713Bankruptcy.Com's Blog

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by Victoria Ring, 713Training.Com

An attorney called me today and I had to share this with you right away before I forget it. The attorney said: “I hear you are a Chapter 13 expert.” (Great. He started out with a compliment to soften me up.) He continued: “My client has $180,000.00 worth of equity in his home and needs to file a Chapter 13. How fast could you prepare the bankruptcy petition?”

My first question to the attorney was: “Can your client fund a Chapter 13?” (For those of you new to the field, let me explain what this means.)

In order for a person to pass the Means Test and file a Chapter 13, they must have enough money left over every month to make a payment to the Trustee, who in turn pays the creditors. That means that after deducting the amount of money the debtor earns (Schedule I of the bankruptcy petition) from the total amount of expenses (Schedule J of the bankruptcy petition), there must be enough money left over to pay the creditors. Granted, the debtor does not always have enough left over to pay their creditors back 100%, but they must have enough to pay something if they are going to quality for a Chapter 13.

So, when I asked the attorney if his client had enough money left over to fund the Chapter 13 plan, he said he didn’t know. Therefore, it was evident this attorney needed some training in how to assess a client for a potential bankruptcy filing. As you may or may not know, not every person who is in debt will be helped by filing bankruptcy. I am sure you have heard horror stories from some people who have filed bankruptcy when they shouldn’t have. But their attorney (some of them who are only interested in the lining their own pockets) advised them to file. However, the client was not a good candidate for bankruptcy and ended up suffering the consequences.

But, the attorney that called me was very persistent. He forwarded me the client intake forms, copies of the client’s paycheck stubs and tax returns. I then had to call the client and get a list of their monthly expenses, such as mortgage payment, car payments, insurance, taxes, student loan payment, cell phones and other personal expenses like food and clothing. Once I had completed Schedule J of the bankruptcy petition I had an average monthly expense total of $2,875.18.

Unfortunately, the debtor only earned $2,264.33 after all his taxes were deducted from his paycheck. This left him in the RED by $610.85.

NOTICE: A bankruptcy petition should NEVER be filed with a negative number if the debtor is seeking to reaffirm on their secure debts. Why? Because the creditors will see that the debtor cannot afford to pay them back and they may not submit to a Reaffirmation Agreement. Who can continue living month after month if they are losing $610.85 every month? Besides, where is the $610.85 coming from that is lost? In other words, it is impossible to be $610.85 in the RED every month unless you are drawing the money from a bank account, or a roommate or relative is helping to pick up the slack.

So, with $610.85 in the RED every month, this debtor would have no ability to have money left over to pay his creditors. Therefore, this debtor would not pass the Means Test to file a Chapter 13. Regardless of what the attorney wants and regardless of what the debtor wants, this debtor will only qualify for a Chapter 7 if he files a petition right now.

Now the question becomes, what is going to happen to the $180,000.00 in equity that the debtor has in his home if he files a Chapter 7? Easy. Some or all of that money will be used to pay the creditors that the debtor owes money to. Think about it. If John Brown owed you $25,000.00. Would you be happy to allow him to keep $180,000.00 and not pay you anything? Of course not. And neither would the creditors. They want as much as they can get of that $180,000.00 that they can get.

In my opinion (as a paralegal who is not an attorney), the debtor would be better off not filing bankruptcy. Honest attorneys I have worked for in the past who encountered debtors in this situation would advise them to get a second mortgage and pay off their bills instead of filing bankruptcy. Otherwise, if this debtor filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, his fate would be in the hands of the Trustee and Judge of the bankruptcy court regarding the unexempt equity he would have in his house.

However, if the debtor obtained a second job, rented out part of his house or did something to bring in additional income to fund a Chapter 13 plan, he could file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In this scenario, the debtor would not need to worry about the unexempt equity in his home because he would be making payments to pay off his creditors.

Of course, every debtor situation is unique and different. But this article is being written for training purposes only and it is not to be considered as legal advice. Be sure to consult with the attorney you are working for as a virtual bankruptcy assistant in matters you encounter regarding this subject matter.

Keep learning and keep prospering. I am proud of all of the virtual bankruptcy assistants and I know you are all doing the best you can. I hope this article helps provide you with more training and insight into the consumer bankruptcy world and helps you to improve your bankruptcy petition preparation skills.

Victoria Ring
Certified Paralegal and CEO
713Training.Com

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by Victoria Ring, 713Training.Com

When I got ready to electronically file a bankruptcy petition for my attorney the other day, I pressed the One-Touch Filing key and the software came back with the message: “You have entered a PACER login and you need to enter an ECF login.”

