Law Offices of Stephen Johnson

I am in receipt of your letter dated October 17, As I mentioned to you on the phone, I've been out of the country and just returned and received your letterWhen I spoke to you on the phone and requested an extension to respond, we agreed that my response would be mailed no later than 5PM on November 3rdMr [redacted] is alleging that: She filed a chapter bankruptcy through our office back in late This is trueHer case was filed on November 10th and she received a full discharge of all of her debts on February 27th In her 1st meeting with our office she explained that her car was about to be repossessed and we needed to get her paperwork on file to stop the repossession.When she completed her preliminary paperwork in preparation for filing she disclosed that she had a storage unit in Florida with personal possessions and she did not want to lose the contents of the storage even though she was unable to pay the back storage fees that were owed and bring the account currentWhen creditors are listed in a bankruptcy they are sent a direct notice from the United States Bankruptcy courtThe mailing is official and part of the permanent bankruptcy file as well as all the papers contained in the bankruptcy filingIn this case the storage unit was listed as a creditor in her statement of financial affairs on page Please see attached copy as exhibit A.**The bankruptcy court then takes on the responsibility of sending official notices to everyone listed in the bankruptcyBy Federal Law these notices come directly from the U.SBankruptcy Court and not from usMs [redacted] pushed hard to get the bankruptcy filed quickly because of her concern over the repossession of her carPrior to filing, all of the paperwork was completed and given to Ms [redacted] to proofread and make sure everything was complete true and accurate because she was required to sign under penalty of perjury before the case could be filed with the courtMs [redacted] reviewed the final draft of the bankruptcy as well as all the documents contained in it and she certified in writing that everything was complete, accurate, true, and correctThis would definitely include the storage company and Exeter Finance Corp who were trying to repossess the carShe states that these were the two most important creditors she had and they were the main reason she was filing her bankruptcyIt was her responsibility to do the final check before filing because she was the one signing under penalty of perjury that everything was true complete and accurateMs [redacted] indicated in their complaint that she felt the owners of the storage were not trustworthy and perhaps doing things illegal to steal her storage contentsIn bankruptcy cases once a case is filed and the creditor has been notified, even if it's a verbal notification, the creditor is barred by law to sell or dispose of any asset or engage in any efforts to collect on a debt, without a court order from the bankruptcy court granting them permission to do soHowever, all of our clients including Ms [redacted] are provided with their "official" bankruptcy case number which is for the purpose of showing to any creditor who may continue to try to collect on a debt that is included in the bankruptcy, such as this storage unitAgain, she apparently chose not to do thisMs***'s case was filed promptly and her car was saved from repossession at least for the time beingThe typical duration of a bankruptcy is approximately daysMs [redacted] says that days prior to the discharge of the bankruptcy (approximately days after filing her case) her son went to pick up the items stored and was told that they had been sold offThis would have been in violation of the bankruptcy automatic stay if it was done prior to the bankruptcy dischargeA chapter bankruptcy typically takes between to weeks to prepare for filing with the courtThe prospective client must complete a fair amount of paperwork and answer many questions in preparation of filing the approximately page document with the courtIn this case it was filed as soon as it was ready without delay because of the pending car repossessionThat was this client's main concernVery little was said about the storage in Florida until much later when she discovered that they had removed her contents and apparently sold themAccording to the retainer agreement that was signed by our law firm and Ms [redacted] it specifically describes the services being paid for and specifically describe services that are not includedSee Exhibit B.***When a creditor violates the bankruptcy automatic stay there is a remedy to the problem which includes filing the proper motions and ultimately resolving the matter before a judgeThis service would be considered an "extra" legal service according to the retainer agreement and would require additional fees which the client, Ms [redacted] was not willing to payNotwithstanding her reluctance to hire us to take the storage company to court, we proceeded, without charge to attempt to get the storage company to allow her to buy back the stored items from whomever purchased themHowever Ms [redacted] was reluctant to pay any money in any amount to anyone to help solve this problemWe continued to try to work with the storage company to come up with some solution but any threat by us to take them to court wold have been a bluff since Ms [redacted] had already said that she was not willing to pursue the matter any furtherNotwithstanding her lack of interest we continued to pursue the matter and corresponded with her via email in an effort to move the matter forward to a resolution by she did not respond to our phone messages or emails about the matter for quite some timePlease see copies of the relevant emails and the dates along with her much delayed responsesEXHIBIT C***It is not uncommon for a creditor to claim that