Come join Symmes Law Group, PLLC for a FREE informational seminar in the areas of Foreclosure Defense, Loan Modification, Credit Restoration and Bankruptcy. Learn about your legal options and solutions for getting a loan modification and stopping a foreclosure under Washington’s Foreclosure Fairness Act and Federal bankruptcy laws. The seminar will also provide information on how to rebuild your credit post bankruptcy or foreclosure. Light refreshments will be provided. Space is limited so attendees are encouraged to RSVP. Hope to see you there! On street parking. Here is the Evite

Time: Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 7pm

Location: Mortgage Advisory Group Office: 225 108th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004

Presenters:

Seattle Bankruptcy Attorney Richard Symmes: (Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Defense)

Joseph Kidworth: (Credit Auditing)

Sean Ryan/Rachel Rensvold: (WA FFA Mediation and Loan Modifications)

Bio’s can be found HERE

This Seattle copyright lawyer made his on air local news TV debut yesterday talking about illegal downloading of feature films and the potential consequences. For the full story check out the KOMO 4 News website. Here is the full text:

SEATTLE — Washington state has become a hotbed for illegal downloading, but the culprits are quickly finding out that what they thought was a free movie could end up costing them thousands of dollars.

Hollywood is coming to Seattle, but not to make a movie. Rather, studios representatives are in town to track down people who’ve illegally downloaded their products.

Many movie fans think that’s a good idea, because filmmakers deserve to be paid for their work.

“Well, that’s what artists do. Artists need to be paid for what they do for a living and you’re not there to just give it away,” one moviegoer said.

That includes artists who worked on an animated feature called “Zambezia.” The movie doesn’t officially come out until March, but that hasn’t stopped people from illegally downloading pirated versions.

“A lot of it is coming from something called bit torrent, where people download individual pieces from different users and create what’s known as the swarm,” said Seattle attorney Richard Symmes, who’s leading the charge against the downloaders.

Washington’s tech savvy population is now a copyright litigation hotbed, and a studio is coming to town to track down those who have illegally downloaded its movies.

Symmes said the move isn’t about greed, but about the studios being fairly compensated so they can pay their employees.

A private company has managed to get the IP addresses of the local offenders, and local Internet providers are now being subpoenaed to get the names of those subscribers.

Symmes said anyone who has illegally downloaded movies could be in for a court battle.

“It would probably be more expensive to go ahead and fight this rather than take a nominal settlement and just make this go away,” he said.

Symmes expects the IP list to grow as other film studios join in.

If you are facing a home foreclosure, Seattle foreclosure defense lawyers can help. Under the Washington State Foreclosure Fairness Act a foreclosure attorney or housing counselor can request mediation on your behalf if the home in question is your primary residence and your lender is not exempt from mediation. For more how to request mediation click here.

Once you have submitted all the required documents to your foreclosure defense attorney and the mediation date is set, you will be required to appear with your attorney at a dispute resolution center in which you will meet with a mediator, an attorney from the bank, and somebody of authority on the phone from your bank who has the power to modify your loan if they see fit.

The mediation session will start out by the mediator laying out the ground rules and expectations followed by you or your attorney giving a short opening statement describing your hardship and why you weren’t able to stay current on your loan. The bank’s attorney will then make a short statement giving the banks stance on modifying your loan. Usually the banks position will be based on the documentation you provided earlier and whether there are any other factors which may affect whether you can qualify for a loan modification. Remember, all members of your household can contribute to the household income. So if you are somebody who has lost a job, contributions from others can really help push you into a loan modification as it shows that you can now afford to make your payments. At the end of the day, the bank needs to make a business decision on whether to foreclose or not.

Sometimes the banks can be unreasonable, even if a person can show they are able to make payments. In these cases a borrower can make up the difference that they are behind or look at short sale or deed in lieu which will avoid a foreclosure. At the end of the mediation the borrowers will either be given a list of documents that they need to gather up for further review, be told that they can have a modification or be told that a modification is not possible and that they should consider other options. Sometimes an additional mediation session will be schedules if it is necessary to get together on more time to further discuss additional information provided by the borrower.

If you have additional questions please visit our Washington State Foreclosure Defense homepage to speak to a Foreclosure Defense Lawyer in WA.

