Help Desk (HD) Guide for Attorneys. Basic Information

Transcription

1 Basic Information Help Desk (HD) Guide for Attorneys Practical Basics for Working at the HD 1 Computer and Case Management Instructions 2 Important Phone Numbers 3 Customer Service Information Scope of Service 4 Handout for Public on the HD 5 Handouts Available to HD Visitors from HD Attorney 6 Recurring Legal Issues Important Due Dates Post-filing 7 Checklist of Forms for Filing in Emergency Case 8 All Required Lists, Schedules, Statements, and Fees (Official) 9 Schedule of Fees (Official) 10 Repeat Filing Issues 11 Pre-petition Transfers Subject to Fraud Presumption 12 Census Bureau Median Family Income by Family Size (for Means Test) and Table of HHS Poverty Guidelines x 150% (for qualification for Fee Waiver in a 7) 13 List of IL Exemptions 14 List of Documents to Bring to 341 Meeting 15 Trustee Information 16 List of Foreclosure Attorneys Meeting Locations 18 Local Rules 19 Bankruptcy FAQs 20 Tab

2 1. Practical Basics for Working at the Help Desk Your office number is 622. The waiting room is 625. Warning: the office door will lock behind you if it shuts and you have not adjusted the lock mechanism on the door. There is an emergency safety button under the desktop as you face the visitor. To use it, put your finger into the hole and pull toward you. This will activate the alert mechanism and security will arrive shortly to assist you. When you arrive, make sure that the sign-in clipboard is place in the waiting room with a new sign-in sheet for that day. If there are people in the waiting room before you arrive, they may have started their own sign-in sheet. Transfer these names to your own sheet, because our official sign-in sheet contains our policies about capacity. Pull the clipboard from the waiting room and bring it into your office when all the slots have filled so that others are not tempted to sign up in the margins (yes, they will try, despite any text telling them not to). Additionally, make sure there are plenty of Written Consent and Information Forms behind the sign-in sheet. When you go to get the first person, tell everyone that they must fill in a consent form. If they have visited us before, they can fill in only the front page (sign and date, name and address). If they have not been to the Help Desk before, or it has been six months or more since their last visit, they should fill in the entire sheet, front and back. You may have to repeat this for any newcomers to the waiting room later, though sometimes visitors will help one another out and instruct new arrivals to fill it in. Also, when you go to get the first person, ask whether anyone has a foreclosure sale that day or the next. If so, this issue should take priority and you should see that visitor first. If a visitor has been to the Help Desk before, look up the notes on him/her on Illinois Legal Aid Online (see instructions on how to do this under Tab 2). The hours of the Help Desk are 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The last person should be taken by 12:30. Don t answer the phone unless you recognize the number on the caller ID. Bring your cell phone to the Desk and use that instead. Write in your cell phone number on the important phone numbers list under tab 3 of this binder. Service stipulations: You can help either a debtor or a creditor, but no corporations. Our Help Desk is for bankruptcy issues only. If there is no bankruptcy solution, suggest the visitor see another help desk (list available from you), hire a lawyer, or seek help from a legal aid agency (list available from you). If the client falls under LAF guidelines and has not been previously/recently rejected, refer the client to LAF. If a visitor is a creditor, check Illinois Legal Aid Online to see whether the Help Desk has already assisted the debtor involved in the case. If we have, you cannot help the creditor due to a conflict of interest. Visitors file paper only, not electronically, and they can handwrite all of their information.