they did not receive notice of the bankruptcyIn this case they were notified of the bankruptcy by us personally and entered into negotiations with us with their lawyer about this issueIn the end they just called our bluff probably realizing that no one (Ms***) was willing to commit to the litigationOur typical fees for representing for representing a client in a matter such as this is on an hourly basis of $per hour and a $retainer feeWe were willing to meet her more than halfway by offering to move forward for only $which would barely cover cost and filing fees etcIn the end the matter could have been resolved by filing the proper litigation and having the matter heard before a bankruptcy courtUnfortunately in many cases the parties involved are not interested in doing what is right as much as they are trying to get away with as much as they canI believe that describes the storage companyThe law provides for the proper order/remedies for these situations but litigation can be costlyIn this case much legal work was done to help Ms [redacted] resolve this case at no chargeThe offer to proceed for $was basically to only cover the out-of-pocket expenses and filing fees and did not include additional attorney fees for her to pay usShe is the one that said no to proceeding any further with the case, not usOur experience with Ms [redacted] was that she was somewhat erratic and hard to communicate with, especially when our firm was trying to help her get the matter settledIn the end when we were still in the negotiating stage with the other part, she basically went dark on us and did not respond to our phone calls or emailsHer complaint is difficult to understand in light of the fact that she had referred a new client to our office a short time ago and everything seemed to be fineWe do regret that Ms [redacted] lost her items in storage but we did everything we were contracted to do and much moreIt was a difficult time in her life but she received her bankruptcy discharge and that is what she hired us to doWe always try to do whatever we possibly can to help our clients be happy but in some cases they dig holes that are just too deep for us to completely fillIn summary, it was Ms***' obligation to make sure that all the information in her bankruptcy was accurate, true and correct because only she would be signing under penalty of perjury that everything was true and correct including the correct listing of all her creditors including the storage unit billShe did sign separately under penalty of perjury that she did in fact list all of her creditorsThe Federal Court then sends a notice to each creditor that the debtor suppliedThat was done in this caseAny error is listing the creditor or proving the proper address is the responsibility of the debtor (Ms***) not the Federal CourtThe Federal Law and our Bankruptcy Retainer that Ms [redacted] signed, provides for remedies in cases like this where someone is not obeying the law or the Bankruptcy RulesWe offered to pursue these remedies to resolve the matter before the court but Ms [redacted] said no that she did not want to retain our services to proceed any furtherNotwithstanding we continued to work in her behalf without compensation in hopes of persuading the other party to settle the matterThis continued until the opposing party stopped all communication with us which ordinarily would trigger a lawsuitAnd lastly, even if we did settle or prevail in the litigation, Ms[redacted] claimed that she did not have any money to pay for the storage and redeem her items no matter whatPlease do not hesitate to call me if you need additional information or want to discuss this further

I am in receipt of your letter dated October 17, 2017. As I mentioned to you on the phone, I've been out of the country and just returned and received your letter. When I spoke to you on the phone and requested an extension to respond, we agreed that my response would be mailed no later than 5PM on...

November 3rd. Mr. [redacted] is alleging that: 1. She filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy through our office back in late 2016. This is true. Her case was filed on November 10th 2016 and she received a full discharge of all of her debts on February 27th 2017. 2. In her 1st meeting with our office she explained that her car was about to be repossessed and we needed to get her paperwork on file to stop the repossession.When she completed her preliminary paperwork in preparation for filing she disclosed that she had a storage unit in Florida with personal possessions and she did not want to lose the contents of the storage even though she was unable to pay the back storage fees that were owed and bring the account current.3. When creditors are listed in a bankruptcy they are sent a direct notice from the United States Bankruptcy court. The mailing is official and part of the permanent bankruptcy file as well as all the papers contained in the bankruptcy filing. In this case the storage unit was listed as a creditor in her statement of financial affairs on page 5. Please see attached copy as exhibit A.**4. The bankruptcy court then takes on the responsibility of sending official notices to everyone listed in the bankruptcy. By Federal Law these notices come directly from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and not from us.5. Ms. [redacted] pushed hard to get the bankruptcy filed quickly because of her concern over the repossession of her car. Prior to filing, all of the paperwork was completed and given to Ms. [redacted] to proofread and make sure everything was complete true and accurate because she was required to sign under penalty of perjury before the case could be filed with the court. 