As a lifetime Seattle SuperSonics fan and former Sonics employee (best college job ever), I was excited when I got a call from Q-13′s sports director Aaron Levine to get an opinion on the latest drama involving the Sacramento Kings who may soon become the Seattle SuperSonics.

To make a long story short, the Sacramento Kings have a minority owner who controls 7% of the team and filed for bankruptcy. This means that a bankruptcy trustee was assigned to his case and has the duty to liquidate non exempt assets for the benefit of his creditors. As I have read, there is a auction date to be held in April, with the interest going to the highest bidder. The partnership agreement among the current Kings ownership group may contain a “right of first refusal” which would allow minority owners to match any offers for the team. As it stands now, none of the minority owners can afford to match the offer made by Seattle native Chris Hansen, however if the partnership agreement states that a right to first refusal may be transferred to any new owners then this may cause a problem in a potential sale if the shares are picked up by a billionaire, such as Ron Burkle who is interested in keeping the team in Sacramento. The bankruptcy trustee is tasked with getting the most he can out of the 7% however he must administer the bankruptcy estate in a fast and efficient manner. An argument that the bankruptcy trustee could argue is that if the right of first refusal is not transferable, then the value of the shares may drop significantly therefore discriminating against Cook’s creditors.

In my personal Seattle bankruptcy attorney opinion I think this strategy is too little to late for Sacramento. The Hansen group has a binding agreement which will surely be approved by other NBA owners and the NBA board of governors. At the end of the day, having a basketball team in Seattle is better for NBA owners and for the NBA with TV revenue sharing. There is also the issue of the auction for the 7% share being held in April, but by that time the sale of the team may already be finalized and voted upon, including voting on relocation to Seattle.

If you have additional questions please visit our Washington State bankruptcy lawyer homepage to speak to a WA bankruptcy attorney.

When a bank has foreclosed on your property, the record of the foreclosure will normally stay on your credit report for 7 years. Like many negative entries, some foreclosures will stick even after that time and you will need to use the dispute process to get it corrected (or even resort to legal means).

But what about a foreclosure that hasn’t expired? Is it possible to remove a foreclosure from your credit report? The short answer is “yes”. But of course, there is more to the story.

Removing a foreclosure from your credit report can be difficult. The first thing to understand is that there is likely going to be no question whatsoever of ownership. So taking the advice of some so-called “experts” that say “just dispute every negative item as ‘not mine’” will get you nowhere. Disputing every negative item as “not mine” is not only dishonest, it’s pointless. It doesn’t work. And it’s even more pointless for a foreclosure that you know is yours.

The real key with foreclosures is finding the right leverage to get the foreclosure listing removed. With the large number of foreclosures that happen every year, it is easy for mistakes to be made along the way. If you can find those mistakes with your own foreclosure process, this can be used to try and get the foreclosure removed.

However you might need to understand the following laws , FFA, RESPA, FCRA and FPC. I have deleted many of these things from my clients credit report, if you are in need of assistance of a Seattle credit repair attorney call our Washington State credit experts at 206-682-7975 or email Joseph Kidworth @ joseph@symmeslaw.com

Bankruptcy attorneys in Seattle often get the phone call at the last minute from a distressed homeowner looking to stop a foreclosure at the last minute. Why these homeowners wait to the very last second to take action is beyond me, but I do what I can to help.

If you are somebody who has just received a notice of sale date then you have 20 days from when the notice was recorded with the counties recorders office in which to request a face to face mediation with your bank through the Washington State Foreclosure Fairness Act. The mediation allows you to meet face to face with somebody of authority from your bank who has the power to grant a loan modification or at the very least, if you are somebody who has been waiting on loan modification results, this process will get you an answer quickly. While you are waiting for your mediation date, no bank is allowed to foreclose on your property. Also in order to request mediation you must speak to a housing counselor or attorney who can request the mediation for you. The Washington state foreclosure defense lawyers at Symmes Law Group can assist you with this process and you can learn more about the program HERE.

