When people ask us ‘what kind of flexible payment plans do you have?’. We have to answer that there is no actual plan, because that would limit our flexibility. We have essentially two rules concerning flexible payment plans. The first rule is that the initial retainer should be at least $200. More is always better, but $200.00 is sufficient earnest money. We know that if somebody with financial difficulty has come in and put down $200.00, then they mean it. This is important because once the initial retainer is paid, we are working. Not only are we taking documents, filling in forms and gathering up information, but we are also fielding phone calls from creditors. One of the most important services we offer, over and above doing the bankruptcy itself, is the fact that we stop the harassment once we are retained. As a result, it does not make much sense, in most cases, to accept less than $200.00 for an initial retainer.
The only other rule that we have is that we will not file until we are paid in full. If you can find a lawyer who will file a bankruptcy petition for you when you have not made your full payment, then you have found an inexperienced bankruptcy attorney. Making payment after the petition is filed is purely an exercise of goodwill on the part of the client. We do not judge our clients, and we do not look into their souls. That is outside of our expertise. We are simply hired to solve a problem, and we do it for a living.
With these two caveats, payment plans are extremely flexible. We once had a young gentleman who came in every Friday, because that was his payday, and paid us $25.00. It often happens in the Fall that people come and give us $200.00, and then not pay us again until they receive their tax refund. Some people just pay what they can when they can until they pay the fee in full. We have recently introduced a $100.00 anniversary fee for people whose payments are measured in years and not weeks or months. We have done this because some people get a little lax when there are so few rules and cause needless delay. It is possible that that anniversary fee could be waived if you really are trying your hardest to make payments and income really is that limited. However, that is discretionary with the attorney and should not be assumed in advance. Keep in mind that most people making attorney payments are not making credit card payments. As a result, coming up with $100.00 or $200.00 each month to get the petition filed within a year is usually not a problem. While we are very flexible about payment, there is one type of payment we do not accept. We do not take credit cards.