Morse Law, LLC

08/25/2022

03/30/2018

09/13/2017

$700 Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Only Available Until November 15th

To make sure that our current $700 fee available to everyone who needs it, we’re delaying the rate change until November 16th and announcing the change in advance. If you hire Morse Law and pay the attorney fee of $700 by November 15th, you can still take advantage of our fully attorney represented Chapter 7 representations at our remarkably low fee of $700.

Beginning November 16th our rates will increase to $900 for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. As always, our consultations will remain free. While the new rate is higher, it will still be much less than the $1,500 to $2,000 charged by most law firms in Colorado. For many years Morse Law has offered full attorney represented chapter 7 bankruptcies for $700, but as time marches on … even we have to raise our rates at some point.

If your debts are in the way of your goals, if you need to stop or prevent a garnishment, or if you would simply like a financial fresh start, I encourage you to schedule a free consultation with our office through messenger, email ([email protected]), at our website’s contact form (www.morselawcolorado.com), or by phone at 719-302-3655 or 303-300-6684. I look forward to hearing from you!

– Todd Morse (Managing Attorney)

06/22/2017

Come One, Come All - Free Bankruptcy Advice from a Bankruptcy Attorney.

If you've ever wondered about bankruptcy or couldn't figure out how people you've known that filed bankruptcy buy homes and vehicles shortly afterwards, this is your chance to get answers to those questions. My name is Todd Morse; I'm the managing attorney at More Law, LLC. Facebook has been a wonderful medium allowing us to communicate with current clients and members of the public with questions about bankruptcy faster and more easily than ever before. It's become something that I truly enjoy, so if you have questions about bankruptcy, foreclosure, garnishments, old debts, debt collections, how we can charge only $700 for a chapter 7 filing, or the like, I encourage you to anonymously send your question through Facebook messenger or give our office a call at 303-300-6684 or 719-302-3655. Thanks, Todd!

All of our representations are full attorney representations. If your debts are in the way of your goals, if you need to stop or prevent a garnishment, or if you would simply like a financial fresh start, I encourage you to schedule a free consultation with our office through messenger, email ([email protected]), at our website’s contact form (www.morselawcolorado.com), or by phone at 719-302-3655 or 303-300-6684. I look forward to hearing from you! – Todd Morse (Managing Attorney)

06/19/2017

Having a good time at the 341 Meetings. Turns out that if you had your ducks in a line when you filed the case and you properly prepared for the hearing, the most difficult part of the hearing is staying awake!

05/19/2017

How Can You Charge $700 for a Chapter 7?!?!

Many clients ask this question because they previously talked to other law firms and were quoted between $1,500 and $2,000 to have a chapter 7 filed. It’s a very reasonable question. I happen to think that the question is backwards. Instead, I would ask, “Why in the world would someone charge $1,500 to $2,000 for a regular person to file chapter 7?” Unfortunately, I worry that the real answer is, “Because they can.” Here are my theories on why people are being over charged for chapter 7 filings and why we charge $700.

Within the greater Denver area there are a lot of attorneys who practice bankruptcy law. Having a lot of attorneys is good because it causes them to compete with one another and that helps to keep their rates more reasonable. If an attorney tries to charge a crazy high price, the person wanting to file can easily go to a different attorney who charges less. This isn’t always the case outside of Denver, where there are fewer attorneys and even fewer attorneys practicing bankruptcy law.

In my observations, and based on what clients have shared with me at consultations, the “average” fee being charged for a chapter 7 filing outside of Denver (Colorado Spring and Pueblo) is about $1,500 to $2,000. As long as all of the attorneys in these areas all charge an inflated rate, they can get away with it because people living in these areas don’t have another option charging a reasonable fee. I tend to think of it as a very informal monopoly.

Bankruptcies are flat fee billed, meaning that you pay one fee for the entire chapter 7 legal service (as opposed to an hourly rate). If the person filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy owns several rental properties, has an unusual amount of very expensive assets, or is very wealthy, then the case would take longer to draft and file. That sort of rare situation might justify a fee like what’s being charged in Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

However, if you are a regular person who owns the same “usual” things that we all own (clothes, furniture, cars, and maybe a home), your chapter 7 filing simply will not take as long to represent as a filing for the rich person with lots of assets, in the example above. The flat fee charged for a chapter 7 is supposed to be based on how long the chapter 7 representation will take to accomplish. A regular person needing to file a chapter 7 simply doesn’t take enough time to justify the high fees being charged. It’s been my experience that my last several thousand chapter 7 bankruptcies that I’ve represented for regular people didn’t take that much time and I suspect that the next several thousand bankruptcies that I represent for regular people will also not take that long to represent.

I’ve tried to justify their high fees in my mind several different ways: Maybe there are slow at typing? Maybe they haven’t filed many chapter 7s so they’re unfamiliar with the process? Maybe they …. In the end, I suspect they charge high fees because they have been getting away with it. Correction – they used to be able to get away with it. After having this situation brought to my attention by a few very nice people at consultations, I decided to make our $700 chapter 7 fee available to those living in and around Colorado Springs & Pueblo.