I called PACER and asked them what this error message meant. They said I had to contact my local bankruptcy court and provided me with the telephone number.

When I called the bankruptcy court and went through several menus, I finally reached a very knowledgeable person named Becky. Becky told me that my attorney needed to complete an application, send it to her and she would schedule him for Electronic Court Filing (ECF) training. (Now I learned what ECF stood for.) “The next class,” she said, “would be held in 2 months.”

However, the petition I had completed needed to be filed right away. The debtor’s paycheck was getting garnished and we had to stop the garnishment immediately. So, instead of arguing with Becky, I said: “Becky. The debtor has a garnishment and we need to file the petition immediately. What is your suggestion around this?” Becky said I could manually file the bankruptcy petition by coming to the court and filing it at the clerk’s office.

I immediately printed out the bankruptcy petition, ran to Staples and made two copies (as required by our court), paid to park downtown, went into the bankruptcy court where I was searched and scanned, then my purse was x-rayed before I could gain access to the clerk’s office. Once inside I waited in line for 30 minutes and finally got up to the clerk’s window. The clerk looked at my petition and said: “You must have the debtor’s signature in blue ink.” When I started to make a remark the clerk quickly said, “I don’t want to hear an excuse. I am only doing my job. Go back and do your job right.”

I giggled at the response, although I know this remark from the clerk would make some people very angry. But it is not to your benefit to get angry with court employees. Their minds have been programmed not to care about you or your feelings. So always remember that if you do anything a court employee doesn’t like, you will not get accomplished what you need to accomplish. Therefore, the best thing to do is to giggle, follow directions and go on with life.

So I left the court and drove back to my home office. I printed off new signature pages of the bankruptcy petition and drove out to the debtor’s home to get their signature (in blue ink) on a new set of bankruptcy forms. Then, I drove to the attorney’s office and got his signature in blue ink. By this time the bankruptcy court was closed, so I had to wait until the next morning to file the petition.

To make a long story short, I successfully got the bankruptcy petition filed. I also obtained a case number and provided the debtor with a letter to take to his employer in order to stop the wage garnishment. For the final step, I dropped off a file-stamped copy to the attorney.

The moral of the story …

If you are working as a virtual bankruptcy assistant, make sure that your attorney has an ECF Login (not a PACER login) before you try to electronically file the bankruptcy petition. If you work for attorneys that are not in your area, you may never need to worry about this. They may file their own bankruptcy petitions and only pay you to prepare the petition. But in other cases, the attorney will want you to electronically file the petition after they have reviewed it. In this case, you need an ECF Login.

ECF Logins are simply another name for a username and password. The ECF Login is issued by the court and states that the attorney can file a petition without the physical signature of the debtor and the attorney. The ECF Login is normally only issued after a court-required training class, but it may be different in your state. If the attorney you are working for has never filed a bankruptcy petition electronically under the new law, simply call the bankruptcy court (or visit their website) and get the details for obtaining an ECF Login in your area.

I wish you the best of success and I hope these articles continue to help you improve your skills. If so, let me know and I will continue to write them as I experience my own life as a virtual bankruptcy assistant.

Victoria Ring
713Training.Com
http://www.713training.com

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by Victoria Ring, 713Training.Com

One of the best books you could ever read that reveals the secret key to building a successful business is entitled: “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. It was originally written over 70 years ago but almost every successful business person has read it and applied its principles. And because I want to be successful, I read it myself, and after doing so, I can now recommend it to you.

One of the secret keys you will learn in this dynamic book is that your customers do not care about you; they care about their own needs. But people who fail in business only think about their needs, not the needs of their customers. However, people who are successful in business place their customers’ needs above their own.

Let me give you an example of what happened to me the other day. I was planning a vacation to Alamosa, Colorado to visit the Great Sand Dunes for my 50th birthday. I found a cute little cabin online that was a bed and breakfast and sent them an email that said:

“I was very impressed with your cabins and I would like to celebrate my 50th birthday there on July 5th. Please call me and let me know if you have a cabin (at any price) available for July 4th and 5th. If so, I will give you my credit card information and book the cabin immediately. Besides, I am planning to move to the area within a few years and perhaps I could hire you as a carpenter to build me a cabin like you have photographs of on your website. I look forward in speaking with you.”

Notice that I provided the innkeepers with enough personal information about me and my desires that would enable them to successfully sell me a cabin rental. I told them it was for my 50th birthday. I also told them how impressed I was with their cabins. I told them I didn’t care what the price was. And I told them I was ready to pay them with my credit card. Additionally, I even included the fact that we may become neighbors and he might be hired to build me a cabin within a few years.

