We hired Macey & Aleman in March we were told to bring in paystubs and bills which we did. We were told that we were eligible for Chapter 7 and that once we paid the fees in full and submit all requested paperwork we would receive our petition.
Well we did just that and received a letter telling us that we should receive our petition in 10-14 days and if not call. We did not get it and had to make several phone calls having one rep tell me that was an old letter and it takes longer then 10-14 days it actually takes 2 weeks and to give it more time.
Well 2 weeks passed and we called again we were then told it will take 3 weeks give it moer time. After the 3rd week I called and threatened to terminate my contract which I should have done and a manager got on the phone telling me I should receive my petition soon and can we please be patient because the office that we went to initially closed and several lawyers left including the one we met with. Umm no one informed us of this.
We received it 2 weeks later, and sent it back with the requested information. An entire month went by and no one called to give us an update and everytime we called the 888 number we got cluess and rude cust serv reps telling us it is processing.
One of the reps really helped me out she started e-mialing the district manger and he got on the local office we were dealing with. Finally received a call from one of the "toy" lawyers who left me a message asking for more paystubs! Once he receive those we should be all set to go.
In the meantime there are people knocking on our door trying to serve us court papers from our creditors which is stressful and embarrasing.
Another month go by and no update on our file so I called and got the same rep who always helps me and she e-mailed the district manager again and once again we got a call from the same "toy" lawyer.
It was obvious he just looked over our file that day and was trying to calculate the figures while on the phone with me! I asked him why has it taken so long to get this done you've had our paperwork and petition since August 15th and his exact words were "Look I am busy and we need to get over that and move forward. After 30 mins of oh! This is not good! Umm I need to do this over! He tells me well you don't qualify for Chapter 7!! What! Are you serious? What do you mean we don't qualify?
Well you and your husband make too much you actually have over $2,000 left having paying your bills. Umm excuse me but if we had $2,000 left after bills we wouldn't need to file bankruptcy.
He kept calculating and coming up with different numbers first we qualified for Chapter 7, then we didn't qualify for anything then he tells us well you can do a Chapter 13 for an additional $450.00!!
We were furious! For 7 months we were told not to pay any of the creditors which we didn't and that only put us further behind and threats of being sued and garnishment of wages and now you're telling us we do not qualify.
I had a breakdown I couldn't stop crying how can they do this to us? Then I got ANGRY! We made an appointment with the lawyer and had out termination letter in hand on that day.
When we gave it to him he said "I don't know what to do with this?" What? He then went to another office and they told him to just take it from us and put it in our file. We also sent a copy to the main office in Chicago.
Being so upset we filed a Grievance informing them how we were treated. Within 2 weeks we got a response from the Commissoner's office with a copy of the letter sent to Legalhelpers telling them to respond in 15 days.
We get a call from legalhelpers and one of the managers is trying to convince us to stay with them and that we should have been advised that my husband needs to stop working overtime because it is taking us out of the Chapter 7 bracket.
Well sorry but we can not afford to do that especially now that we had no choice but to make arrangements with some creditors so our wages won't be garnished. I said even if we do that you can not guarantee we would be eligible she said we will make you eligible.
THen we were told well you won't be getting any money back and after hanging up the phone I called back to see if my case was closed and they still have it open which to me means they are trying to rack up the costs.
Our experience with legalhelpers was awful and it still isn't over and our financial situation is worse then ever before because of them.
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