3 Visitors cannot use your printer or phone for items like a credit report, credit counseling certificate, or , and we don t have a fax machine. You can print motions and forms for them if need be, but all standard forms should be available either in the waiting room or in the bottom file drawer to the left of your chair as you face the visitor. The Clerk s office should keep stocked the forms in the waiting room, so if we are out of one of the standard forms, send the visitor to the Clerk s office in 713 to pick it up. The computers in the waiting room can access only sites that are relevant to bankruptcy issues. Clients can look up any case info through the PACER system available there and through their home computers if they set up an account (instructions on how to do this in a waiting room filing bin). 2. Computer and Case Management Instructions Passwords Computer: Username: marypatd Password: passw Illinois Legal Advocate: Username:bluehrs@lafchicago.org Password: GoILA86 ECF: Login: probono Password: cmecf Pacer: Username: la0033 Password: 4splent9 Marshall: Username: dyen Password: lafc61 Vaughn: Username: C Password: 343Lafc Stearns: Username: lafchgo Password: 05laf#1070 Case Management 1. When you open Internet Explorer (not Mozilla Firefox), it will bring up three home pages: Illinois Legal Advocate (ILA, automatically signed into the account above); US Bankruptcy Court national forms; and US Bankruptcy Court Northern District of IL home page. 2. If ILA is not signed in automatically, use the info above to access our account. 3. See the Control Panel on the right side of the screen and click on Intake System under its heading. 4. For returning customers, a. Click Update Client. Search by full or partial first and/or last names. b. If customer is found, click View Case History (on the right-hand side of the client listing). Read through prior notes entered on the client.

4 c. Problem Note: Click Add New Problem Note. Enter information about the issue for which the client is seeing you. Choose a value for the Client is entry (Creditor or Debtor). Click Add Problem Note. d. Advice Note: The Advice Note page will come up. Enter info on the advice you gave the client that day. Type your name in the Entered by entry. Click Add Advice Note. e. In five seconds, the web site will take you back to the page where you can start this process over again for other clients. 5. For new customers, a. From the Control Panel, click Add Client. From the consent and information form that the client completed to see you, enter first and last name (don t worry about birth date), phone number, and address. No other info is necessary. b. Click Add Client at the bottom of the page. You will be taken to the Problem Note page. Follow the instructions above, 4c-e. 3. Important Phone Numbers If you are running late, call Adrienne Atkins at To request more forms in the waiting room, call Sheila Anderson at x8053. For computer problems, complete a service request either online through the Court s intranet (available through the Help Desk computer) or, for more immediate situations, call the Help Desk extension (x7582). If you cannot get through by either of these methods, call Sheila Anderson. For more toner for your printer, call Karen at x6049. For a Spanish interpreter, call Claudia at x2572. NOTE: You may also use LAF s interpreting service (see flyer on desk s bulletin board). LAF Contacts: David Yen is available at his office at or on his cell phone at Benjamin Luehrs is available at his office at or on his cell phone at To call out, press 9 first and wait a second or two. Then dial 1, the area code, and the number.

5 4. Scope of Service 1. First, be sure to look over the client s consent and intake info form. A cursory interview sometimes reveals that the client won t benefit from bankruptcy because (s)he is judgment proof. Save your breath and instead, discuss the meaning and benefits of being judgment proof. You can also give the client one of the pamphlets on What It Means To Be Judgment Proof from the standing file on the right side of your desk as you face the client. 2. Again, if the client has been to the Help Desk before, check Illinois Legal Advocate s Intake System to see what has been learned about the client and what advice has been given to him/her already by searching the visitor s name (even just the first few letters of the first and last names will bring up the correct client) and looking at past Case History. 3. Typical services we provide: a. Advice on whether or not to file and if so, under which chapter b. Review of forms, once someone has completed them. Common errors to watch for are: 1. Omitting property, especially tax refunds and lawsuits, sometimes real property if jointly owned 2. Omitting debts the debtor just wants to leave off 3. Not listing their exemptions (Schedule C is blank) 4. Unaffordable plans under a 13 c. Assistance drafting and filing a motion: 1. Print out and give to the client a blank minute order, blank notice, blank motion, and blank proposed motion. Look in the Motions folder to see whether a sample exists of the motion the client needs. If so, print it and give that to the client as well. BUT explain that the client needs to adapt the sample to his/her OWN case, filling out the statements to the specifics of his/her case. The client must number their paragraphs and sign the motion. 2. Explain that they should pick a court date (to include in the notice of motion) by looking at their judge s information either on the Court s web site or in the binder between the couch and computers in the waiting room. This date must also leave enough time for requisite notice.* 3. Advise that the client must file the original and one copy of these forms. 4. The client must also send a copy to each of their creditors. You can print out a copy of the client s creditor matrix for them to do this. 5. *Most motions require five business days advance notice, if service is by mail, or before 4:00 p.m. of the second day before the motion if service is by personal service. However, a motion to incur debt or sell property requires three weeks notice.

