Let's put the law to work for you.
Credits might file lawsuits, but they can’t stop a train. When creditors start threatening you it can feel like you have no rights at all. You do. You have weapons. Some of the strongest protections in federal law exist precisely for people in your situation, and most of them live in one chapter of the Bankruptcy Code: Chapter 13.
Chapter 13 is not a surrender. It is a counterattack. Filed correctly, it stops a garnishment dead, halts a foreclosure sale, frees a repossessed car, and forces aggressive creditors to deal with you on terms set by a federal judge instead of terms set by their own collection departments. Done right, it is the single most powerful tool a consumer has against debt collection in America.
That power is why I practice in this area. Below is how I think about the fight — and how I work with people across Washington State, statewide by Zoom or phone, in both the Eastern and Western Districts of Washington.
I am on your side
This matters more than people expect, so I will say it plainly: when you hire me, I work for you. Not the court, not the creditors, not the trustee. You.
A lot of what passes for legal representation in consumer debt cases amounts to moving a file from one pile to another. I don't do that. When I take your Chapter 13 case, I am looking at your income, your house, your car, your health, your job, and what you actually want your life to look like after this is over, and I build the case around that.
Being on your side also means telling you the truth. If Chapter 13 is the right weapon for you, I will tell you why, in plain language, and what it will cost. If it isn't, and if Chapter 7 fits better, or if you don't need to file at all, I will tell you that too. I turn away cases when another option serves a person better..
I am not intimidated by aggressive creditors
Creditors and their collection firms have a playbook: flood you with letters, call your workplace, file suit the moment they think you won't answer, count on fear to make people hand over money they can't spare or sign agreements they don't understand.
None of that intimidates me. I know the playbook, because I have watched it run for years, and I know exactly what happens when a Chapter 13 petition is filed: the calls stop, the lawsuits stall, the garnishments end, and the creditor's leverage evaporates. What looked terrifying to you is routine procedure to me, and I sit on the debtor's side of that procedure.
More importantly, I know that creditor pressure is often built on bluff and error. Debt collectors routinely misstate rights, inflate balances, ignore violations of the automatic stay, and hope nobody checks. When they do that in one of my cases, they find out quickly that this attorney reads every filing, challenges bad numbers, and holds them to the same rulebook they pretend applies only to debtors.
I know how to use the weapons the law gives debtors
Debtors have weapons. Creditors would prefer you never learn them. Here are the ones I put to work most often:
The automatic stay. The moment your Chapter 13 case is filed, federal law stops nearly every collection action (garnishments, foreclosure sales, repossession efforts, collector calls). Creditors who violate it answer to a federal judge.
The repayment plan. You propose a plan (typically 3 to 5 years) that pays certain debts at reduced rates, stretched terms, or sometimes pennies on the dollar, based on what you can actually afford, not what creditors demand. For many of my clients, the plan payment is way less than what they were already paying on their debts, and at the end of the plan, qualifying unsecured debt is discharged entirely.
Then there are cramdown and lien-stripping powers. Underwater car loans and second mortgages can sometimes be restructured or eliminated outright (like second mortgages, though it would be interesting to extinguish auto loan debt entirely). Rules differ depending on timing and collateral, so these tools require a careful analysis, but when they apply, they change the arithmetic of your life.
Protection of your property. Washington's exemption laws and the tools of Chapter 13 are designed so that most honest people who file keep everything they own. Losing your home or household goods is not what bankruptcy is for; threatening you with it is what creditors do to keep you from finding that out.
Leverage. Creditors know all of this. A properly structured Chapter 13 moves you from the collection department's agenda to the bankruptcy court's rules, and the rules favor the honest debtor. That shift in ground is a weapon in itself.
I am willing to confront difficult financial problems.
Some attorneys file cases; they don't solve problems. The difference shows up the first time something goes wrong ; as when a creditor files a bogus claim, the trustee questions a schedule, your income changes mid-plan, a garnishment was taken right before filing.
Those moments are where I do my best work. Confronting a difficult problem head-on, digging into the numbers, questioning the creditor's math, objecting to an improper claim, adapting the plan, is what you are paying an attorney to do. Paperwork is the easy part. Anyone with software can push forms through a court. Judgment, nerve, and persistence are what actually protect you.
Your case is not a transaction to me. It is your house, your car, your paycheck, your family's stability. I treat it that way, which means I look for the problem before it finds us, and when it shows up anyway, I deal with it.
If a creditor lawsuit, garnishment, foreclosure, or repossession is hanging over you, the law already has an answer built for your situation. It is called Chapter 13, and it only works as a weapon if the person holding it knows how to use it.
I handle Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases statewide in Washington — from Spokane to Vancouver and everywhere in between. Call me at 509-906-2221 and let's put the law to work for you.
