attorney. There is a lot of competition for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases, even from non-attorneys, which has led attorneys to charge flat rates to represent clients in a Bankruptcy petition. So, if you are filing for Chapter 7 protection, the attorneys will charge a flat rate to discharge your debt. Since liens go through Chapter 7 bankruptcy unscathed, there is little point in figuring out who the correct deed holder is in a Chapter 7 petition the person claiming to be the entitled to collect from you and the bank claiming to own the loan are listed and the attorney may check certain boxes or add some description to make clear that you dispute that such creditor is the actual note-holder. In the end, though, since the lien will survive the Chapter 7 and there is no limit on the amount of debt you can discharge in a Chapter 7 case, listing such creditors is enough as even if you get them wrong, the effect would be the same in most scenarios that is, the lien would survive. In a Chapter 13 case, attorneys usually do the same because the Courts in many districts specify flat amounts debtors' attorneys can charge for a basic Chapter 13 case and most attorneys will give you only what the Courts require you them to give you for such flat rate. If you want to challenge who owns the note and/or litigate it, which you have standing to do in a Chapter 13 case but must ask the Court to give you standing to do in a Chapter 7 case, attorneys will require a separate contract or separate terms specifying exactly what they will do. What you will also find is that since this area of litigation is constantly changing and developing and has been very frustrating to home owners' attorneys in the past, there are very few bankruptcy attorneys who bother to master it and you must find an attorney who specializes in that area. Such attorneys may be employed in your case as special counsel for the sole purpose of pursuing that litigation.

A garnishment indicates a lawsuit was filed. Did the debtor get notice of the lawsuit? If the debtor / defendant was not properly served with process in the lawsuit, the judgment which is the basis for the garnishment can be set aside.