6 d. You do not have to figure out someone s Chapter 13 plan. Help them to find on the Bankruptcy Court s web site the interactive calculating plan, and advise them to fill out a plan manually based on the numbers they get from it: 4. Some good first questions to ask a client a. Do you have an attorney? The answer should be no. The Help Desk is only for people without attorneys. Note that sometimes, a person s attorney for the initial filing will refuse to work on a follow-up issue, in which case we can see them about it. b. What is the source of your income? This question helps to determine whether a client is judgment proof before you launch into a full-on discussion of bankruptcy. c. Why are you here today?/what is your reason for wanting to file? This question tries to detect for emergency issues, whether a foreclosure sale, sale of repossessed property that the visitor wants to keep, suspension of driver s license, utilities shutoff, wage garnishment all issues that will help to advise on whether or how to file. d. Have you taken credit counseling? If the person is sure he/she is going to file and you agree that this is a good idea for his/her situation, they must have taken credit counseling at least one day and not more than 180 days before filing. e. Have you taken and worked on the forms necessary for your filing before entering this office? Again, if the person is sure he/she is going to file and you agree that this is a good idea for his/her situation, he/she must have attempted ALL of the paperwork before approaching you with questions about it. All of it is clearly color-coded and available in the Waiting Room (as long as the Clerk s office has kept it stocked). Moreover, we have made available online the binders we used to have in the Waiting Room. These contain basic info on filing, a full set of forms with handwritten instructions overlaid on them to describe how to complete them, a full set of filing forms completed by Jane Doe as a demonstrative sample, and all info for the Median IL income question on the Means Test, info on credit counseling, etc. You can take a look at it to know everything publicly available in it by visiting It is not your job to walk a person through all of the forms. You can troubleshoot with them after they have worked on them as fully as possible, but otherwise, you can refer them to this web site, accessible via any computer. 5. Common questions at the Help Desk a. Where can I find a list of my creditors and their addresses? Get your credit report. This should list all of your debts, old and new. For your creditors addresses, look at the most recent bill you have from the creditor. Some creditors have specific addresses for you to send bankruptcy notices that are different from the billing address, and if you send the notice to the regular address whether the billing address on your statement or the address listed on the credit report you run the

7 risk of the notice not getting through. When this happens, the notice will be returned to your home address and you will be responsible for resending this information to the correct address at your own additional cost. b. How long must I wait between bankruptcy filings? i. 7 7: Eight years ii. 13 7: Six years iii. 7 13: Four years iv : Two years v. Note that someone can file a 13 before this time limit is up, but they will have to pay back a higher percentage of their debt amount than they would have if they had waited the full amount of time required by law. c. What does it mean to be judgment proof? You can explain this to someone and also give them a What it means to be judgment proof pamphlet from the standing file on the right side of the desk. d. Where can I take the credit counseling class? Find a list in the Instructions for Filing Bankruptcy packet, pages 4-7. Updates to this list can be found at TML/cc_illinois/cc_illinois.htm for the pre-filing Credit Counseling class and TML/de_illinois/de_illinois.htm for the post-filing Debtor Education class. Generally, someone can take the DE class from the same company that gave them the CC class. e. I didn t do my debtor education because I didn t know about it OR I sent the certificate to the wrong person OR I took the class but never submitted the certificate, and now my case has been dismissed. Actually, the person did know about it because they signed the Notice to Consumer Debtors form, B 201A. Now they have to 1) take the debtor education course and retrieve a certificate for it, 2) file a motion to reopen the case, which will cost them $260, to file their debtor education certificate, and 3) turn in to the clerk the certificate with form B23, which is an official cover sheet for filing the Debtor Education certificate. f. Where do I file my forms? Clerk s office: seventh floor, room 713. g. How long will the bankruptcy stay on my credit report? Ten years for a 7, seven years for a 13. h. Can I discharge student loans? No one yet in IL has been successful in proving that paying back their loans would be an undue hardship. So no. i. What are other legal aid organizations I can approach about this? Again, in the standing files on the right side of the desk is an 8½ x 11 sheet, Local Legal Aid Organizations, and their contact info listed on it. For home ownership issues, there is a legal-size sheet of local HUD-approved counselors.