The next option is taking your bank to court and asking the court to restrain your sale due to fraud, RESPA, and TILA claims. This is not a course of action that I would personally recommend due to the fact that litigation can get expensive and from what I have seen the results have been mixed although it is possible to win damages against your lender in court if there is evidence of MERS robo signers, missing notes and missing transfers of mortgage, or evidence that you were given a loan that you should not have been given in the first place. This process is time consuming so you had better be in it for the long haul as litigation can take months if not years before a resolution is reached.

Finally if your foreclosure date has come down to the wire you may file for bankruptcy at any time before your sale date in order to stop a foreclosure sale. A chapter 7 bankruptcy will be a temporary fix in which your sale date will get postponed due to the bankruptcy automatic stay. Your lender can petition the court for relief in order to move forward with foreclosure or they can wait out the 90 days it takes to administer a chapter 7 bankruptcy and then move forward with the foreclosure. Therefore simply by filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy it could buy you several months of rent free living before you will need to move. You even have 30 days after foreclosure to leave your home.

A chapter 13 bankruptcy is a very good option for homeowners seeking to make up back payments on their home over a 60 month period while potentially getting rid of some unsecured debt in the process. In order to file a chapter 13 bankruptcy plan that can be confirmed by the court, the homeowner must be employed and must be able to afford monthly payments that are determined by your amount of secured debt that is tied to assets that you want to keep, arrears, as well as what the bankruptcy means test determines you are required to pay to unsecured creditors.

At the end of the day, you have options and professionals that can help you, but it’s up to you to take action and seek out the information that can help you. If you have additional questions please visit our Washington State Foreclosure Defense homepage to speak to a Foreclosure Defense Lawyer in WA.

When you decide to contact a Kirkland bankruptcy attorney, and are interested in moving forward with the bankruptcy process, you will be asked to fully disclose all of your financial information by way of determining your last 6 months of income and your average monthly expenses. This is usually done by providing your last 6 months of paystubs or a profit and loss for a business and also filling out a bankruptcy questionnaire that your attorney will provide for you. When you are filling out the questionnaire it is best to be as accurate as possible as there could be negative ramifications if the information is not disclosed correctly.

For instance if you are somebody who may be borderline as to whether you will qualify for a chapter 7 bankruptcy or need to file a chapter 13 bankruptcy, having additional expenses in the areas of medical, child care or taking care of other family members abroad may have a big impact on what is called the means test. These additional expenses will also affect how much you spend per month in a chapter 13 repayment plan. For instance the government on the means test allows for a standard deduction of $60/person in medical expense. However if your family spends closer to $200/person due to a medical condition that is money that could be deducted from your monthly payments. Therefore as a bankruptcy lawyer, I always try to get people the lowest payments possible in a chapter 13 plan that could last for 5 years or squeeze them into a chapter 7 which has no payments and could last for 4 months, however full disclosure will go a long way in helping to determine whether what type of bankruptcy will be likely to be approved by the bankruptcy courts and the US Trustee.

If you have additional questions please visit our Bellevue bankruptcy lawyers homepage to speak to a Bellevue bankruptcy attorney.

When a debtor asks a Bellevue bankruptcy attorney to figure out what their payments might be in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, the bankruptcy attorney should know that deductions taken out of the debtors paycheck may be allowable deductions if the debtor is below the states median income, which will affect the debtors overall payment in a chapter 13 bankruptcy. These same deductions however may not be taken when calculating whether a debtor will qualify for a chapter 7 bankruptcy through the means test. This is also the rule for any loans that have be taken out from allowable retirement accounts. These deductions may be taken up until the loans are paid off, and at that point the chapter 13 payments must be increased to reflect the additional disposable income.

To get a bit more technical with what was stated above, in Washington state, the bankruptcy court for the Western District of Washington decided that chapter 13 debtors with household incomes that are below the median income levels can continue making contributions to 401(k) and other retirement accounts. In re Bruce, Case # No. 11-40939-BDL (Bky.W.D.Wash. Dec. 11, 2012), held that the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel decision in In re Parks, 475 B.R .703 (9th Cir.BAP 2012), applied only to above-median income debtors who were subject to the bankruptcy code’s “means test.” The court in Bruce also held that Parks neglected to apply section 541(b)(7)(A)(i) in a manner which would allow chapter 13 debtors to continue such contributions under section 1325(b)(2)’s reasonableness standard. Both the Parks and Bruce case agreed that chapter 13 debtors can continue to repay retirement account loans during the life of a chapter 13 plan. If you are in another state other than Washington, you will want to check with a bankruptcy attorney in your state to find out how the courts have ruled in your area.