6. Ms. [redacted] reviewed the final draft of the bankruptcy as well as all the documents contained in it and she certified in writing that everything was complete, accurate, true, and correct. This would definitely include the storage company and Exeter Finance Corp who were trying to repossess the car. She states that these were the two most important creditors she had and they were the main reason she was filing her bankruptcy. It was her responsibility to do the final check before filing because she was the one signing under penalty of perjury that everything was true complete and accurate. 7. Ms. [redacted] indicated in their complaint that she felt the owners of the storage were not trustworthy and perhaps doing things illegal to steal her storage contents. In bankruptcy cases once a case is filed and the creditor has been notified, even if it's a verbal notification, the creditor is barred by law to sell or dispose of any asset or engage in any efforts to collect on a debt, without a court order from the bankruptcy court granting them permission to do so. However, all of our clients including Ms. [redacted] are provided with their "official" bankruptcy case number which is for the purpose of showing to any creditor who may continue to try to collect on a debt that is included in the bankruptcy, such as this storage unit. Again, she apparently chose not to do this. 8. Ms. [redacted]'s case was filed promptly and her car was saved from repossession at least for the time being. 9. The typical duration of a bankruptcy is approximately 90 days. Ms. [redacted] says that 4 days prior to the discharge of the bankruptcy (approximately 85 days after filing her case) her son went to pick up the items stored and was told that they had been sold off. This would have been in violation of the bankruptcy automatic stay if it was done prior to the bankruptcy discharge. 10. A chapter 7 bankruptcy typically takes between 4 to 6 weeks to prepare for filing with the court. The prospective client must complete a fair amount of paperwork and answer many questions in preparation of filing the approximately 42 page document with the court. In this case it was filed as soon as it was ready without delay because of the pending car repossession. That was this client's main concern. Very little was said about the storage in Florida until much later when she discovered that they had removed her contents and apparently sold them. 11. According to the retainer agreement that was signed by our law firm and Ms. [redacted] it specifically describes the services being paid for and specifically describe services that are not included. See Exhibit B.[redacted]12. When a creditor violates the bankruptcy automatic stay there is a remedy to the problem which includes filing the proper motions and ultimately resolving the matter before a judge. This service would be considered an "extra" legal service according to the retainer agreement and would require additional fees which the client, Ms. [redacted] was not willing to pay.13. Notwithstanding her reluctance to hire us to take the storage company to court, we proceeded, without charge to attempt to get the storage company to allow her to buy back the stored items from whomever purchased them. However Ms. [redacted] was reluctant to pay any money in any amount to anyone to help solve this problem. 14. We continued to try to work with the storage company to come up with some solution but any threat by us to take them to court wold have been a bluff since Ms. [redacted] had already said that she was not willing to pursue the matter any further. 15. Notwithstanding her lack of interest we continued to pursue the matter and corresponded with her via email in an effort to move the matter forward to a resolution by she did not respond to our phone messages or emails about the matter for quite some time. Please see copies of the relevant emails and the dates along with her much delayed responses. EXHIBIT C[redacted]16. It is not uncommon for a creditor to claim that they did not receive notice of the bankruptcy. In this case they were notified of the bankruptcy by us personally and entered into negotiations with us with their lawyer about this issue. In the end they just called our bluff probably realizing that no one (Ms. [redacted]) was willing to commit to the litigation. 17. Our typical fees for representing for representing a client in a matter such as this is on an hourly basis of $275 per hour and a $2500 retainer fee. We were willing to meet her more than halfway by offering to move forward for only $600 which would barely cover cost and filing fees etc. 18. In the end the matter could have been resolved by filing the proper litigation and having the matter heard before a bankruptcy court. Unfortunately in many cases the parties involved are not interested in doing what is right as much as they are trying to get away with as much as they can. I believe that describes the storage company. The law provides for the proper order/remedies for these situations but litigation can be costly. In this case much legal work was done to help Ms. [redacted] resolve this case at no charge. The offer to proceed for $600 was basically to only cover the out-of-pocket expenses and filing fees and did not include additional attorney fees for her to pay us. She is the one that said no to proceeding any further with the case, not us. 19. Our experience with Ms. [redacted] was that she was somewhat erratic and hard to communicate with, especially when our firm was trying to help her get the matter settled. In the end when we were still in the negotiating stage with the other part, she basically went dark on us and did not respond to our phone calls or emails. 