All of our representations are full attorney representations. If your debts are in the way of your goals, if you need to stop or prevent a garnishment, or if you would simply like a financial fresh start, I encourage you to schedule a free consultation with our office through messenger, email
([email protected]), at our website’s contact form (www.morselawcolorado.com), or by phone at 719-302-3655 or 303-300-6684. I look forward to hearing from you!

- Todd Morse

05/10/2017

Bankruptcy Attorney Confession:

This story is absolutely true, even if it’s a little embarrassing. A few years ago, I represented a client who I got to know very well over the course of the representation. We met several times prior to filing and by the time of filing, I could tell you her children’s names, what type of dog she had, and where she’d worked for the last few years.

About a month after filing, every case attends a 341 Meeting with the trustee assigned to administer the filing. This meeting takes about 3-4 minutes and consists of sitting at a desk with the trustee and being asked about 8-9 questions. When I arrived at the meeting, I walked right past my client, not recognizing her in the slightest, until I heard a voice behind me saying “Todd, Todd, I’m over here.” Embarrassed, I turned around and had to take a double-take. I did not recognize my own client, who I knew very well, because I swear she literally looked 10 years younger than the last time that I’d seen her.

I hadn’t seen her in about a month, the time between when we reviewed, signed, and filed her petition and when we met at the 341 Meeting. Astonished at her change in appearance, I asked her what she had done and told her that I was shocked at her change in appearance. I knew her well enough to even tell her that she looked a decade younger. She told me that she hadn’t done anything special, but she said that since her creditors had stopped calling her 100 times a day and she wasn’t constantly worried about being garnished, she’d finally started sleeping again and living a “normal” life. All that I could say in response was to just keep doing whatever she was doing as it was clearly working for her!

I can’t tell you that a bankruptcy filing is a means of eternal youth, but I can testify that the stress caused by debts and debt collection isn’t good for anyone. Debt stress causes problems with family relationships, with your health, and every other aspect of a person’s life. Many attorneys won’t practice bankruptcy law because they reason that every consultation is a meeting with someone at what is one of the worst times of their life. What those attorneys fail to realize is that you get to be the one giving them the solution. You get to be the one that tells them that the financial concerns are a thing of the past. Then you sit back and wait. You wait for the realization that “It’s Over” to sink in. Like I mentioned above, some people get it at the consult, some wait until the case is filed, and it doesn’t hit others until the Discharge Order enters, but at some point, everyone who files realizes that the financial nightmare that they’ve been living with is over and they are free to begin their financial lives again with a fresh start, and that makes it all worth it. I’ll never do anything else!

05/10/2017

I Want Your Bankruptcy & Debt Collection Questions

Ever meet someone that’s obsessed with a particular topic and they just want to talk your ear off about it - all of the time? Well … that’s me when it comes to bankruptcy and debt collection. While this might be an annoyance in everyday life, it’s extremely useful if you happen to have questions about bankruptcy or debt collections, but can’t find an experienced attorney to talk to, at least not without being charged a ridiculous hourly rate for the answer.

So far, I’ve been pleased with the number of people who have sent their questions to me anonymously through Facebook messenger, but I can certainly handle more questions. If you’ve ever wondered how people are buying homes 2 years after filing chapter 7? Or, when is the right time to consider bankruptcy? I’m here to discuss it with you. You can reach me in a number of different ways:

1) Privately Message me through Facebook;
2) Email me at [email protected];
3) Call at 303-300-6684 or 719-302-3655; or
4) Send your question through our Contact Form at: www.morselawcolorado.com/contact

If you’d like a full analysis of your financial situation, a free consultation is the best route to take. Consultations can be conducted over the phone or in our office. Consultations are an informal conversation about debts, collections, and most importantly, your goals. Getting rid of debt is only one part of filing. Knowing what to do after filing to get to where you want to be is just as important.

By far, the most difficult part of filing is making the decision to file. After the decision to file has been made, it’s a very simple process of putting together the necessary paperwork, reviewing and signing it, and filing it with the Court. Some people start feeling the relief at the consultation, some start feeling relief after filing, and others don’t get the full affect until the Discharge Order enters. Regardless of when the relief from being debt free hits, it’s nothing short of a life-changing revelation when it happens.

05/04/2017

Do We File In Pueblo?

Absolutely! We’ve filed cases in Pueblo for the last 12 years and the number of cases from Pueblo increases each year. My personal theory is that all of our attorneys like to eat at Bingo Burger after the 341 Meeting, but it probably also has something to do with the number of referrals that we receive from our past clients who live in Pueblo.

