My lawyer will not sign my reaffirmation agreement.

[cards52]

Hello,

I live in Colorado and am currently preparing for filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. I am going to discharge all my unsecure debt, but would like to retain my home and my vehicle. The equity I have in my home and car fall within the Colorado exemption guidelines, so I should able to keep them. My concern is that my lawyer is not willing to sign any reaffirmation agreements and says he does not ever sign them since the bankruptcy law changes a few years ago. I would like to make 100% sure that I will not lose my home and car and am willing to sign into a binding reaffirmation agreement with my creditors. As I understand it, if no reaffirmation is in place, the creditor can reclaim the property at any time. While this is not common it makes me very uneasy. Is there a way to circumvent my lawyer to get reaffirmations in place? I have already paid my lawyer and really do not have the time or money to search for another lawyer that would be willing to sign a reaffirmation. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[equistar]

Sorry to here that you have paid to your lawyer and you do not have time and money to spend more but I think that is the only option left with you or you can also try free consultation.

[1Clicklegal]

The re-affirmation agreement is between you and your creditor. Your case trustee will go thru the agreement with you at your 341 meeting

[loanmod]

Sorry i think this is the only option.Otherwise you have to search new lawyer and for that you have to give time and money.

[Hosanna]

A reaffirmation agreement in United States bankruptcy law refers to an agreement made between a creditor and the debtor that waives discharge of a debt that would otherwise be discharged in the pending bankruptcy proceeding. A properly executed, timely filed reaffirmation agreement modifies the discharge such that it is rendered inoperable against the subject debt

[SDBKAtty]

Most bankruptcy attorneys won't sign a reaffirmation. The 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy code allowed for your attorney to certify to the court that the reaffirmation is in your best interest. By certifying that, your attorney is telling the Court that you can afford the payment and that it is in your best interest to keep the vehicle. That may sound like a straightforward question to you, but many courts have interpreted this as allowing the judge to sanction the attorney and force them to give up the fees they earned in the case if the judge disagrees with the certification. Thus, asking your attorney to sign certify your reaffirmation is like asking them to put the fees they got in your case on the line depending on what the judge thinks. Hence why almost no Bk attorneys will certify a reaff.

The way that most reaffirmations are handled is that the reaffirmation agreement is filed WITHOUT the attorney certification. If filed without the certification then the Court will set a hearing where you will have to appear in front of a judge and the judge will determine if they believe the reaff is in your best interest. If so, they will approve it - if not, they will deny it.

Hope that helps explain it.

[EastCoastLaw]

You have to sign the reaffirmation agreement, in fact you sign all the documents, the lawyer prepares them. The creditors will go through your attorney, who usually gets your signature and then sends the paperwork in. Clarify with your lawyer what he/she means. You may misunderstand the process. It may be a miscommunication problem, not a legal problem.

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