Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Georgia

I hired a per se petitioner to prepare my Chapter 7 bankruptcy paperwork and he didn't do anything on time or correctly basically had to redo all his work myself now I received a dismissal of my trustee and estate letter and returned to work today and received a continuing garnishment letter what can I do now?


Asked on 2/23/14, 8:09 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

As you have found out, no one should EVER use a "preparer" to file bankruptcy. There is no required training, and people often face horrible consequences from this mistake. If you had needed surgery, would you have gone to a barber to save a few dollars? By the same way of thinking, would you trust anyone other than a lawyer to file bankruptcy?

It is sad that you didn't act sooner and have a lawyer fix his work as that would prevented the dismissal. The good news is that you MAY be able to refile (unless the court issued a 180 day bar). You will need an attorney, not a preparer. The bad news is that it will cost you MORE to do this case than the first would have cost as your attorney will likely have to file a motion to reimpose an automatic stay in the new case.

I see that you're near my office. Since this is the weekend, you may want to get one of my pre-appointment worksheets at www.glenashman.com, complete it quickly, and retake your first class. And then call me tomorrow for an appointment. Hopefully your garnishment can be quickly stopped. (My number is 404- 768- 3509).

Your post will help others to realize they need to hire real lawyers, not people wh couldn't get into law school, to do their bankruptcies.

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Answered on 2/23/14, 8:35 pm
Charles Andersen Charles Andersen, Atty

Well, let's that the problem with hiring a bankruptcy petition preparer, is that you have no case against him for professional malpractice.

All you have is a contract with a non lawyer. If , it's true that the paperwork was not properly prepared the most you can hope to gain in a suit is the return of your $159.00 or whatever you paid to him. You see cases like that on Judge Judy all of the time.

A lawyer owers you a professional standard of care, a lawyer owes you a duty of loyalty, confidentiality and competance.

I ask you, what type of fee in your own life would you charge a total stranger to take on a resposibility like that, knowing that your professional life, your families welfare and maybe your children's college education could be jeopardized if you made a mistake? Knowing a little about you, I suspect that if you answer that question you would charge a heck of a lot more for that than a bankruptcy lawyer would to take on your case.

Now don't complain that you didn't want to pay a professional fee. http://www.superdebtbuster.com

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Answered on 2/23/14, 9:52 pm
Robert Gardner Hicks, Massey & Gardner, LLP

I agree with the others that we see this happen a lot and these people do little more than fill in forms. You need an attorney to fix this, but it should be easy to fix. Call around to some attorneys and find one who can work with you on fees. The garnishment will not stop until you either settle with the creditor, successfully oppose the garnishment in state court, or file another bankruptcy case. On caveat: filing a new bankruptcy case will only protect you for 30 days unless a motion to extend stay is filed. This is a simple procedure for an attorney.

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Answered on 2/24/14, 7:12 am


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