By Ryan C. Wood

If you are having trouble paying your debts, whether credit cards, a home mortgage, vehicle loan or tax debts filing for bankruptcy protection can help. At West Coast Bankruptcy Attorneys we are your honest and experienced local San Jose Bankruptcy Attorneys.  We will provide clear and honest information about how bankruptcy can help you and not try and steer you down the path that leads to us making the most money.  In the San Jose, California area in particular you must be careful that you are not filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case with no financial benefit to you.  There are a number of bankruptcy attorneys that will file your case with no money paid in attorneys fees before the Chapter 13 case is filed.

Ryan C. Wood has been part of thousands of bankruptcy cases. We also have nothing but five star reviews on various on-line websites. Please visit our Testimonials page for reviews from actual clients that have filed for bankruptcy protection and received a discharge of their debts.  Mr. Wood also administrated anywhere from 800 – 1,000 Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases while employed as the staff attorney with the Chapter 13 Trustee for the San Francisco and Santa Rosa Divisions of the Northern District of California.

We are your honest and experienced local San Jose bankruptcy attorneys.

There are a number of factors to consider when retaining reputable and local San Jose bankruptcy attorneys. Just because a firm seems large and has filed a lot of case does not mean clients are treated properly and given the service they deserve. Some law firms are described as bankruptcy mills. They take on as many clients as possible with the least amount of staff and you will never speak to an attorney about anything after your initial consultation. That is the opposite of how we conduct our business. The most important thing is communication and being comfortable with who you retain. We know this is not the best time in your life and we make sure you have the information you need to not worry needlessly. Attorneys that do not communicate with their clients are just making things worse and adding to the anxiety their clients are already feeling. If a bankruptcy law firm does not get back to you within a reasonable amount of time it could mean a number of things. The law firm my just not care or the San Jose bankruptcy law firm may have unethically taken on more cases then they can handle (ethical violation) so no client is getting the service they deserve. As reputable and local San Jose bankruptcy attorneys we return all emails and phone messages within twenty-four hours if not the same day. You will never have a problem communicating with attorneys Ryan C. Wood and Kitty J. Lin. They answer their phones personally. It is every important to us to answer your questions quickly and accurately. We want to get rid of the stereotype that attorneys do not communicate with their clients’ one client at a time.

Again, experience does matter and we have filed a lot of cases. We also practice bankruptcy law in all four divisions of the bankruptcy court in the Bay Area. The divisions are the San Jose Division, San Francisco Division, Oakland Division and Santa Rosa Division. This is also important because we know the differences in how Chapter 13 cases are administered in each division, and there are significant differences. Different Chapter 13 trustees and different judges equal different administration.

A testament to our experience and track record is as of the writing of this blog article we have never converted a case from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13. What does this mean to you? It means we are your reputable and local San Jose bankruptcy attorneys. If the United States Trustee’s office files a motion to dismiss a Chapter 7 case for abuse, a possible solution is to convert the case to a case under Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code. We have never had to do that because we have always been right. Eventually we will probably file a Chapter 7 and convert it to a Chapter 13 instead, but it has not happened yet.

All of our consultations for potential clients seeking to file for bankruptcy protection are free. The free consultation will usually take anywhere from a half hour to an hour. We will provide with our Client Information Form prior to the free consultation. The form has questions about your income, expenses, assets and debts. In 2005 Congress amended the Bankruptcy Code to create what is called the Means Test. The Means Test does not really exist in the real world. It uses a six-month average of your income and then multiplies that average times twelve to determine your yearly gross income. It then deducts standardized expenses based upon the county you live in and the number of people in your household. The Means Test also uses some national standards for certain expenses. So you may pay rent totaling $2,800 a month in the real world while the Means Test only deducts $2,100 for rent each month because that is what the median rent is in the county you live in based upon the number of people in your household. Confused yet? Do not worry, making sure the calculations are correct is what you are paying us for. Please give us a call at 1-877-9NEW-LIFE to schedule a free consultation with our reputable and local San Jose bankruptcy attorneys and begin your new life without your debts.