If you have additional questions please visit our Bellevue bankruptcy lawyers homepage to speak to a Bellevue bankruptcy attorneys.

As a Seattle bankruptcy lawyer and also a Seattle debt settlement lawyer, I often get asked the question, what are my legal rights when I get sued by a debt collector? The Northwest Justice Project created an excellent in depth guide which I have provided below to help get the word out as to what to expect when you get sued by a debt collector in Washington State. The guide takes you through the beginning of the process until the end and clearly states what your rights are.

Introduction

The thought of being sued can be scary. A lawsuit can cause emotional and physical stress. To best protect your rights in the lawsuit, pay attention to all of the information you get. This publication should help you understand what happens when you are sued for money. We provide only general information about court proceedings. However, this publication will also help you if you need to represent yourself in a lawsuit.

You can get more information about debt collection and other publications mentioned at www.washingtonlawhelp.org. Look under the category “Consumer and Debt” and then “Debt Collection.” There you will find publications such as:
• Debtors’ Rights with Collection Agencies
• How to Answer a Lawsuit for Debt Collection
• How to Claim Personal Property Exemptions

Another publication available at www.washingtonlawhelp.org that might help is Small Claims Court. Look under the category “Consumer and Debt” and then “Small Claims Court” to get this publication. This website also has information on many other areas of law.

Am I being sued?

Sometimes debt collectors send multiple pieces of mail and notices. Here is one sure way of knowing if you are being sued by a creditor or a debt collector. If you have gotten documents called a Summons and a Complaint, you are being sued. These documents are generally hand-delivered by a sheriff or a professional delivery service. If you got a Summons and a Complaint, you must take the following steps:
• Read the papers carefully
• Mark down on a calendar all the dates stated in the documents
• If possible, get legal advice

What court should I appear in?

The Summons and Complaint will tell you what court you are being sued in. Generally, lawsuits for money are filed either in Superior Court or in District Court. Usually, the amount of money claimed in the lawsuit determines the court that will hear the case. Cases in Superior Court can be for any amount (usually over $75,000). Cases in District Court can be up to $75,000.
There is one exception. The District Court has a separate division called “Small Claims Court.” These are Small Claims Court’s rules:

• The amount in dispute in the case can only be up to $5,000.

• Small Claims Court can only award monetary damages. They cannot award personal property such as cars, equipment, and household furniture or appliances.

• Small Claims Court cannot restrain or enjoin a party. o This means that the court cannot stop or prohibit you or the person suing you from taking a particular legal act. This type of action by the court is generally called an injunction. An injunction is a court order commanding or preventing an action.

• You or the person suing you may not have a lawyer present without special permission. You may still talk to a lawyer or get legal advice.

This publication does not tell how to represent your case in Small Claims Court. For that information and more about Small Claims Court, see our publication called Small Claims Court.

How do I reply or answer to a Summons and Complaint?

Once you get a Summons and Complaint, you must file an Answer. An Answer is your response or defense to the statements made by the person suing you in the Complaint. The Summons and Complaint usually have the following information:

• The deadline for filing your Answer is in the Summons
• The Plaintiff is the person suing you
• The Defendant is the person being sued (you)
• What the Plaintiff is claiming or alleging happened
• What the Plaintiff is asking for or suing you for
• The Court hearing the case

Answering the Compliant can take several steps. If you disagree with what the Plaintiff says, or think that the Plaintiff should not get what is asked for in the Complaint, then you must Answer the Complaint in writing.

When Answering the Complaint in writing, your Answer should include:
1. The name of the court (either Superior or District Court), the name of the Plaintiff and the Defendant,
and the court number, if there is one. All of this information must be placed on the top of the Answer. All of this information is on the Complaint.

2. A statement saying what you agree with and what you disagree with in the Complaint. If you do not agree with any part of the paragraph, deny the paragraph. Then explain which parts you disagree with, and why. a. Example: “I admit statement one with the Complaint. I deny statement two in the Complaint.”

