Can a creditor of a loan send me to small claims after i have retained a bankruptcy lawyer? -

CAN A CREDITOR OF A LOAN STILL CALL ME AFTER I HAVE ALREADY RETAINED A BANKRUPTCY LAWYER? NOTE THAT I HAVE NOT PAID THE LAWYER IN FULL. I WILL PLAN TO IN FEB 08.

It would be in your best interests to pay your attorney as soon as possible. As you ve been told, retaining a lawyer and filing for bankruptcy protection are two separate things. Once the filing has occurred, an automatic stay goes into effect. The automatic stay prevents a creditor from contact you, suing you, or repossessing your property. Once you are served a Summons and Complaint through small claims court, you do have 10 to 30 days to respond (based on your local laws and rules). Failure to respond during this time will cause a judgment by default and this is not a good thing. Once a creditor has a judgment against you, they can start further collection activities. Your wages can be garnished and your property can be seized and sold. While this does not happen in about half of these cases, you do not want to run the risk of getting your wages garnished. While you are on thin ice, do not despair. Even if your creditor does get a judgment against you, if you do successfully file for bankruptcy and receive a discharge, the creditor s judgment will be useless. You also need to contact your attorney as soon as possible. Let him know what is going on and that you are being faced with the threat of legal action. The attorney may discount his fees enough that you can retain him and file your bankruptcy. Much of the fees your attorney charges are his fees and not the fees of the court. While the attorney cannot file your bankruptcy while you owe him money, he does have the right to discount his fee. Another possible option is to contact the legal aid or public assistance offices in your area. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is pretty straightforward and if you are facing the threat of legal action, the legal aid department can refer you to an attorney who will not charge you a fee or who will charge significantly less than another attorney. I wish you the best of luck with your situation! **I have not provided any legal advice. While I am an attorney, any reference to any law is for informational purposes only. You should seek competent representation in your state. **

until your claim is complete anyone can come after you

once u actually have paid and retained your lawyer, you can refer any creditors to your attorney. Your attorney will tell creditors that you have retained him and most creditors will be satisfied with that and stop...A few may presist but they usually know its a waste of their time and money.. As long as your are retained by a reputable attorney (not a bankruptcy mill attorney) then you may be ok and get them off your back until you actually file and get a case number..good luck

Retaining a lawyer does NOTHING. Actually filing bankruptcy DOES put an automatic stop to ALL collection efforts by ALL creditors. Suing you in small claims court, or any other court, IS a collection effort.

They cannot contact you once you have FILED for Bankruptcy. Prior to filing, they can still contact you.. However, when they call, you can direct all of their calls to your lawyer.

Yes. Hiring a lawyer does not stop someone else from taking action. However, filing for backruptcy may invalidate the claim that they have filed in a small claims court.