Geraci Law Attorney Laura Caputo Reports: My client was surrendering his financed vehicle but needed a car to get to work. He visited a few dealerships but didn't want to obligate himself on a high interest loan. He has a friend in Indianapolis that has offered to give him a car if he goes down to Indianapolis to pick it up. I showed him that he can take a Greyhound bus to Indianapolis for only $21 and it has free wifi. Debtor had not considered taking a bus and was grateful to find a cheap way to get to Indy to get the vehicle.
Geraci Law Attorney Joseph Blaha Reports: I saved a client a 45 minute drive to the city by explaining that if she is letting her house go back through foreclosure, she does not need to bother sending in requests for information to qualify for loss mitigation options. She could not sleep last night because she was so upset and her stress has now been relieved.
Geraci Law Attorney David Lugardo Reports: On his way out, a client said he was thirsty, so Frank offered him a bottle of water and some pizza left over from lunch. A few minutes after the client left, I noticed he had left behind the water. I knew client was taking public transportation, so I checked outside and noticed him across the street, still sitting at the bus stop. I walked the water over to him and he thanked me.
Geraci Law Attorney Christopher Holoyda Reports: Filled out a garnishment answer with Debtor so she could prevent a garnishment due to the fact that she is on food stamps. Debtor was not aware she could file an answer.
Geraci Law Attorney Christopher Holoyda Reports: I helped stabilize client's walker so he could stand up into it.
Geraci Law Attorney Laura Caputo Reports: Client wanted to file a complaint against a car dealership for how they took advantage of her because she is a Spanish-speaker. I showed her that you can file a claim in using a Spanish form on the Attorney General's website and helped her upload a copy of Car Outlet's awful contract.
Geraci Law Attorney Brent Berning Reports: I helped the client pull her W2s for the last 3 years from online and gave her the forms to fill out all of her taxes. She has a prior dismissed case that was dismissed for failure to file taxes, but I showed her how to fill out the forms and change her withholding so she doesn't continue to owe tax debt. She has worked the same job for 9 years but didn't understand how much money to take out of her paycheck. She was very grateful that I took the time to help her go through this.
Geraci Law Attorney Michael Holsen Reports: Both clients have power wheelchairs due to disability. For their court date, they initially were waiting in the back because they had no way through the chairs. I personally moved two entire rows of chairs off to the side and made a space for them not only to await their hearing, but to easily be able to move to the front of the room once they were called. They appreciated the extra time and attention to assist them with their special needs the best I could.
Geraci Law Attorney Alexander George Reports: A client was very nervous about calling a payday loan to make sure they knew about bankruptcy filing and didn't deduct any further payments from her account. I told her I would call them for her so she didn't have to be worried about it. Client gave me a big hug after her appointment was over.
Geraci Law Attorney Megan Hayes Reports: My clients came in with their three small children, two of whom were infant twins. The twins fell asleep in their car seats so they didn't want to move them. I was glad to keep an eye on all three of their children while they met with Attorney Marc Affolter. Such a beautiful family they have.
Geraci Law Attorney Mark Levine Reports: A very nice client of mine was conned out of her retirement savings by various internet scams. The scams were quite obvious for someone in our line of work (in one of them, she received an email stating the "United Nations Fund" would send her five million dollars after she wired $100,000 to a bank in Malaysia). I looked up the local FBI and IRS offices and told her to file a report immediately. After I convinced her she had been scammed, my client admitted she "sort of had that feeling" but needed to hear it from someone who "knows better."
Geraci Law Attorney Bridget Spears Reports: The sentencing for Jared Fogle, the former Subway spokesman, was at the same time/place as a client’s Meeting of Creditors (one floor down). I made sure the client was aware in advance that there will be long lines and media outside the main entrance and advised him to use the Handicap entrance to bypass all the hoopla. My client got to the Meeting earlier than I did and announced that he was the luckiest person in the building because he had the prettiest attorney there. Then he made sure the Trustee knew he was not a bad guy like that Fogle.
Geraci Law Attorney Joseph D'Onofrio Reports: A veteran needed help getting rid of repossession debt. I filed his case quickly and helped him get his relief.
Geraci Law Attorney Charles Kinzer Reports: Client is legally blind. She can see in a very narrow field of vision, but she had a very difficult time getting downtown for the signup, where I read all of the forms to her. I was able to have her sign her petition by mail, saving her another trip downtown.
Geraci Law Attorney Dale Riley Reports: The client filed his case to stop a foreclosure sale scheduled 7 days from the date of filing. The Judge had a hearing in his case to verify whether his foreclosure sale should still go forward since this was his 5th case in a little over 2 years. The mortgage company's attorney argued strenuously that his history of filing meant that his case shouldn't protect him in the new case. After 15 minutes of detailed argument the Judge agreed with me. The sale was cancelled and as long as he makes his house and Trustee payments going forward his home will be safe.
Geraci Law Attorney David Lulkin Reports: I took the time to explain a "scary-looking document" that a client received four months post-discharge. It was a very official-looking debt consolidation offer. I advised this company is very stupid as he was already debt free.
Geraci Law Attorney John Sadler Reports: A client was very eager to get her case filed, but her work schedule conflicts with the office schedule and she was worried she would not be able to get in to sign her petition. I opened the office an hour earlier than scheduled so that she could sign off on her petition and get her case filed right away.
Geraci Law Attorney David Kosk Reports: The City of Chicago booted a client’s vehicle the day before she was set to come finalize her petition. I filed her case on Friday afternoon, but the City had already closed. A paralegal contacted the City on a backline and managed to get the boot removed before 10:00pm that day. A fine example of the PFG difference.
