The Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas has adopted a local rule that establishes $3,000.00, plus expenses, as the attorney’s fees for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case for an individual. If you file a Chapter 13, you will be in bankruptcy for 3 to 5 years and your wages will be garnished during that entire time period. 98% of the cases that we file are a Chapter 7 cases and the cost is at least $500.00 lower, you are in bankruptcy for less than four months and there is no wage garnishment. We offer a payment plan with our clients which is typically only $200.00 a month. While you are on our payment plan, if any bill collector or other creditor calls or writes you, you refer all of those calls to us and we respond to all of those calls and letters for you. Also, at the end of your bankruptcy, we contact the three credit bureaus, send them a copy of your bankruptcy discharge and direct that they go into your credit report and report that all of your debt has been discharged. We are the only law firm in Central Texas that provides these services and we do not charge extra for these services.
If you have contacted another law firm and they have quoted you a very low fee for a bankruptcy, for example $200.00 or something like that, they are quoting you the fee for a Chapter 13 three to five year wage garnishment bankruptcy. After all, the filing fee that all law firms have to pay to file a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case is approximately $300.00, so obviously that law firm would have to charge you more than the filing fee in order to represent you for three to five years while you are in bankruptcy. That low fee indicates that they were quoting you a Chapter 13 and they would actually charge you more that we charge for a Chapter 7 because the remainder of their $3,000.00 in court ordered fees, plus expenses, would be paid by you through a wage garnishment over a three to five year period. Remember, what Mama used to tell you, “If its too good to be true, don’t believe it”. As you consider bankruptcy relief, make sure and ask the most important question to the law firm you are consulting with – “Are you quoting me a fee for a Chapter 13 wage garnishment, or a Chapter 7 which never has a wage garnishment. Again, we believe our clients are best served in a Chapter 7, 98% of our clients file Chapter 7, and you are in and out of bankruptcy in less than four months with no wage garnishment.