8 5. Handout for Public on the HD (See binder at Help Desk) 6. Handouts Available to Help Desk Visitors from Help Desk Attorney All of the following items are available either in the waiting room or from you (see the standing file to the right side of the desk when you face the client). Included in this section are samples of: Instructions packet (includes steps to take before and after filing, summaries of the required forms, list of approved credit counseling agencies, IL exemptions list, and median income table for the means test)* Info on 341 Meeting Writing and Filing an Adversary Complaint* Answering an Adversary Complaint* List of HUD-approved housing counselors (legal-size sheet)* List of local legal referrals (pro bono and standard) Scripts: o Request a Volunteer Attorney (for pro se clients in adversary proceedings, attorneys are available from the Court. Client should attend court date and recite script before the judge.) (sixth-sheet size) o Stop Creditor Harassment When Income Is Only SSI (sixth-sheet size) Instructions to request a hearing Web site locations: o Long white slip: How to File a 7 Pro Se o Long light pink slips: Where to find the Court s 13 Self-Calculating Plan Pamphlets o What It Means to Be Judgment Proof o Dealing with Medical Debt o General Info About Bankruptcy (English, Spanish, Polish) * o Fixing Mistakes on Your Credit Report* o Bankruptcy Information for IL Homeowners (English and Spanish)* o Personal PACER Account Instructions*

9 o Rebuilding Your Credit After a Negative Financial Event* * Available in the Waiting Room Should be copied for us by Clerk s office staff Web sites available via computers in Help Desk Waiting Room 7. Important Due Dates Post-Filing One week before the 341 meeting (two weeks for Marshall), send to trustee past tax returns (two years worth for Chapter 7, four years for Chapter 13) and past 60 days worth of pay stubs In a 13, First plan payment is due 30 days after filing Regular mortgage payment is due on the 1 st due date after filing Within 30 days after creditors meeting, initiate redemption Within 45 days after initial date for meeting of creditors (not any extended date) for Chapter 7, must file certificate of post-filing debtor education Before last payment is made in a 13 plan, must file certificate of post-filing debtor education Petition (3 pages) 8. Checklist of Forms for Filing in Emergency Case Exhibit D (2 pages) and certificate of credit counseling (1 page) dated for at least one and not more than 180 days prior to filing date (Automatic stay will usually happen without these, but case will be dismissed [see repeat filing issues, Tab 11]) Notice to Consumer Debtors (B 201A) Statement of Social Security Number (Form 21) Fee ($274 for a 13, $299 for a 7), OR Application for a Fee Waiver (Ch. 7 only), OR Application to Pay Filing Fee in Installments Blank sheet of paper with the name and address of at least one creditor

10 9. All Required Lists, Schedules, Statements, and Fees (Official) (See binder at Help Desk) 10. Schedule of Fees (Official) (See binder at Help Desk) 11. Repeat Filing Issues 1. If current case is the second case within a year after prior case was dismissed, and the client needs to file a motion to extend the stay, check the relevant judge s page on the Court s web site for the list of things the client will need to file with the motion. 2. Required time between filings Chapter 7 followed by Chapter 7: Eight years 11 U.S.C. 727(a)(8) Chapter 13 followed by Chapter 7: Six years 11 U.S.C. 727(a)(9), Unless previous Chapter 13 paid 100% GUC 11 U.S.C. 727(a)(9)(A), Or paid 70% GUC and debtor s best effort 11 U.S.C. 727(a)(9)(B) Chapter 7 followed by Chapter 13: Four years 11 U.S.C. 1328(f)(1) Chapter 13 followed by Chapter 13: Two years 11 U.S.C. 1328(f)(2) NOTE: Often, it is still advantageous for the client to file a 13, even if no discharge is available, where the goal is gaining time to catch up on mortgage, etc. 3. Only 30-day stay available if one bankruptcy (either chapter) was dismissed in the past year (counts from date of dismissal) 11 USC 362(c)(3). However, may file motion to extend the stay pleading changed circumstances and good faith (must be heard within 30 days). 4. No automatic stay is available if two bankruptcies (either chapter) were dismissed in the past year (counts from date of dismissal) 11 USC 362(c)(4). However, may file motion to impose the stay pleading changed circumstances and good faith. 5. Case may be subject to dismissal as filed in bad faith if previous case was voluntarily dismissed by debtor, or dismissed for willful failure to prosecute, within 180 days prior to this filing. Client would receive a stay, but the stay could be annulled by creditor (meaning any sale that occurred during the stay would be considered valid).