3. If your income is exempt from garnishment (see the following section “What property cannot be taken to pay the Judgment Creditor?”), then put a paragraph in your Answer saying so. a. Example: if your only income is Social Security, which is exempt from garnishment by federal law, then you might write in your Answer the following: i. “My income consists only of Social Security which is exempt from garnishment.”

b. This is not a defense to the lawsuit. It does provide the Plaintiff notice that your income is exempt from garnishment. If you lose the lawsuit and the Plaintiff garnishes your bank account containing exempt funds, then you may have a lawsuit against the Plaintiff. i. What is garnishment? A garnishment is a judicial proceeding started by the creditor to ask the court to order you to turn over property or money to cover a debt with the creditor. For more information, look at sections “What is a Wage Garnishment?” or “Can a Judgment Creditor Garnish My Bank Account?”

4. If you believe the Plaintiff owes you money, explain why in writing (this is a Counterclaim) a. What is a Counterclaim? A counterclaim is a claim for relief or compensation made against the Plaintiff. Think of it as a counteraction taken by the Defendant against the Plaintiff.
b. There is a filing fee for a Counterclaim. Superior Courts charge $200.00 for a counterclaim. District Courts may charge $53.00.

5. Your signature, address, telephone number, and the date.

6. You must deliver a copy of your Answer to the Plaintiff’s lawyer, or the Plaintiff if s/he does not have a lawyer, within twenty days after you received the Summons and the Complaint. The Plaintiff’s lawyer or the Plaintiff must get your Answer within twenty days after you are served with the Summons and the Complaint. There are two ways to deliver the Answer: a. You can deliver the Answer in person to the Plaintiff’s lawyer or the Plaintiff. If that person does not have a lawyer, get a stamped “received” copy to prove that you delivered a copy.

b. You can deliver the Answer using certified mail.

7. You must file the original Answer in the court where you were sued. You can file the original copy by delivering it to the Superior Court or the District Court listed on the Complaint.

8. Keep a copy of the Answer for your records. If you do not answer within twenty days, you will be in “default.” If you did not deliver an Answer to the Plaintiff’s lawyer or the Plaintiff within the 20-day period, and the court has not entered an Order of Default, immediately file and serve an Answer as explained above.

What does it mean to default?
A default is a failure to answer a Complaint in a timely manner. If you default, Plaintiff can win without further notice to you.

What happens after I file my Answer?

After you have filed and delivered your Answer, the Plaintiff may want to settle the case to avoid going to trial. You also may want to try settlement negotiations with Plaintiff. There may be a trial if the case does not settle. Some lawsuits are resolved by the court by motion or other proceedings. One type of proceeding is called arbitration. Some counties may require mandatory arbitration.

*Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution that is mediated by a third party who is usually agreed upon by both the Plaintiff and Defendant (you). The decision of the arbitration is legally binding.

There may be other steps before a trial begins, such as motions or pre-trial proceedings like discovery.
At trial, you may ask questions of the Plaintiff and other witnesses. You may also tell your side of the story through your own testimony, your witnesses, and papers that support your case.
If you are going to represent yourself, go to the courthouse a couple of days before your trial. Watch other cases to get an idea of what to expect.

What if I lose at trial?

If you lose at trial, the judge will sign an order stating that you owe money to the Plaintiff. This is called a “Judgment.” The Plaintiff who has won a judgment is now called a “Judgment Creditor.” If the Plaintiff loses, the judge will sign an order to that effect. If you have a counterclaim and you win on that counterclaim, the judge will sign an order stating that the Plaintiff owes you money. This makes you the “Judgment Creditor.”

You, as well as the Plaintiff, have a right to appeal the judge’s decision.
The Judgment Creditor has ten years to collect on the judgment, and may renew the judgment for one more ten-year period.

How can a Judgment Creditor collect?

Going through the process and losing a lawsuit can be hard emotionally and mentally. But remember: You cannot go to jail for failing or refusing to pay a judgment (except in rare cases for refusing to pay a child-support judgment the court has found you can afford to pay).