Geraci Law Attorney Mariusz Zatorski Reports: An older disabled client was visibly nervous about doing bankruptcy. I put her at ease and explained everything step by step. I walked her to the door and told her we will take care of her.
Geraci Law Attorney Marc Affolter Reports: Cl had already met with another attorney last week but gave us a call because something just didn't feel right about the attorney and she wanted a second opinion. What was wrong with him? Well to begin, she said he was extremely pompous: she is an electrician and came to see him after work, and he wouldn't shake her hand because it was a little dirty. He also wouldn't tell her how much the Chapter 13 attorney fee was and just kept repeating, "It's included in the plan payment." People want to know details about how this works, not "don't worry about it, it's included." She didn't feel like she was getting help after she left the other office, but she felt so much better after she left ours! I wasn't afraid to shake her dirty hand and I wasn't afraid to give her details about her case. She appreciated the GLL difference, put down a sizeable down payment at our first meeting and will be filed within the week!
Geraci Law Attorney Ashley Chike Reports: The client experienced a reduction in income after she lost one of her jobs and wasn't able to make her Chapter 13 payments. I convinced the judge to lower the client's Chapter 13 payments to an amount the client could afford. Now the client can comfortably make her Trustee payments and still pay her other household expenses.
Geraci Law Attorney Jason Kara Reports: Due to his work schedule the client is not able to make it to the office during our regular hours. I opened the office early so that the client can come to our appointment before he needs to go to work.
Geraci Law Attorney Felicia Petroff Reports: My client is retired, so she wasn’t eligible to have automatic deductions taken for the trustee payments. She doesn't like to leave the house much, and money orders cost her $5 each. She liked that the trustee offers online payments, but said she was not very good with computers. I sat down with her in the hall after her court date, showed her how to get to the trustee's website, and set up an E-payment account for her. She wrote down the login info so she'd be able to do it on her own at home when she needs to make her payments.
Geraci Law Attorney Lizette Villegas Reports: The client came in to sign off on her Chapter 7 petition so we can file her case with the court. She had all of the court-required documents except for her tax returns. She wanted to file that day because she was getting garnished, so rather than rescheduling her appointment, I contacted her tax preparer and explained the urgency of getting a copy of her taxes. The rep faxed me an authorization for the client to sign off on, I faxed it back, contacted the rep again, and managed to have them fax me her returns within 10 minutes. I filed the client's case shortly thereafter and sent notice to her payroll department to stop the garnishment.
Geraci Law Attorney Jason Nielson Reports: Client was having trouble logging in to take his Debtor’s Education course, so I sat down with him at the Rockford office and showed him how to log in.
Geraci Law Attorney Daniel Fasman Reports: A client was extremely nervous before her court date. I asked the client if she has ever been to Great America, and found out she loves roller coasters. To calm her nerves, I joked and made an analogy: the 341 meeting is a bit like Great America – you wait until it’s your turn to go and then the ride is over before you know it. She patiently waited for the trustee to call her and the meeting was over after a few minutes. The client smiled afterwards and thanked me for calming her down.
Geraci Law Attorney Jason Shimotake Reports: My client had originally come in to file for only herself. However, after talking about her situation, it was clear that her debts were co-signed with her husband and by not filing for him, it would be putting her household and therefore her in jeopardy. We were able to get the husband to come down to the office and get a joint case together, thereby saving them the headache of two cases and thousands more in attorney’s fees. At Geraci Law, we take the extra care to make sure that we provide relief for today and tomorrow.
Geraci Law Attorney Kyle Dallmann Reports: I helped our clients to research their old debts and properties to help them fill out their Section 8 housing application.
Geraci Law Attorney Ann Kramer Reports: Client is elderly and doesn't go downtown often. She asked me to give her directions to the courthouse. She said she wished I could show her a picture of it, so I went to google maps and got her a picture of the side entrance along with each street she needs to watch for so she doesn't miss it. She really appreciated that I took the time to do this for her.
Geraci Law Attorney Morgan Decker Reports: A client was applying for a job at a bank and wanted to make sure her credit is clear before her interview. Two collection agencies were still reporting to the credit bureaus and claimed they didn't know about her bankruptcy filing, nor her discharge. I faxed over the discharge order and a letter to stop the negative reporting. She really wanted the interview to go well and hoped it'll be a way to move her forward. I wished her luck and told her that if it seems like an issue during the interview, let them know she handled this by filing her case years ago. Companies also like that you are handling your debt and not burying your head in the sand so always mention that if you need to!
Geraci Law Attorney Adam Suchy Reports: My client received a summons for an order of possession. Her homeowners’ association wanted to evict her before Christmas, which is awfully naughty. Fortunately PFG is on the nice list and we were able to file a Chapter 13 to prevent eviction and guaranteeing a happy new year!
Geraci Law Attorney Wylie Mok Reports: My client has a trust and thought he might own a part of his deceased mother’s home but said, "I have no clue what any of that mumbo jumbo means." He was worried that his siblings could sell the house without his permission and leave him homeless, so I reviewed the trust documents with him. I explained that the trust gives him the right to live in the house rent-free as long as he lives. The client appreciated that I took the time to review the trust with him and put his concerns at ease. We filed a 100% Chapter 13 for him to protect the equity in the property.
Geraci Law Attorney Jennifer Asbury Reports: Client had a whole life insurance policy with a cash surrender value worth over $1,300. Since the beneficiary the policy was deceased, the cash value would not be protected. To make sure she got the benefit of the policy instead of her creditors, I had her cash it out and take care of some things before she filed, including a down payment on a burial plan for herself. Nothing left for the Trustee to take, so No Asset case and happy client.