I have been a bankruptcy attorney for a long time.
How long?
Do you remember the last time the Pirates won a World Series? I began my bankruptcy practice the following year, 1980.
Now if I lived in Chicago and began my bankruptcy practice the year after the Cubs last won the World Series, I would have have started doing bankruptcy law in 1909. (Sorry Cubs fans.) That would make me even more of a senior than I am now.
I don’t have the statistics to show that seniors are filing more bankruptcies now than they did in the 1980’s, when I was first practicing law. But anecdotal, I feel the increase.
I seem to meet with more seniors in now than I ever did. And they are having problems paying their bills. What kind of bills? Most often, charge cards. Sometimes it was indiscriminate use of the cards for no apparent reason. Sometimes they were scammed by ripoff artists, including religious gurus who pushed them to save the world by swiping their cards. Sometimes it was a general inability to survive on the modest social security income, especially but not exclusively those living alone.
But I also see some who have helped out their kids or their grand kids, either by offering them use of their charge cards, or by giving them money which left the seniors short and forced them to use charge cards that they couldn’t pay for, or by co-signing loans for vehicles (now repossessed) or for student loans that the former student is no longer paying.
Trying to cope with this debt is not just difficult, it is often impossible. If there is only $950.00 coming in from Social Security and the rent payment is $500.00, utilities run another $200.00 to $300.00, plus food, transportation, medical expenses (yes, even in the age of Medicare, there are still expenses that aren’t covered), you can see where there might not be any money left over for the charges or loans.
Even if the income is somewhat higher, the expenses might also be higher also if the senior owns a home or has a car payment. That’s where Steidl and Steinberg comes in. We will sit down with you, look at your needs, your expenses, your income. We will then develop a strategy to help you get out of this mess. Can you stay in your apartment or house? Can you keep the car? Can you hold onto your vacation home in the Bahamas? You probably cannot hold onto your vacation home, but all of the other questions are subject to review.
Often the answer does not require the senior to leave the housing where they feel secure. But we can’t advise you until you call. And what you will find is not an attorney who is going to yell at you or embarrass you, but someone who cares, an attorney with whom you will feel immediately comfortable talking to. We will sit down with you and go over your entire situation. And then we will make recommendations. I guarantee you will feel so much better knowing your alternatives.
Give Steidl and Steinberg a call. And please don’t wait until the Pirates win another World Series.