11 12. Pre-Petition Transfers Subject to Fraud Presumption $500 or greater charge for luxury goods within 90 days of filing $750 cash advance within 70 days of filing 13. Census Bureau Median Family Income by Family Size (for Means Test) and Table of HHS Poverty Guidelines x 150% (for qualification for Fee Waiver in a 7) Applicable Median Family Income for Illinois for Question 14 on the Chapter 7 Means Test (Form B22A) (Updated March 15, 2010) Household Size Applicable Income 1 $45, , , , , , , ,775 Federal Poverty Guidelines, 2009 (2009 levels in effect at least through 5/31/10) Persons in family Poverty guideline (100%) 150% of Guideline 1 $10,830 $16, ,570 21, ,310 27, ,050 33, ,790 38, ,530 44, ,270 49, ,010 55,515 For families with more than 8 persons, add $3,740 for each additional person to the 100% guideline.

12 14. List of IL Exemptions (see binder at Help Desk) 15. List of Documents to Bring to 341 Meeting Two most recent bank statements on all accounts held by debtor Most recent pay stub Social Security card At least one photo ID (passport, state ID, driver s license) 16. Trustee Information Marilyn O. Marshall Correspondence Address: Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee; 224 S Michigan Ave, Suite 800; Chicago, IL Phone: (312) Fax: (312) Payment Address: Marilyn O. Marshall; Chapter 13 Trustee; P.O. Box 2031; Memphis, TN Web site: Tom Vaughn Correspondence Address: Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee; 200 S Michigan Ave, 13 th Floor; Chicago, IL Phone: (312) Fax: (312) Payment Address: Tom Vaughn, Trustee; P.O. Box 588; Memphis, TN Web site: Glenn Stearns Correspondence Address: Glenn Stearns, Chapter 13 Trustee; 4343 Commerce Court, Suite 120; Lisle, IL Phone: (630) Fax: (630) Payment Address: Glenn Stearns, Chapter 13 Trustee; PO Box 2368; Memphis, TN

13 Web site: Lydia S. Meyer Correspondence Address: Lydia S. Meyer, Chapter 13 Trustee; PO Box 14127; Rockford, IL Phone: (815) Fax: (815) Payment Address: Lydia S. Meyer, Trustee; P.O. Box 190; Memphis, TN Web site: United States Trustee Correspondence Address: Office of the United States Trustee; 219 S. Dearborn Street, Room 873; Chicago, IL Phone: (312) Fax: (312) List of Foreclosure Attorneys Sales Offices Judicial Sales Corporation Intercounty Judicial Sales 1 S Wacker Dr, 24 th Floor 120 W Madison St, Suite 718 Chicago, IL Chicago, IL Phone: Phone: Fax: Fax: Attorneys Offices Kluever & Platt Ira T. Nevel 65 E Wacker Place, Suite N Franklin St, #201 Chicago, IL Chicago, IL Phone: Phone: Fax: Fax: Codilis & Associates Kropik Papuga & Shaw 15W030 North Frontage Road 120 South LaSalle Street Burr Ridge, IL Chicago, Illinois Phone: Phone: Fax: Fax: Pierce & Associates Dutton & Dutton 1 N Dearborn W. Lincoln Highway Chicago, IL Frankfort, IL Phone: Phone: Fax: Fax:

14 Fisher & Shapiro Heavner, Scott, & Beyers 2121 Waukegan Road, Suite E Main St, Suite 100 Bannockburn, IL Decatur, IL Phone: (847) Phone: Fax: (847) Fax: Gomberg, Sharfman, Gold, & Ostler, P.C Noonan & Lieberman 208 S LaSalle St, Suite W Adams St, Suite 3000 Chicago, IL Chicago, IL Phone: Phone: Fax: Fax: Meeting Locations 19. Local Rules (see binder at Help Desk) Table of Contents presented in this section (see document at Help Desk). Full document containing local rules can be found at Local_Rules_2008.pdf.