But: If you are ordered to appear for an examination of your finances and you do not appear, you can be arrested. These types of examinations are called “Supplemental Proceedings.” The section “What are Supplemental Proceedings?” has more information.
The Judgment Creditor can collect by several methods:

• Garnishing your wages or bank account
• The sheriff can sell your personal property (cars, appliances) or real property (house and land)
• You can voluntarily pay the judgment or try to work out a payment plan with the Judgment Creditor

The Judgment Creditor may not:
• Garnish your wages or take your property without a court order
• Come into your home or your garage to take your possessions, unless you voluntarily let the Judgment Creditor in or the Judgment Creditor has a court order allowing the repossession. Repossession is the act or an instance of retaking property.

*If you have bought a car or other property, and have put that property up as collateral or security for a loan for that purchase, that Creditor may be able to repossess the property without a court order. The Creditor may not repossess if the repossession will cause a “breach of peace.” So if you vigorously object to the repossession, the Creditor should stop the repossession action, and go to court instead.

What property cannot be taken to pay the Judgment Creditor?

By law, there are certain kinds of property that generally cannot be taken from you by a judgment creditor. We call this “exempt property.”

The main exemptions are:
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, Workers’ Compensation, and pension and retirement benefits;
• Part of your wages: The greater of 35 times the current federal minimum wage, or 75% of your net wages. (“Net wages” means gross pay minus taxes, Social Security, and other mandatory deductions.) Call the Department of Labor to find out the current federal minimum wage, or check this website: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/. (Effective January 2, 2012, the minimum wage is $7.25 an
hour.) Then multiply that amount by 35;
• Clothing;
• Household goods, appliances, furniture, provisions and fuel, up to $2,700 in value for one person, $5,400 for a married couple;
• Equity in 2 motor vehicles for a married couple up to a combined value of $5,000;

What is Equity?

Equity is the value of an item, minus what is owed on it, and minus any debts on which it is been listed as collateral
• Equity in a home up to $125,000;
• Tools and instruments necessary to carry on a trade up to $5,000 in value;
• Other property not to exceed $2,000, including no more than $200 in cash and no more than $200 in a bank account. Note: this $200 in a bank account is in addition to any money in the bank account that is exempt, such as TANF, SSI, SS, and so on.

*The Judgment Creditor must obtain a court order to garnish or sell your property through the sheriff. If you are going to claim personal property exemptions, read the publication, How to Claim Personal Property Exemptions.

What is a wage garnishment?

A wage garnishment occurs when the Judgment Creditor demands payment of the court award by taking money directly from your paycheck through your employer.
The Judgment Creditor and your employer must do the following to garnish your wages:

1. Send a “writ of garnishment” to your employer a. What is a writ of garnishment? It is a court order stating that the Judgment Creditor has a right to collect a particular amount of money or property from a third party (example: your employer).

2. Your employer must then file an “Answer” which tells the Judgment Creditor and the court how much of your wages will be garnished and how much you will receive. Your employer must figure out how much of your wages are exempt and to pay you that amount.

3. The employer must hold the rest for the Judgment Creditor.

4. You should get a copy of both the “writ of garnishment” and the “Answer.”

The exempt part of your net wages is the greater of 35 times the current federal minimum wage or 75% of your net wages. (“Net wages” means gross pay minus taxes, Social Security, and other mandatory deductions.) Call the Department of Labor to find out the current federal minimum wage, or check this website: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/. Then multiply that amount by 35.

*Example: as of January 2, 2012, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Therefore, if you make less than $253.75 a week net, all of your wages are exempt. If you make $400 a week, $300 is exempt. ($300 is 75% of your wages, and that amount is more than $253.75.)

Can I be fired because my wages are garnished?

No. It is illegal for an employer to fire you because your wages have been garnished. There is one exception: you can be legally fired if your wages are garnished from the same employer for three different judgments during a twelve-month period.

Can a Judgment Creditor garnish my bank account?
Maybe. A bank account garnishment is very similar in process to a wage garnishment.
Instead of sending a writ of garnishment to your employer, the Judgment Creditor sends one to your bank. You are not entitled to prior notice of a bank garnishment, so if your account is garnished, you may have checks returned for NSF (not sufficient funds). However, you are entitled to information about the bank account garnishment. You must receive a copy of:

• The Writ of Garnishment
• Exemption claim form

Note: Funds in a bank account from certain sources are exempt from garnishment. Examples of exempt funds from garnishment are:
• TANF;
• Social Security;
• SSI;
• All “federally qualified” pension and retirement benefits.