But the innkeeper who received my email was not a person who read the book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Instead, he was only concerned with his wants and desires not his potential customers. In fact, he even overlooked the possibility that he might have been able to make an extra $75,000 or more building me a cabin in the near future and we could become good neighbors for many years.

Instead, this is how the conversation went when he called me:

Innkeeper: We don’t have any cabins available on July 4th but we have one available on July 5th.

Me: So, are you asking me to sleep in my car on July 4th?

Innkeeper: (Silence)

Me: Since you live in that area, can you suggest accommodations to me for the 4th and I will rent your cabin on the 5th?

(This is where the Innkeeper really hurt his chances.)

Innkeeper: Our cabins are the cleanest and best in the area. But we are also the most expensive. Therefore, if our cabins are sold out, you won’t be able to find anyplace in the area to stay on the 4th.

Me: That’s all I need to know about you. You have shown me that you are not someone I want to know as a human being. Goodbye. (Then I hung up on the nut.)

Do you see what I mean? If the innkeeper had not been interested in his own ego and supplying his own wants and needs, he would have said something like: “Tell you what. Let me make a couple of calls and see what I can do for you.” Then, after a little while, he could have called me back and said “I couldn’t find anything for you on the 4th but I would be happy to reserve the cabin for your birthday on the 5th.” With this approach, I would have rented the cabin on July 5th and found my own accommodations for the 4th.

But since I knew the innkeeper was only interested in his own needs, I would never give him my business, never contact him to build me a cabin and never speak to him as a neighbor. Besides, I could care less how clean the innkeeper’s cabins were since I couldn’t rent one. I also could care less that they were the most expensive since I couldn’t rent one. The information the innkeeper provided to me did nothing to fill my wants and needs. The comments he made only benefited him.

The Summary of the Story

If your business is not as successful as you want it to be, there is something you are doing wrong. It could be a number of reasons why your business is not successful, but one overlooked reason may be that you are only thinking about your own wants and needs. Instead, think of your customer’s wants and needs first – just like you do your children.

How many of you, who are parents, do a number of things to fulfill the wants and needs of your children? How many times have you dragged yourself to a school function when you were so tired you could barely hold your eyes open? Why did you do it? For the kid who lives down the block? No, you did it to fulfill your child’s wants and needs.

Start thinking of your customers in the same way that you give of yourself to fulfill your children’s, spouse’s or family’s wants and needs. Then, buy the book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and you may see a huge change in your business income and the success of your business as well as your personal life.

My thoughts and prayers are with you in the coming days ahead.

The International Virtual Women’s Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the formation of WomenPartner International to facilitate lucrative cross marketing partnerships, both online and offline, between local business and professional women whose company does one thing – helps women INCREASE their business revenue.

It is a cross marketing consortium for seasoned women who want to fast track their company sales to the million dollar range in five years by leveraging the client base of complimentary companies. Companies will spend less time and capital on marketing while increasing their profits and strengthening their county’s women in business market by cross marketing.

A core group of 10 partner companies from each state, Canada, and the UK is being recruited to seed WomenPartner International. The core partners will form WPI’s Executive Board. We are looking for women who provide:

• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Accounting
• Event planning
• Business funding
• Advertising
• Business development
• e-Business consulting
• Organizing
• Business coaching

We plan to make them the “go to” people in their state for business assistance to ride out the recession. They will be able to service each other’s client base and serve as a local resource for their women in business market.

Carefully constructed sub cross marketing clusters comprised of women who need the products and services provided by the core members will be developed for each metro area.

An example of a cluster: 10 women who provide beauty, health and fitness services (day spa, fitness club, hair salon, cosmetologist, plastic surgeon, gynecologist, etc.). They will service each other’s client base as well use the services of the core state group to market, advertise, promote, provide growth capital and more so they can increase their revenue.

The goal is to recession proof our companies while we help other women recession proof their companies.

By the time WomenPartner International is completed, its partner companies will have key contacts in 650 metropolitan areas in the US, UK, and Canada. Women will be able to create cross marketing partnerships throughout their state and then expand into other state metropolitan areas to strategically grow their client base.

The introductory rate is the one time fee of $149 with a monthly $25 fee that covers two events. WomenPartner International is conducting a partnership drive to fill its state partner spots. Visit http://www.womenpartner.com for more information about how to get involved. If you would like to receive more info via email, send your request to jerrilynnbthomas@ivwcc.org.

I was never so shocked when I discovered the marketing power of Craigs List. Under the LEGAL JOBS category of Columbus, Ohio I posted the following:

Title:
Seeking Bankruptcy Attorneys

Posting:
Certified Paralegal and Bankruptcy Specialist is seeking to form alliances with one or more bankruptcy attorneys who enjoy working on the debtor side of bankruptcy law. I have 31 years experience in the legal field (1977) and have personally built several bankruptcy practices from the ground up for attorneys out of state.

