Unlike our competitors, we don’t “hide” our fees. We publish them right on our website (click here to view). If you prefer, we will quote your exact price right over the phone (call 702-715-0000). In addition, when you arrive at our office we print out for you a complete fee breakdown. For a chapter 7, if your income is under median (whether filing individually or jointly) we charge $693 in attorney fees, plus the court filing fee of $306. If you cannot afford to pay the fees up-front, we can file an emergency petition for $500 down, and you can make arrangements to pay the rest over time. This does cost more (+$250) but can be especially helpful in the event of an urgent situation like wage garnishment or home foreclosure.
Call Now for a FREE Consultation (702) 715-0000
Free consultation means you meet with Mr. Ballstaedt personally, not a paralegal or legal assistant as you might with one of our competitors. No commitment, and no payment required. Call (702) 715-0000.
If you have an urgent situation (like wage garnishment, pending home foreclosure, or imminent vehicle repossession) we can stop it immediately, even if you don't have all of the money up front. With only $500 down, we will file your case and allow you to pay the remaining fees in small payments over time. Read More
Full service bankruptcy means that you don't have to search for all your bills, account numbers, and balances, etc.; and you don't have to fill out a large stack of paperwork. We gather all that information for you, and we do all the paperwork necessary to complete your case.
We have a team of experienced and aggressive attorneys to help you. Together we've handled thousands of bankruptcy cases. Meet Our Attorneys
How much do you charge for bankruptcy?
Below is a breakdown of our attorney fees. Keep in mind we offer a $100 discount for 1) setting up a preauthorized payment plan, or in the alternative 2) paying the full amount within 2 weeks. The below fees assume that the client will take advantage of this discount.
Basic Chapter 7: $693 attorney fees + $306 for the court filing fee
Over Median Income Chapter 7: $1,093 attorney fees + $306 court filing fee
Corporate Chapter 7: $1,693 attorney fees + $306 court filing fee
Chapter 13: $999 attorney fees + $281 court filing fees. Additional fees are paid through the chapter 13 repayment plan (typically 16 hours of work)
Chapter 11: $9,900 attorney fees + $1,046 court filing fee (this represent the initial retainer).
Payment Plan option: $500 down to file the case, remaining fees to be paid in 4 installments over a 2 month period. This costs $250 more than it costs when you pay all fees up front, but may be helpful in an emergency situation when you don’t have all of the money up front, but must file the case as quickly as possible.
Emergency Filing option: If you don’t have time to wait for one of our regular filing dates (typically due to a pending foreclosure sale or garnishment), we can file your case any day of the week, including the day you first come in to the office for consultation. We normally file every Thursday morning. To file any other time of the week on an emergency basis we charge an additional $250. Read More
Will I get the same service at your law firm as other law firms that charge twice as much?
I do hear this question occasionally, and I know I’m prickly but I am always slightly insulted by it, but I understand where my clients are coming from and why they ask this question.
First, as of the writing of this post, we currently do no TV, Radio, Phone-book, or Billboard advertising whereas my two main competitors are pervasive with expensive and persistent TV ads, billboards, radio commercials, and full-page phone book ads everywhere you look. I’m speculating, but it wouldn’t surprise me if their advertising costs exceed their payroll costs. In other words, in order for them to earn the same profits as us, they have to charge much more.
Secondly, there are currently only two attorneys in the state of Nevada that file more cases than I do. In both cases, they have only one attorney in the office. On the other hand, we have 4 attorneys in the office. Do the math. This means that if you go to one of my two competitors you will get less attorney-time. In fact, this calculates mathematically to less than 1/4th the time. As a result, if you choose one of my competitors, legal assistants will be doing the work on your case and answering your questions, as opposed to attorneys. Read More
Will I lose my house, car, furniture, or other belongings?
When you file bankruptcy, in theory you surrender everything you own to the bankrutpcy trustee. However, the state legislature has decided that there are certain assets that a person should be able to keep even if they are filing bankruptcy. These are called “exemptions.”
In Nevada, you may exempt $15,000 for a car; $12,000 for clothes, household furniture and goods; $5,000 for a wedding ring or other jewelry; $10,000 for work tools, machinery or inventory of a sole proprietorship, $1,000 “wildcard” for anything you choose, $550,000 for a house; $500,000 for a qualified retirement account. In Nevada even some types of stocks are exempt, as well as life insurance proceeds.
So in summary, most often a person who files bankruptcy will lose nothing, unless they have valuable assets that are not exempt. If you are concerned about a particular asset you have, please come in for a consultation. Read More
How long will it take for my credit to recover?
In short, it will take between 2 and 3 years for your credit score to fully recover if you stay perfect on your payment history, based on the FICO scoring model. Statistically you will reach a 650 FICO score at the 2-year mark, and a 720 score (which is excellent credit) at the 3-year mark if you stay perfect. 720 is about as high as you can get while the bankruptcy still appears as a negative item on your credit report.
Many of my clients respond to this, “I thought it would take 7 to 10 years to recover?”
In response to this reaction, let’s lay out a distinction.
The period of time that the bankruptcy appears on your credit as a negative item is 10 years for a chapter 7 case, and 7 years for a chapter 13 case. This should be distinguished from the time that it takes for your credit score to recover. In other words, you can recover your credit score to a 720 FICO score after 3 years, but still have the bankruptcy appear on your credit report as a negative item for the next 7 years. So don’t confuse the time it takes for your credit score to recover with the time that the bankruptcy actually appears on your credit report.
You can expect to be able to purchase a home at a decent interest rate about 2 years after your bankruptfy. Loan officers that I often talk to (and the mortgage lending guidelines) consider the 2-year mark as good rule of thumb for purchasing a home after bankruptcy. In my opinion it is probably better to wait three years because your credit will continue to improve between the second and third year after bankruptcy. Read More
Seth Ballstaedt, Esq.
Attorney Seth Ballstaedt practices law in Las Vegas, Nevada. He received an Associates degree from BYU-I, a B.A. from Brigham Young University, and a JurisDoctorate (law degree) from William S. Boyd School of Law. He has handled thousands of bankruptcy cases under chapters 7, 13, and 11. He is an active member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Southern Nevada Association of Bankruptcy Attorneys, and the Better Business Bureau. Seth was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2003 he was married to his wife Cairen, and now lives in Henderson, NV with three daughters and one son.