Your bank will not claim your exemptions for you. You must claim them yourself. The exemption claim form is included with the court papers for this purpose. The form should include instructions on how to claim exemptions. You should file this form right away. Remember your right to claim an automatic $200 exemption in your bank account.

Can a Judgment Creditor sell my personal property?

Maybe. A Judgment Creditor may obtain a “Writ of Execution” from the court telling the sheriff to take your property and sell it with the money going to the Judgment Creditor.

*You may prevent the sheriff from taking your exempt property by claiming your exemptions.

You should make a list of all personal property (household furniture and appliances, cars, tools and equipment) and put a “*” next to items you claim are exempt.
At the bottom of the list, write:

“I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of Washington that the foregoing is a list of my household furnishings and appliances (or tools or motor vehicles) and I believe the items I’ve marked with a ‘*’ are exempt from attachment.”

If the sheriff comes to take your property, present the list.
The sheriff cannot take your property without further proceeding to determine the value of the items claimed as exempt.

Can a Judgment Creditor sell my real property?

Maybe. A Judgment Creditor may try to have your real property (land, house, and other buildings) sold by the sheriff. Up to $125,000 of equity in your home is protected under the homestead law from most Judgment Creditors. If you live on the property claimed as a homestead, the homestead exemption is automatic. You do not need to file anything. If you are claiming a homestead exemption on property that you are not currently living on, you must file a homestead declaration. The homestead exemption does NOT work against:

• A worker who has worked on your home
• Someone who has provided materials used on your home
• A Lender trying to foreclose a mortgage on your home because you have not repaid the loan

*The homestead law applies to a mobile home as well as a house.

What are supplemental proceedings?

When a Judgment Creditor wants to find whether you work, where you keep your money, or what property you own, the Judgment Creditor may get an “Order for Examination of Judgment Debtor.”
This will require you to appear in court to answer questions. You must comply with the order by appearing in court or a warrant will be issued for your arrest.

When you appear in court, your case will be called by the judge. Usually, the judge will ask you to go to a separate room with the Judgment Creditor’s lawyer. The lawyer will then ask you questions about your property. If the lawyer is rude or abusive, you should stop the examination and go back and tell the judge.
You do not have to answer a question if you think the answer would be an admission of a crime. If you think this might be the case, ask the judge for time to talk to a lawyer.

If you have additional questions please visit our Bellevue bankruptcy lawyer homepage to speak to a Bellevue bankruptcy attorney.

The holidays are here and for many people facing filing bankruptcy with a Kirkland bankruptcy lawyer, it can be a struggle to stay afloat with looming bills to pay. If you are somebody who is considering filing bankruptcy you should know that when filing bankruptcy, the timing of your filing can have significant consequences as to whether your case will be processed smoothly.

Because it is the holiday season, debtors should know that holiday spending on credit should be kept to a minimum as all debts incurred 90 days prior to your bankruptcy filing can result in one of those creditors objecting to your bankruptcy discharge and you having to pay back that debt in full. In summary, don’t go on a crazy holiday shopping and travel spree prior to filing bankruptcy. I have been told by some clients that they did this prior to the bankruptcy rule changes in 2005 and everything turned out ok, but nowadays any significant spending will get you in trouble. If you have incurred a large debt in a short period of time in the last year prior to filing without making any payments on it i.e. over 10K you might want to wait longer than 90 days to file your case. This is because a creditor can always bring a claim of abuse if they believe that you intended never to pay on this debt. Although the creditor would have a tough time proving intent, it would be best to avoid the whole situation in general as attorney fees for fighting such action are charged in addition to the normal bankruptcy filing fees.

In order challenge the discharge of a debt, an adversary case must be filed which is a separate litigation court case that can go to trial if necessary. This process can be time consuming and draining on debtors so if a motion to dismiss the case is unsuccessful, then you would have to look at your settlement options moving forward.

If you have additional questions please visit our Bellevue bankruptcy lawyers homepage to speak to a Bellevue bankruptcy attorney.