20. Her complaint is difficult to understand in light of the fact that she had referred a new client to our office a short time ago and everything seemed to be fine. We do regret that Ms. [redacted] lost her items in storage but we did everything we were contracted to do and much more. It was a difficult time in her life but she received her bankruptcy discharge and that is what she hired us to do. We always try to do whatever we possibly can to help our clients be happy but in some cases they dig holes that are just too deep for us to completely fill. In summary, it was Ms. [redacted]' obligation to make sure that all the information in her bankruptcy was accurate, true and correct because only she would be signing under penalty of perjury that everything was true and correct including the correct listing of all her creditors including the storage unit bill. She did sign separately under penalty of perjury that she did in fact list all of her creditors. The Federal Court then sends a notice to each creditor that the debtor supplied. That was done in this case. Any error is listing the creditor or proving the proper address is the responsibility of the debtor (Ms. [redacted]) not the Federal Court. The Federal Law and our Bankruptcy Retainer that Ms. [redacted] signed, provides for remedies in cases like this where someone is not obeying the law or the Bankruptcy Rules. We offered to pursue these remedies to resolve the matter before the court but Ms. [redacted] said no that she did not want to retain our services to proceed any further. Notwithstanding we continued to work in her behalf without compensation in hopes of persuading the other party to settle the matter. This continued until the opposing party stopped all communication with us which ordinarily would trigger a lawsuit. And lastly, even if we did settle or prevail in the litigation, Ms.[redacted] claimed that she did not have any money to pay for the storage and redeem her items no matter what. Please do not hesitate to call me if you need additional information or want to discuss this further.

I am in receipt of your letter dated October 17, 2017. As I mentioned to you on the phone, I've been out of the country and just returned and received your letter. When I spoke to you on the phone and requested an extension to respond, we agreed that my response would be mailed no later than 5PM on November 3rd. Mr. [redacted] is alleging that: 1. She filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy through our office back in late 2016. This is true. Her case was filed on November 10th 2016 and she received a full discharge of all of her debts on February 27th 2017. 2. In her 1st meeting with our office she explained that her car was about to be repossessed and we needed to get her paperwork on file to stop the repossession.When she completed her preliminary paperwork in preparation for filing she disclosed that she had a storage unit in Florida with personal possessions and she did not want to lose the contents of the storage even though she was unable to pay the back storage fees that were owed and bring the account current.3. When creditors are listed in a bankruptcy they are sent a direct notice from the United States Bankruptcy court. The mailing is official and part of the permanent bankruptcy file as well as all the papers contained in the bankruptcy filing. In this case the storage unit was listed as a creditor in her statement of financial affairs on page 5. Please see attached copy as exhibit A.**4. The bankruptcy court then takes on the responsibility of sending official notices to everyone listed in the bankruptcy. By Federal Law these notices come directly from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and not from us.5. Ms. [redacted] pushed hard to get the bankruptcy filed quickly because of her concern over the repossession of her car. Prior to filing, all of the paperwork was completed and given to Ms. [redacted] to proofread and make sure everything was complete true and accurate because she was required to sign under penalty of perjury before the case could be filed with the court. 6. Ms. [redacted] reviewed the final draft of the bankruptcy as well as all the documents contained in it and she certified in writing that everything was complete, accurate, true, and correct. This would definitely include the storage company and Exeter Finance Corp who were trying to repossess the car. She states that these were the two most important creditors she had and they were the main reason she was filing her bankruptcy. It was her responsibility to do the final check before filing because she was the one signing under penalty of perjury that everything was true complete and accurate. 7. Ms. [redacted] indicated in their complaint that she felt the owners of the storage were not trustworthy and perhaps doing things illegal to steal her storage contents. In bankruptcy cases once a case is filed and the creditor has been notified, even if it's a verbal notification, the creditor is barred by law to sell or dispose of any asset or engage in any efforts to collect on a debt, without a court order from the bankruptcy court granting them permission to do so. However, all of our clients including Ms. [redacted] are provided with their "official" bankruptcy case number which is for the purpose of showing to any creditor who may continue to try to collect on a debt that is included in the bankruptcy, such as this storage unit. Again, she apparently chose not to do this. 8. Ms. [redacted]'s case was filed promptly and her car was saved from repossession at least for the time being. 9. The typical duration of a bankruptcy is approximately 90 days. Ms. [redacted] says that 4 days prior to the discharge of the bankruptcy (approximately 85 days after filing her case) her son went to pick up the items stored and was told that they had been sold off. This would have been in violation of the bankruptcy automatic stay if it was done prior to the bankruptcy discharge. 