Chapter 7 Trustee Donald F King

Posted by Robert Weed / in Blog, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Virginia Bankruptcy /

Chapter 7 Trustee Donald F King

Donald F King is one of the four Chapter 7 trustees in the Alexandria Virginia Bankruptcy court. When you file a bankruptcy case in Alexandria, the computer assigns you to one of the four trustees.

Lawyers are appointed Chapter 7 trustees as a part-time assignment.  He’s a partner in the law firm of Odin Feldman & Pittleman PC, located in Reston. King and is head of that firm’s bankruptcy and creditors rights practice.

When he was younger, he was a NCAA Football official.  During the 2012 NFL referee strike/lockout, he was a replacement referee in one game and umpire in three.

As a Chapter 7 Trustee, he has two sets of bosses.  The US Justice Department, through the Office of the United States Trustee.  And the two Bankruptcy Judges here, Judge Brian F. Kenney and Judge Klinette H. Kindred.

We paid a $338.00 filing fee when we filed your bankruptcy case. Sixty dollars of that went to Trustee King. For each case, including yours, he is paid an additional $60.00 that is indirectly collected from Chapter 11 bankruptcies. (Congress thinks the bankruptcy courts to raise enough in fees to pay for themselves.  No other part of the federal court system does that.)

As your Chapter 7 Trustee, Donald King is in charge of your bankruptcy hearing, which is called the “meeting of creditors.” There are very, very rarely any creditors at the meeting of creditors.  So the Chapter 7 Trustee asks the questions. (Because the trustee is not a judge, he should be called “sir” not “your honor.”)

The bankruptcy court computer schedules fourteen hearings an hour.  That’s just over four minutes per case.

For now, bankruptcy hearings in Alexandria are by telephone. For the Donald King hearings, you should call (877) 953-3011 using the code 1445548.

Donald King is a stickler on paperwork and deadlines.  We are required to send in bank statements for each of your accounts one week before your hearing is scheduled.  If we are a couple days late on that one week requirement, Trustee Donald King will most likely make you, and me, come back two weeks later.

What to Expect at Your Bankruptcy Hearing

Posted by Robert Weed / in Blog, Virginia Bankruptcy, Weekly Posts /

What to Expect at Your Bankruptcy Hearing

For most people, your only bankruptcy hearing is what’s called the “meeting of creditors.”  (We almost never actually have creditors show up. We can also call it your “trustee hearing.”)

Here’s a video that explains where to go, best places to park, what to bring and what questions you’ll be asked.

I’ll be there as your lawyer, but you can review this video to know what to expect.

Bankruptcy: The Best Credit Repair for Most People

Posted by Robert Weed / in Weekly Posts /

Bankruptcy is The Best Credit Repair for Most People

Is bad credit costing you thousands of dollars every year?  It is, if you are paying more than 5% on your car loan.  People with great credit are paying less than 3.0%.  The difference between 3% car loan and an 18% car loan on a $24,000 car is $178 a month–$10,680 over a five year loan.

Some people try to fix this problem with “Credit Repair.”

What is Credit Repair Anyway?

Lexington Law says they are “the leading credit repair law firm.” 

They say you have “the legal right to dispute inaccurate items on your credit reports with the credit bureaus and your individual creditors.”

Is your bad credit caused by inaccurate items—or accurate items?

From what I see, as a bankruptcy lawyer, most of the bad credit on most people’s credit reports is accurate. Credit repair firms hint, but don’t dare say, they can remove accurate items from your credit report. (Sometimes they do, obviously, but they can’t promise it.) So, they mostly don’t do much good.

Lexington Law admits as much, if you read closely. They say on average their clients have “24% of their presenting negatives, removed within 4 months.” That means that 76% of the negatives are still there!

How is bankruptcy better?

Bankruptcy repairs your credit because it gets rid of your debts. The Federal Reserve, in two different studies, found that filing bankruptcy helps your credit score. Why is that a surprise? Your credit is better because you don’t have all those bad debts!

Isn’t bankruptcy is black mark on your credit? Of course it is. Then why does you credit score go up?

Evan Hendricks explained how it works in a case where I used him as an expert witness in a case against Capital One. He testified that the credit scoring models support the fresh start in bankruptcy, because bankruptcy counts as only one “derogatory” no matter how many debts it covered. 

Suppose your credit is wrecked. You have a repossession, three charge offs, three collections, and two accounts that are 60 days past due. That means you have seven derogatories, and two delinquencies. Try credit repair? On average, that gets rid of two of your nine problems. You still have seven.

Bankruptcy changes those nine problems into just one: the bankruptcy. (No, your credit history is NOT wiped clean; the bad credit is still there. But it does NOT drag down your score the way it did—because while the bad history is there, the debts are gone.)

Credit repair, on average, changes your nine black marks into seven. Bankruptcy can change them into one!

The Fresh Start is a second reason bankruptcy is better

Some of the time, credit repair does knock accurate information off your credit report. But that does NOT mean the debt is gone. 

Suppose you have a $5000 credit card that went to charge off, and is now owned by a debt buyer like Midland. Credit repair may some of the time knock Midland off your credit report. But that doesn’t help you if the sheriff bring a warrant in debt to your door.

When you file bankruptcy, the law gives you a fresh start. Besides helping your credit score, the creditors can’t call you, they can’t send you bills, they can’t take you to court or garnish you. Credit repair can never do all that.

For most people, bankruptcy is better for your credit score than “credit repair.” And the bankruptcy “fresh start” give you so much more.

Welcome to the “Reader Top Rated” Bankruptcy Blog

Posted by Robert Weed / in Blog / 6 comments

To my readers around the country, please keep in mind that I cannot give you legal advice. My answers here on this blog may help you think of things to talk about with YOUR LAWYER. DO NOT TRY TO BE YOUR OWN LAWYER, based on anything you read here. That would be a really bad idea.

 

Welcome. I’m Virginia bankruptcy lawyer Robert Weed. Thanks for visiting me.

I started this blog for my Virginia bankruptcy clients. When I explain something, I like to give people a written version, too; so they can refer back to it later. When I answer an email, I try to include a link to more information, for people who want to understand more.

My clients tell me that’s very helpful. I think it’s my job.