Archive for the ‘Debt Settlement’ Category

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Brighton Beach Bankruptcy Lawyer Daniel Gershburg discusses how Cohen & Slamowitz, Rubin & Rothman and the rest can freeze your bank account without you knowing

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

I am a Manhattan Chapter 7 Bankruptcy attorney but there are numerous instances where I have clients in New York City who do not want to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Brighton Beach, Coney Island, or whereever. Instead, they have one or two unpaid bills that are now in the hands of collection firms like Rubin & Rothman, Pressler & Pressler, Cohen & Slamowitz and the rest. Heres the constant problem that they have. They get these absurdly harrassing phone calls from these companies (Ive never been part of the convo, but my clients tell me they are harassing phone calls) and then the client gets scared and will give up a crucial piece of information, like a social security number or a bank account number. At that point, good luck. Almost immediately, you’ll have these collection firms freezing these accounts. The only way to get your money out of that account is to file an Order to Show Cause with the local court, filing for Bankruptcy, or agreeing to a settlement (sometimes this doesnt even work.) So whats my advice? Well my advice is that you should NEVER EVER disclose any personal information to these collection firms, unless and until you speak to an attorney. Furthermore, you shouldn’t ever give up this information unless your provided with written proof of the validation of the debt from the collection firm. How do we know that they own this debt and can go after you for this money? How do we know that the amount they claim you owe for some unpaid debt is accurate? The answer is, we dont. Not until they prove it to us, on paper, and in a legally acceptable fashion. Do not believe what these collectors tell you on the phone when it comes to outlandish claims that they will get you fired, put in jail, or punished in some other ways. You have a slew of state and federal laws that are specifically made to help consumers when they deal with credit collectors. Make sure you’re aware of those and do not become another statistic. Someone who has had their account frozen, money garnished, or worse, because you were intimidated by these individuals. There are simple legal ways to fight back and ensure that what you’re doing is correct.

On a personal note, I’d like to wish all of our readers and clients a very Merry Christmas, a very happy healthy New Year and Happy Holidays. Our business has grown and grown thanks to your support. And we’re able to do what we love to do, helping consumers, because you continue to show us the confidence you have in us to treat you the way you deserve to be treated. All the best to all of you in the new year. May it be stress free and collection call free!

Posted in Debt Settlement, Gersh Blog | View Comments

You can’t be Half Bankrupt

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Just like the expression “You can’t be half pregnant”, the same is true for Bankruptcy in New York.  What I mean by this is that I have to turn away many potential clients who want to file for Bankruptcy but have considerable assets which they do not want to give up during the Bankruptcy process.  Now many lawyers will say you can protect some assets and even engage in something called “exemption planning”, and that is all well and good.  However, if you have considerable assets, for instance a car which is only a few years old and is paid off, chances are you likely will not be able to protect that asset when filing for Bankruptcy.  In other words you’re either going to have to surrender it, or you’re going to have to buy it back from the Trustee for a particular price.  The monies used from the sale or from your re-purchase go to the creditors.  Thats what the entire process is intended to do.  It’s intended to allow you to take care of various unsecured debt that you have, however the caveat is that if you have assets which fall above the limit that the Bankruptcy law protects, you will have to give up those assets.  Taken in context, this, for many, is a great deal.

Lets say you have $100,000 in credit card debt and your assets fall above the exemptions allowed under Bankruptcy law.  For instance lets say you have a rare book collection worth $10,000 .  The Bankruptcy exemptions under New York Law will likely only protect a portion of the value of those books, so they likely will have to be sold and proceeds used to pay off the creditors.  However, for about $10,000, you get rid of $100,000 worth of debt.  That means no more restraints on your bank account or garnishing wages.  It should be looked at as a relief.  Now, again, many people do not have assets or assets whose value goes above the amount allowed under the Bankruptcy Code.  But if you’re one of the few who do, realize that you cant get rid of your debt AND not give up valuable property.  However, for a fraction of the cost of the actual amount of debt, you’ll be able to start fresh again.

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What to do when your New York Bank Account is Frozen

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

So you go to the bank and try and withdraw some money and come to find out your bank has been frozen.  You go inside and ask the teller what happened and see that the account was frozen by either Mel. S. Harris & Associates, Rubin & Rothman, Pressler & Pressler, or some other collection firm.  You have no idea why it was frozen.  What do you do now?

1. DO NOT simply contact the debt collection firm to find out exactly why the account was frozen.  Doing this causes unneccesary delay as many of these firms will not go into details with you as to why your account was frozen.  Instead they will simply try and strong arm you into making payments.

2. DO go straight to civil court.  You can let the clerk at the civil court know what happened and they will be able to access the corresponding court case behind the “freeze.”

3. DO speak to an attorney about the freeze.

There are many things an attorney can do to unfreeze your account almost immediately.  The jist is that your account was likely frozen because you didnt “show up” to a court date when a lawsuit was filed against you, and therefore a default judgment was entered against you.  Now many of you will say “But I wasn’t ever served!”  You’re not alone.  Many of the clients that come into my office have the same issue.  Some of these firms use “sewer service” whereby they simply serve any address they can find that corresponds with your name on a credit report.  They then go forward with the court proceeding even though you werent properly served.   Under New York Law, they cant do that.  The problem is the first time you found out about this was when you suddenly realized your bank account was frozen.

Also, about 80-90% of the time my clients have absolutely no idea that they owed any debt, much less the debt the lawsuit claims is owed.  This usually centers around the fact that if/when the client defaulted on the payment, that debt racked up a ton of interest and was sold between several collection agencies and companies.  An attorney will be able to minimize or even eliminate most of the interest, and many times a large amount of the principal (remember that past performance is no indication or guarantee of future results).

At the end of the day the most important piece of advice I would tell you is to immediately take steps to unfreeze this account, even if you are going to try and go at this alone.  There is no reason to simply pay what the collection law firm tells you to pay.  There is always room to negotiate or even try and dismiss the entire claim.

Posted in Consumer Advocacy, Debt Settlement, Gersh Blog | View Comments

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