10. A chapter 7 bankruptcy typically takes between 4 to 6 weeks to prepare for filing with the court. The prospective client must complete a fair amount of paperwork and answer many questions in preparation of filing the approximately 42 page document with the court. In this case it was filed as soon as it was ready without delay because of the pending car repossession. That was this client's main concern. Very little was said about the storage in Florida until much later when she discovered that they had removed her contents and apparently sold them. 11. According to the retainer agreement that was signed by our law firm and Ms. [redacted] it specifically describes the services being paid for and specifically describe services that are not included. See Exhibit B.[redacted]12. When a creditor violates the bankruptcy automatic stay there is a remedy to the problem which includes filing the proper motions and ultimately resolving the matter before a judge. This service would be considered an "extra" legal service according to the retainer agreement and would require additional fees which the client, Ms. [redacted] was not willing to pay.13. Notwithstanding her reluctance to hire us to take the storage company to court, we proceeded, without charge to attempt to get the storage company to allow her to buy back the stored items from whomever purchased them. However Ms. [redacted] was reluctant to pay any money in any amount to anyone to help solve this problem. 14. We continued to try to work with the storage company to come up with some solution but any threat by us to take them to court wold have been a bluff since Ms. [redacted] had already said that she was not willing to pursue the matter any further. 15. Notwithstanding her lack of interest we continued to pursue the matter and corresponded with her via email in an effort to move the matter forward to a resolution by she did not respond to our phone messages or emails about the matter for quite some time. Please see copies of the relevant emails and the dates along with her much delayed responses. EXHIBIT C[redacted]16. It is not uncommon for a creditor to claim that they did not receive notice of the bankruptcy. In this case they were notified of the bankruptcy by us personally and entered into negotiations with us with their lawyer about this issue. In the end they just called our bluff probably realizing that no one (Ms. [redacted]) was willing to commit to the litigation. 17. Our typical fees for representing for representing a client in a matter such as this is on an hourly basis of $275 per hour and a $2500 retainer fee. We were willing to meet her more than halfway by offering to move forward for only $600 which would barely cover cost and filing fees etc. 18. In the end the matter could have been resolved by filing the proper litigation and having the matter heard before a bankruptcy court. Unfortunately in many cases the parties involved are not interested in doing what is right as much as they are trying to get away with as much as they can. I believe that describes the storage company. The law provides for the proper order/remedies for these situations but litigation can be costly. In this case much legal work was done to help Ms. [redacted] resolve this case at no charge. The offer to proceed for $600 was basically to only cover the out-of-pocket expenses and filing fees and did not include additional attorney fees for her to pay us. She is the one that said no to proceeding any further with the case, not us. 19. Our experience with Ms. [redacted] was that she was somewhat erratic and hard to communicate with, especially when our firm was trying to help her get the matter settled. In the end when we were still in the negotiating stage with the other part, she basically went dark on us and did not respond to our phone calls or emails. 20. Her complaint is difficult to understand in light of the fact that she had referred a new client to our office a short time ago and everything seemed to be fine. We do regret that Ms. [redacted] lost her items in storage but we did everything we were contracted to do and much more. It was a difficult time in her life but she received her bankruptcy discharge and that is what she hired us to do. We always try to do whatever we possibly can to help our clients be happy but in some cases they dig holes that are just too deep for us to completely fill. In summary, it was Ms. [redacted]' obligation to make sure that all the information in her bankruptcy was accurate, true and correct because only she would be signing under penalty of perjury that everything was true and correct including the correct listing of all her creditors including the storage unit bill. She did sign separately under penalty of perjury that she did in fact list all of her creditors. The Federal Court then sends a notice to each creditor that the debtor supplied. That was done in this case. Any error is listing the creditor or proving the proper address is the responsibility of the debtor (Ms. [redacted]) not the Federal Court. The Federal Law and our Bankruptcy Retainer that Ms. [redacted] signed, provides for remedies in cases like this where someone is not obeying the law or the Bankruptcy Rules. We offered to pursue these remedies to resolve the matter before the court but Ms. [redacted] said no that she did not want to retain our services to proceed any further. Notwithstanding we continued to work in her behalf without compensation in hopes of persuading the other party to settle the matter. This continued until the opposing party stopped all communication with us which ordinarily would trigger a lawsuit. And lastly, even if we did settle or prevail in the litigation, Ms.[redacted] claimed that she did not have any money to pay for the storage and redeem her items no matter what. Please do not hesitate to call me if you need additional information or want to discuss this further.