Over a million people nationally will file bankruptcy this year--ten thousand here in Northern Virginia.

For most people, bankruptcy still works.  I hope you'll take the time to read over my website, and then call me if you want to find out if bankruptcy will work for you. 

The new bankruptcy law that took effect October 2005 was supposed to force people out of Chapter 7 get-out-of-debt bankruptcy and into Chapter 13 debt consolidation plans.

That law was written by bank lobbyists who said the good times would go on forever, and there was no reason why everybody shouldn't be able to pay their bills on time.

Now, we know better.  Those same banks have now borrowed 15 trillion dollars from the American people--that's $100,000 for each American family--to get them through this financial crisis. 

The crisis has pulled down millions of other people. People like you. Nobody offered you a $100,000 no interest government loan.  But, there is help.

The bankruptcy law, first passed in 1898, is still there. The 2005 changes made the paperwork harder and the regulations trickier, but most people in Northern Virginia can still get the debt relief they need. Bankruptcy still works.

Under the new law, everybody is assigned a budget--for food, clothes, transportation--and based on that the court decides if you should have money left over to pay your debts. Some of the numbers in that assigned budget, are pretty fair, some are ridiculous.

Here's the most ridiculous. People in Northern Virginia are allowed $230 per month to cover car expenses--gasoline, insurance, car repairs, maintenance, tires, tolls, everything.

For people with long commutes (and Prince William county, Virginia,  has the longest average commute of anywhere in the country, outside of New York City), $230 just might cover gasoline and car insurance--leaving nothing at all for tires, maintenance, repairs.

Even so, we can usually get your budget to work, and get your bankruptcy approved.

On some things, the assigned budget is easy on some people. (The bank lobbyists who wrote the new law for Congress weren't exactly rocket-scientists; they didn't not much about bankruptcy law, and they didn't know--or care--about what hard working people do to survive.)

So some breaks are built into the law; and with good planning, we can usually set you up to take advantages of the breaks, and offset the areas where the law is unfair.

This means we will do everything legally allowed to do to arrange your situation and present it to the court, so that you can get approved for a Chapter 7 wipe out your debts bankruptcy. (Assuming, which is true for most people, that Chapter 7 is best for you.)

If you really can't pay your bills, we can usually show--even under the new law--that you really can't pay your bills.

And if you end up in Chapter 13, we'll fight to hold down your repayment to the legal minimum, so that at least you end up with a lot more breathing room than you have now.

The 2005 Bankruptcy Law doubled the size of the bankruptcy code; it did a lot more than than just assign you a budget.

Your paperwork is a lot harder. Under the old law there was a presumption--a legal assumption--that you were eligible to file a Chapter 7 get-out-of-debt bankruptcy. Now you have to prove it.

There are new rinky-dink requirements--hoops you have to jump through: taking two classes on the internet, saving your pay stubs for six months, showing the court your social security card, tax forms and bank statements.

The people behind the new law sold Congress on the idea that all these requirements and paperwork would make the system more honest. The result--which is what the lobbyists really wanted--is that people who are distracted and worried sick--like you, right now--have all this additional burden to face. They want you to break down, give up, make mistakes that they can use to beat you with.

The bank lobbyists wrote the new with a goal of making it so complicated that you are bound to fail. My job is to work with you so closely that you have to succeed.

Another thing: the enforcement now is very different. Investigators from the Justice Department now check behind you, running a computer search, looking at your bank statements and tax forms, trying to catch you.

To get through all this, you need documents, details and discipline. They can be in short supply when you are panicked about money. We'll do our best to help you with clear explanations of what you need to do and how we are working together.

One last thing. The new law is especially tough on people with big families; the government is likely to claim that people with three or four children are spending too much on food and clothes and rent, when all they are trying to do is take care of the kids. That's especially true here in Northern Virginia where nothing is cheap. This is one of the things that makes me the maddest about the new law.

I've talked to more than twenty thousand people in Northern Virginia about their financial situation, and no two have been alike. That applies to you, too. If you think we need to talk, I can probably help you. But I need to know a whole you about you and your situation to be sure that the help I give you is the help you need.

Under the old law, I offered a free consultation to anybody who wanted to talk to me. I can't do that any more. The new law is is just too tricky.

There are too many different strategies to get where we need to go; and when you ask me a question, you probably want some answer other than "maybe."

So, now I still offer you an hour free consultation but you first have to do your homework. You have to come in with the information I need to be able to really answer your questions.

Only then can we work up a plan to get you from where you are, to where you need to go.

We need a lot of information to give you the right answers

Before you see me, we'll mail, or email, forms to fill out and bring in, so we have all the information we need to help you.

Based on our experience with ten thousand people under the old law and almost thousand under the new, our forms are designed to organize the information we need to get you your new start.

Then, you have an hour long (free) orientation meeting with one of my experienced bankruptcy paralegals. She can give you general information--the kind of thing you'll find here on my website--and explain how the process works.

She'll also need six months worth of pay stubs, so we have them in the computer when you and I sit down to talk.

Now we'll set up our hour-long free consultation. I'll take the time to fully understand what's going on in your life, and the best way to use bankruptcy to help you.

• Answer all your questions
• Decide if bankruptcy is right for you
• Determine your eligibility
• Work out a strategy to prove your eligibility
• Plan your bankruptcy in a way that best fits our situation and goals
• Work out a fee and payment schedule
• Agree, at that point, to take your case.

At the end of our hour consultation, most people leave with a plan to get a fresh start in life and a clear field for the future.

I want to make sure I can help you; and to understand your situation to give you the right help you need.

Please check the Consultation Section of the site for the information you will need to gather and to learn more about the process. Then call for an appointment at one of my four Northern Virginia offices.

• Alexandria 703-518-8811
• Manassas 703.335.7793
• Sterling 703.421-7111
• Woodbridge 703.680-5688