Dear Client,
We want to do everything we can at Steidl and Steinberg to help you solve your problems.
It was with great sadness that I have to tell you the bad news. I could not get rid of all of your debt, which was running you about $800.00 per month. I can only get rid of about 70% of it.
You are going to have to make $200.00 per month payments to the Court to get the debt taken care of. I am so sorry. I really wanted to help even more.
There are reasons why I couldn’t do it all. Most importantly, your household income was above the guidelines that the law sets for the size of your family. In this case, it meant that you are not eligible for what we call a straight, Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Go on our website and you can read a lot more about Chapter 7. You are eligible, however, for a Chapter 13 reorganization plan. We explain Chapter 13 on the website as well.
Pay What You Can Afford in Chapter 13
Under Chapter 13, we will be able to consolidate your debts significantly. Consolidate, you say? How is that different from the other consolidators out there that do not require going into the bankruptcy court? The major difference is that the other consolidators do not recommend a payment based on your ability to pay; they recommend a payment based on their business model that has a fixed payment for the amount that you owe.
You can have three different people who owe $25,000 in debt. One person earns $20,000, one makes $35,000, and one makes $50,000, and they will pay the same amount to this consolidator. That’s ridiculous!
Each of the above people have completely different circumstances. There is no way the same payment will work for each.
We will work with you at Steidl and Steinberg and determine your ability to pay as related to the legal requirements of the Bankruptcy Code. That is why one of the above clients may pay $150.00 per month, the other $225.00 a month, and the third $350.00 per month.
You will pay $200.00 per month, and that will save you $600.00 per month from what you pay now. In addition, your payments will be over in five years instead of the 12 to 15 years you would have needed to continue to make those minimum payments to get these people paid off.
The amount of $200.00 per month was way below what the debt consolidation people wanted. They wanted $500.00 per month, so we are significantly below them. Chapter 13 also has the authority of the federal government behind it. We don’t ask your creditors to accept our plan, we tell them this is the plan and they are going to have to live with it.
I am sorry my client. I was not able to save you the $800.00 that I would have liked to have done. I am hoping that you can live with the $600.00 savings, and that it might be somewhat easier to get through a month than the nightmare you have been living for way too long. I will see you in my office next week and we will get these papers filed right away.