1. Meet with one of our experienced attorney’s either in person or on the phone. Our attorney will review your financial situation and make recommendations to you. By the end of the consultation you will know what options are available to you and whether a Chapter 7, Chapter 13 or no bankruptcy at all is best for you.
2. If you decide to hire us, you can retain our services either online, in person or through the mail. You can hire us with as little as $50.00 down.
   
   
3. As soon as you retain us you can begin referring your creditors to us. When they call, simply advise them that you retained us to represent you in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and request that the creditor call us at 480-968-3100 to confirm the representation.
4. After hiring us you will fill out a bankruptcy questionnaire either online or a paper copy and return it to us with copies of the information specified in the questionnaire. At that time you will also make a second payment to us in an amount sufficient to have paid us a total of $200.00 by the time that the questionnaire is returned. For example, if you hired us with $50.00 down, you will need to pay $150.00 when you return the questionnaire to us.
   
5. You will need to complete a credit counseling course before your case can be filed. To be eligible to file bankruptcy, 11 U.S.C. §109(h) requires that a debtor receive, within the 180 day period before the bankruptcy is filed, a briefing from an approved nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency.

The course through Cricket usually takes 45-60 minutes. Cricket charges $15.00 if you give them our attorney Code of 830772. You can visit their website at: cricketdebt.com. After you have completed the course and paid the fee, Cricket will email or send a certificate of completion to you. You will need to provide a copy of the certificate to us as the certificate must be filed with the court.

Once we receive the bankruptcy questionnaire, copies of all of requested documents, and the second payment from you we will order your credit reports and begin processing your case. Based on the numerous documents that must be prepared, it will take approximately 2-3 weeks to complete the documents. If there is reason that your case will need to be filed sooner such as a pending garnishment, you will need to advise us and request that we move you ahead of other cases in line for processing. Priority cases can usually be processed in a matter of days.

As soon as the documents have been completed, we will notify you in writing that the documents have been completed and we will request that you contact us to schedule an appointment to review and sign the documents. The letter will advise you what, if anything, is still needed from you prior to your appointment to review and sign. The letter will also advise you of what additional action, if any, that you should take prior to your appointment.

At the time that you review and sign the documents, your final payment will be due. The letter will specify the remaining balance that must be paid to file your case.

• As soon as you have reviewed the bankruptcy schedules and statements that must be filed, signed them, and paid the balance of the fees and costs, we can schedule your case for filing with the court.

• Within 5-10 days of the bankruptcy being filed, you will receive a letter from the court appointed trustee. The trustee will request that you provide him or her with certain documents for verification purposes. The trustee will give you a deadline to provide the documents that apply to you. You must comply with the requests by the deadline. If you need any assistance complying with the trustee’s requests you can simply bring the letter in to our office and we will be happy to help you.

• Approximately 30-45 days after the bankruptcy has been filed, you will be required to attend a meeting of creditors. You must attend the meeting on the date and time scheduled or your case will be dismissed. The court sets the date and time of the meeting and neither you, the trustee or our office can pick or change the date or time. The court is required to give you at least 20 days notice of the meeting. Our office will know the date and time of the meeting the day that we file your case. We forward notice to you promptly so that you have plenty of time to make arrangements to appear at the meeting. One of the attorney’s from our office will be with you at the meeting. You are required to bring both a (1) Photo ID (driver’s license, state issued photo ID, a passport or legal alien card), and (2) your social security card (The actual card, and not a copy). If you do not bring both forms of ID to the meeting of creditors, the Trustee will not conduct the meeting and will make you return at a later date. If you do not have your social security card, you must go to the nearest Social Security Administration office and obtain a replacement card. The Social Security Administration will issue a new card and send it to you within 14 days. To find the nearest Social Security Administration office visit: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/FOLO/fo001.jsp

The court typically schedules 6-8 people per half hour for these meetings. You should arrive at least 20 minutes early for the meeting to give the attorney time to meet with you and any other clients scheduled at the same time. At your scheduled time, the Trustee will invite the group into the meeting room. The Trustee will give a brief speech regarding the procedure, and will then commence calling names as scheduled on the calendar posted outside of the meeting room. When it is your turn, you will approach the trustee and hand him/her your two forms of ID. The Trustee will swear you in, review the ID’s, and then commence asking you a series of questions. The questions vary depending on the Trustee, but generally consist of the following:

• State your name;

• Have you taken and accepted the oath?

• How long have you resided in Arizona?

• Has that period included the 91 days prior to the filing of the case?

• Have you reviewed the schedules and statements filed in your case?

• Did you sign them?

• Are they true and accurate?

• Do they contain all of your creditors and assets?

• Have you ever filed bankruptcy before?

• Have you ever filed bankruptcy using a different name or social security number other than your own?

• Do you have any claims against anyone where you can collect money or property?

• Do you have an interest in a will or a trust?

• Has anyone passed away and left you an inheritance and you rejected it?

• Do you owe any domestic support obligations such as child support or spousal support?

• Have you paid any relatives or friends any money in the last year?

• Have you transferred any property to anyone in the last two years?

• Do you own any offshore bank accounts?

After the trustee has asked you these or similar questions, the trustee may ask you about something listed in your schedules, statements or the documents you forwarded directly to him/her. At the conclusion of the meeting, the trustee will ask if there are any creditors present. If a creditor is present, they are allowed to ask you questions about the debt owed to them or about the documents that you have filed with the court.

• To receive a discharge in either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case, you must complete an instructional course concerning financial management. The certificate must be filed no later than forty-five (45) days after the date of the meeting of creditors in a Chapter 7, and no later than the date that you make the last plan payment in a Chapter 13 case.

The course can not be taken until after the bankruptcy has been filed. To verify that you have filed, the counseling agency will require that you give them your bankruptcy court case number. We strongly recommend that you take the course prior to your meeting of creditors and bring a copy to the meeting. At that time you can give a copy to the attorney from our office and we will make sure that the certificate is filed.

We recommend that you obtain the certificate through Cricket Debt Counseling. Cricket offers the course either online at cricketdebt.com or over the phone at 866-719-0400. As of this date, the cost for the course through Cricket is $9.00 if you give them our attorney Code of 830772.

• If you will be reaffirming a debt such as a vehicle loan, you will be required to attend a Reaffirmation Agreement Hearing approximately 45-100 days after your case is filed. The purpose of the hearing is for the judge to verify whether reaffirming the debt will pose an undue hardship upon you.

• Your creditors are allowed 60 days after the date set for the meeting of creditors to file an objection to your discharge. Such objections are quite rare in our cases. Nevertheless, the creditors are automatically given this period of time to file an objection.

• Approximately 61-100 days after the meeting of creditors, if no objection is filed, the court will enter your discharge. The discharge will be sent to you in the mail by the court.