Greater Cincinnati Bankruptcy Attorney R. Michael Smith has high experience, helping hundreds of clients through bankruptcy since 1985. He has been named to “Who’s Who in American Law”, is a former Law Clerk to an Ohio Supreme Court Justice, and is admitted to the United States Supreme Court.
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Sometimes, events in life take an unexpected turn with significant economic consequences to you. Thus, loss of your job, major surgery or illness of you or your spouse, death, and disability often leave the survivor with a significant loss in income. Major life transitions such as retirement, winding down of a business, separation or divorce, or simply being forced into a lesser paying position typically leave unresolved debts and no realistic capability of making payments.
The typical response of creditors, people to whom you owe money, has very little variation. The creditors seek to collect as much as possible from you for as long as possible. They will call your home, your place of employment, and, if you gave them the information, your near relatives. Further, expect them to call on Saturday and Sunday as well. (Certain types of telephonic behavior are forbidden by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.) If you have been the victim of prolonged or abusive telephone harassment, please inform me at our initial meeting.
I Want to Help You
I can help you, regardless of the level of debt collection activity you are now experiencing. Obviously, it is very important for you to call my office at the earliest stage to allow the maximum amount of planning for your Bankruptcy petition. I help clients in the Greater Cincinnati area, Hamilton County, Butler County, Clermont County, Brown County and Warren County.
The effect of the filing of a Bankruptcy petition is to engage the Automatic Stay of all collection activities against you. The Automatic Stay is a creature of statute, a part of the Bankruptcy Code, and regulates what a creditor may and may not do once the petition in Bankruptcy has been filed. In most cases, the creditor or collector must immediately stop all efforts to collect on the debt. They must end all phone calls, stop all court proceedings against you, stop all garnishment activities at whatever stage, stop all foreclosure proceedings, and cease attempting to repossess your vehicle.
When a petition in Bankruptcy is filed, notices are sent out to all the creditors listed in your petition. We also send special notices to attorneys involved in legal proceedings against you. Most collectors and creditors do immediately cease collection efforts; severe penalties await those who deliberately violate the automatic stay.
Ordinary consumers and many small business owners may file a Bankruptcy petition under either of 2 Bankruptcy Code chapters: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.
Call Attorney R. Michael Smith for an appointment. (513) 769-3700. He will carefully explain Chapters 7 and 13, and their possible application to your circumstances.