WHAT DISTINGUISHES US? WHY HIRE THE LAW OFFICE OF
STEPHEN H. SWIFT, P.C. TO DO YOUR BANKRUPTCY?
WHAT MOTIVATES US:
We are reminded of a quotation found on the desk of Mr. Swift’s dentist. It said: “We love you and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Our greatest joy is the amazing relief experienced by our clients as a result of putting off that mountain of debt.
We are very grateful to those clients finding family members in a difficult bind who have the courage to say: “I went to Mr. Swift and he took care of me.”
We believe that bankruptcy is a natural process. A few years ago at Yellowstone National Park a horrendous fire ravaged the park. Afterwards the entire mountain side of the park was charred and burned away. Three years later a beautiful virgin forest grew. The fire had burned away the parasites which had infested the trees; had consumed all the dead wood; and the intense heat had caused pine cones to erupt planting in its place a beautiful virgin forest.
Bankruptcy is like this. It is a natural process which restores health and vitality.
Bankruptcy is sanctioned by the scriptures and by the U.S. Constitution.
OUR SIZE:
We are the largest consumer bankruptcy firm in Southern Colorado. We have four attorneys and 11 staff members. This means that we can give greater attention to your case; answer your questions more quickly; and bring to your case a team approach that outpaces our competition.
Most of our competitors consist of one attorney and 1 or 2 staff members. This greatly limits the scope of the services they can provide.
We confer daily about cases and situations and discuss how to best approach issues which arise. We continue to actively study the law and to attend continuing legaleducation courses to keep abreast of changes.
EXPERIENCE:
Stephen H. Swift has been handling consumer bankruptcy cases since May, 1988. He and Mr. Bugg have combined experience of over 45 years in this area of the law.
We have the reputation of being able to handle the difficult case. We have been successful at discharging (having legally forgiven) student loans, IRS obligations, Colorado taxes, and home mortgages. We have also been successful in helping our clients with larger incomes qualify to file under chapter 7 which is faster and less expensive.
Other attorneys confer with us or refer their clients or family members to us. We are gratified when an attorney comes to us for assistance or refers his client to us.
In July, 2011 Mr. Swift won an important appeal in In Re Dunckley, 452 B.R. 241 (10th Cir. BAP 2011), wherein the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the 10th Circuit ruled in favor of our clients in two cases on the issue of the Child Tax Credit (CTC). As a consequence of this decision, the trustee in Colorado can no longer take the debtor’s tax refund stemming from the CTC.
THE ADVANTAGES OF USING AN ATTORNEY:
In October, 2005 Congress enacted into law an extensive revision of the bankruptcy code. This revision was called BAPCPA and was designed to be creditor friendly. BAPCPA made it significantly more difficult to discharge certain debts in bankruptcy.
Many attorneys who had occasionally filed bankruptcies determined after reviewing the new law that they could no longer practice in this area. They found the law too complex and fraught with too many dangers for the unsuspecting.
We went to work actively studying the new law to see how it could benefit our clients. We consider the law our friend and a refuge from the often out-of-control behavior of creditors. We seek to restore balance.
PROBLEMS WITH PETITION PREPARERS:
Since enactment of BAPCPA, bankruptcy petition preparers have had ongoing problems with the bankruptcy court and with the U.S. Trustee over the quality of their work. Although they may be less expensive on the front end, it frequently costs more to repair their mistakes on the back end.
Further, in most cases you do not learn of the damage done until the trustee is taking advantage of you on account of work not done properly by your petition preparer. Thus, when you find out you are in trouble, it is frequently too late to repair the damage.
Several petition preparers are operating in Southern Colorado in violation of a court order ordering them to stop.
Attorneys are heavily regulated in Colorado and are held to high ethical standards. Petition preparers do as they please.
Petition preparers are limited by the court as to what they can charge to prepare your case. The present limitation is $200.00 per case. If you have been charged more, you should demand a refund and report the violation to the Office of the US Trustee in Denver. In a recent case, Judge Elizabeth Brown, bankruptcy judge for the District of Colorado, sanctioned a disbarred attorney for charging bankruptcy clients over $300.00 per case.
WHY NOT USE A DEBT SETTLEMENT AGENCY:
Debt settlement agencies have two large problems:
- They can offer no protection from your creditors whatsoever; and
- They depend upon funds which must be accumulated over time in their escrow account in order to settle the claims of your creditors (most people don’t have rich relatives who can simply write them a check). This process takes months. And while you are making your payments, your credit score, your phone lines and your life are deteriorating.
The advantage of filing bankruptcy is that it costs considerably less than a debt settlement agency (we challenge you to compare the cost); you are protected by the considerable power of the bankruptcy court (a federal court); and you can begin rebuilding your credit immediately after filing.
Most people find that they can develop new lines of credit within a year or two after filing and they can buy a house within two to four years. Thus, bankruptcy is often the fastest route to home ownership and to credit restoration.
