Since it has been 25 years or more since I input my first bankruptcy petition, I asked Cole Jenson of My Bankruptcy Assistant to conduct an experiment. I gave him a petition to input and asked him to write down all the things he learned as he prepared his first bankruptcy petition for an attorney. Like many of you, Cole had received extensive training from the training materials developed by 713Training.Com; but as everyone knows, there is a difference between training and the real world.
The information below will help attorneys as well as VBAs to polish their skills throughout the bankruptcy petition preparation process.
A REPORT FROM Cole Jenson
http://www.mybankruptcyassistant.com
Some of the things I learned doing my first bankruptcy petition include:
It is my job to drive the petition process, both with the debtor, and the attorney.
Being polite with the debtor goes a long way towards getting you the information you need, but sometimes it becomes necessary to get a little stern with them, in order to get them to do what you need them to, in order to get the information you need to get your job done.
Tell it how it is, and stand your ground. Do not let the debtor or attorney sway you to do something different than what you know should be done.
Training is great, and will be a continuous thing, but nothing can teach you like the real thing.
The debtor often knows less than you think they do.
If there are five different ways to ask for the same piece of missing information, you will likely have to use all five of them before you get what you need.
When debtors come back to you with missing information, they often only have half of it, and you have to keep resending them back to get the rest of the information, until you have it all.
Do not forget to do your own bit of gumshoe detective work (i.e., with Google), to uncover undisclosed assets.
It is amazing to me how upside-down a person can get with their finances. I thought I lacked in good money management skills until I started doing bankruptcy petitions. Then I found out that I am not bad at all.
Keep your contact with the debtor friendly and empathetic, yet professional. Do not try to be their friend but rather a professional at all times.
If at all possible, get the facts all at once. Piecing together client intake information one piece of information at a time is a lot of work and wastes a great deal of time. Insist that the debtor fill out the forms COMPLETELY, before starting to work on the petition. This means that you need to review the forms before starting up the software program and make sure you have everything before starting.
You must decide how much work you are willing to do for the debtor. For example, are you willing to chase down information that is missing for them, or are you going to insist that the debtor do for themselves? This is not my bankruptcy filing, so doing the work for themselves is the preferred method. No one knows about their debts better than the debtors themselves.
Keeping the attorney in the know every step of the way keeps him/her very happy with your work. As VBAs we should always strive for happy attorneys which will result in repeat business!
When it comes to drafting a bankruptcy petition, credit reports are not worth the paper they are printed on. They can be used to verify certain information if necessary, but NEVER try to use them to populate the schedules of the bankruptcy petition.
Debtors often do not seem to grasp the seriousness of their situation, and unfortunately, we cannot really do anything to help them see this because we are not attorneys. This is one important reason why you need to maintain contact with your attorney at all times. When the attorney understands the situation, he or she can properly advise the client. The job of a VBA is to gather this information so the attorney can make an informed decision, nothing more.
Once the debtor understands how dire their situation is they are much more cooperative. Therefore, it often takes a call from the attorney to get the debtor on the ball to provide you with the information you need to complete the preparation of the bankruptcy petition.
Do not be surprised by the crazy things debtors have done, even right up to retaining the attorney, that have resulted in them being in the situation they are in. Just be glad you are not in their shoes and have sympathy for them. Remember, we work on the DEBTOR side, not the CREDITOR. If you have no concern for the average consumer perhaps you may want to consider working on the CREDITOR side. (I am biased of course.)
Do not do the attorneys job for him/her, even if they ask you to. They are the one with the education and license and they need to direct your work. Under no circumstance should you ever perform the functions of an attorney. If the attorney needs a legal question answered he or she can consult with another attorney in their area for advice. It is not the job of the VBA to provide attorney level services at VBA prices.
Petitions for self-employed debtors are more difficult than for debtors who are not self-employed. Make certain to consider this when making price quotes to attorneys for VBA services.
Debtors are so busy trying to keep up with the Jones; they often do not even know what they have. Example: A client tells you that they have a 1999 vehicle when it is really a 1994. Or, their handwriting is hard to read. Victoria Ring of 713Training.Com teaches her students a wide variety of tips for VBAs to help them self-check their work so that problems like these are minimized; but it takes time to learn all these insider tricks and they cannot be learned overnight.
Do your very best to prepare an accurate petition, but at the end of the day, you have to hope the debtor has done their part to help you do your job properly, so that you can best help them and protect their attorney in the best way you can. Most of all have fun and feel good that you helped someone, as well as providing an additional income stream for your family.
WEB REFERENCES
Individual Bankruptcy Petition Review
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=86
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Seminar Training Kit
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=106