Being in the Columbus, Ohio area, I would like to work side-by-side with one or more attorneys in building a highly profitable debtor bankruptcy practice. I have all the skills and marketing knowledge, I just need the attorney.

Contact Victoria Ring personally at 614-000-0000

Compensation:
More than $500 per hour

Less than 24 hours after posting this announcement (which did not cost me one penny), I received a call from an attorney on my cell phone. I called and left him a message but he did not call me back. About three days later I received another call from a Columbus, Ohio attorney but he also did not return my call either. At the time I thought that Craigs List was not going to produce any results. But it did not matter because I had no money invested anyway.

However, one week later I received a call from an attorney who was so excited about talking to me that he asked if I could be at his office in an hour. I explained that I would not have time to put on office attire and he said, “I don’t care. Come in your bath robe. I need to speak with you immediately.” So I dropped everything I was doing and drove to his office. (I had on my blue jeans of course.)

When I got there I met a very kind and compassionate young attorney who had never worked in bankruptcy law before. I thought to myself, “This is going to take some time because I will have to train the attorney plus build him a practice.” But within a few minutes I found out this was not going to be the case at all. Instead, I had stumbled into a gold mine.

After being seated in the young attorney’s office and after 2 or 3 minutes of “chit chat” in walked an attorney in my age group (50-60 range,) He had worked in debtor bankruptcy for 25 years and we both knew many of the same people. The experienced attorney said he was tired of working in bankruptcy and wanted to set up the young attorney in his own practice. He said he was receiving 10-15 referrals (new bankruptcy filings) every day because the world of bankruptcy is getting ready to boom. I agreed with him.

Inside Scoop for Virtual Assistants:
Due to the increasing amount of foreclosures as well as the increase in gas prices, millions of people are moving from their homes. They are moving either due to a foreclosure or to be closer to work and cut down on their gasoline usage. However, people normally move during the summer months (May, June, July and August) when their children are out of school. So this summer (2008) should be a record year for bankruptcy filings due to the foreclosures and rising costs that force people into bankruptcy. Therefore, make sure you have the skills and knowledge to provide the much needed services of preparing Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions. I cannot stress enough how rare this skill is. And the more you work in the bankruptcy field, the more you will realize this fact.

Needless to say, I got the job. I now work virtually for a young attorney here in the Columbus, Ohio area. I decided to do my own client intake interviews because I can get more detailed information about a case when I am sitting face to face with the clients. I also have been promised 50-60 bankruptcy petitions per month – about $15,000 and the amount could quickly grow. This will allow me to hire people and give jobs to people who truly need it.

Additionally, the attorneys were both so happy about finding someone with my skills that they asked me to work for them exclusively. I said, “If you can keep me busy and at this level of income, I will not seek work from another attorney in the Columbus, Ohio area. However, I will still travel and set up attorneys in their bankruptcy practice because I enjoy doing this.” They saw no problem with this arrangement.

Now tell me – who do you know who is out there looking for a job that can walk into an attorneys office and within 30 minutes receive: (1) A job paying a minimum salary of $180,000 per year; (2) An office of their own to conduct client interviews; (3) The ability to work from home; (4) The ability to name their own terms? Not many people. But YOU can do the same thing that I did. It may take some practice and you may make a few mistakes in the process, but I assure you – the SKILLS you have preparing Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 petitions is in high demand. I am living proof of it.

I urge you to go to http://craigslist.org/, sign up for an account and start posting free ads to the legal categories in your city and state, surrounding areas, or even other city and states 3,000 miles from you. It doesn’t matter where you live or where the attorney’s office is located. Your skills are in high demand and if you believe that with all your heart, you can and will succeed.

References:

EBook: How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
This eBook gives you 100s of ideas to use for marketing. It explains how virtual assistants benefit attorneys. Use any number of these angles when marketing your virtual bankruptcy assistant business.

http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=39

Get the book FREE when you join the National Association of Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants at:
https://www.713training.com/administrator/signup.php

Training Manuals and Interactive CDs:

How to Start a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Service
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=4

The Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Training Workbook
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=7

Buy both the book and workbook together and save $20.00
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=60

The Chapter 13 Plan Training Workbook
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=80

10-Set Bankruptcy Petition Training CDs
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=35

2005 and 2006 Teleconference Recordings
If you are serious about marketing, these CDs contain 1,000s of ideas from a variety of different guests. No virtual bankruptcy assistant should be without them.

http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=83

This article was written by Victoria Ring
Developer of the Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant field
http://www.713training.com