All bankruptcies filed in the state of Colorado are filed in Denver, as Denver has the only Bankruptcy Court in the District of Colorado. Fortunately, Pueblo has its own hearing room so our clients who live in Pueblo never have to leave Pueblo. The only appearance for our clients in a typical chapter 7 case is the 341 Meeting where we talk to a trustee for about 3-4 minutes (assuming that aren’t running late). Since the 341 meeting is held in Pueblo, there’s no reason to leave Pueblo.

In my personal, very unscientific, observations, it seems like as soon as you get outside of greater Denver, the fees being charged for a chapter 7 filing begin to skyrocket! I regularly hear of attorneys charging between $1,000 and $1,700 in the Denver area, but I heard a lot more charges in the $1,500 to $2,000 (or higher) in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and even up north as you make your way towards Ft. Collins. I suppose it has something to do with there being less attorneys outside of greater Denver to choose from – less competition among the lawyers results in higher fees.

Well … those attorneys will probably not like us very much. We charge $700 for a chapter 7 representation whether you live in Denver, Colorado Spring, Pueblo, or anywhere else in Colorado and we do it for a very simple reason. It doesn’t take more time to represent a chapter 7 bankruptcy simply because you don’t live in greater Denver, so it shouldn’t cost more money to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy outside of Denver.

With the technology advances over the last few years, we’ve found that representing folks from different cities is no different than representing clients who live in Denver. About half of our free consultations are being conducted over the phone, whether our clients live in Denver or in Pueblo. Most clients don’t drive to the office when they have a question, they call or email. I always ask for a small pile of documents from each client that I’ll need to complete their representations, but more than half of the documents we receive these days are submitted electronically (email attachments or faxes). A client from Colorado Springs who wasn’t into technology told me about a box that the United State Postal Service will mail to anywhere in the United State for $10. He literally filled his box up with the documents that I requested and every bill and collection notice that he could find and the box arrived at our office to following day.

At the risk of being my usual long-winded self, I’ll just add that you don’t need to feel like you’re stuck with the prices and attorneys in your local area. I suspect that the days of jacking up attorney fees in areas with a limited number of attorneys is about to come to an end, as people living in smaller towns have greater access to a larger pool of attorneys. Our goal is to provide people access to the Bankruptcy Court who were previously prevented from accessing the Court due to the high cost of attorney fees. At present, we’re doing some of our best work towards achieving this goal in Pueblo and Colorado Springs (places where bankruptcy attorney fees had really gotten out of hand).

05/02/2017

The Most Common Misconception About Bankruptcy

Years ago, I used to host a talk-radio show about bankruptcy. We’d pick a different bankruptcy theme for each show. We once did a show titled “Rumors, Myths, & Misconceptions About Bankruptcy” where we’d invite people to call in and tell us the craziest things that they’d heard about filing for bankruptcy from their friends. We quickly learned that what people think that they know from word of mouth about bankruptcy and the reality of bankruptcy are very different.

To be clear, people were calling in to share what they had “heard” through the grapevine, not what they had learned from experience. People called in with wonderfully imaginative stories ranging from armed marshals itemizing the contents of a filer’s home to stories about grand inquisitions taking place – None of which is true!

The most common thread in these stories of misinformation is that many people seem to think that at some point after filing, someone (maybe even a judge) sits down with the filer’s file and reads it from cover to cover, in order to determine if the file “deserves a discharge of debts.” Let me assure you that nothing of this sort takes place. You are not judged based on how your debts were acquired, on how hard you tried to repay your debts, nor on anything else which might draw a filer’s integrity into question.

Your ability to file under chapter 7 (the most common chapter of bankruptcy – about 80% of filings), is based on a math test. We add up your household’s gross income during the previous 6 months, divide that total by 6 to get a monthly average, and finally we multiply the monthly average by 12 to make an annual gross income. If your gross annual income is below the chapter 7 limit, you qualify to file under chapter 7! The chapter 7 gross annual income limits are based on household size. As the number of people in your household increases, the gross annual income limit also increases.

From most people’s perspectives, the chapter 7 income limits are high. Said differently, you’d have to be making very good money to not qualify to file under chapter 7. Since your ability to file is based on a math calculation, you aren’t asked “why the debts weren’t repaid?” Far from it, a bankruptcy filing is about putting you back on your feet financially so you can rejoin the financial world and we can all therefore benefit from your participation. Bankruptcies are about looking forward, not about dwelling on past debts.

Occasionally, a trustee at a 341 Meeting may ask, “What caused you to file bankruptcy?” but they aren’t asking this to make a moral judgment of you, they’re asking because they are human beings and most of them care about other human beings. As long as your filing isn’t the final act in a long planned con to deceive creditors and commit fraudulent acts, it really isn’t any of their concern whether your debts are the product of fighting an illness for several years or whether you simply had a few bad weekends in Las Vegas.

Debt is debt and the final result of debt is that it makes it impossible for people to participate in the economy, once their debts get to a certain, unmanageable, state. Bankruptcy is the release valve that keeps the economy from imploding. By filing a bankruptcy, a citizen is able to hit a big “Reset Button” which removes the shackles of debt and allows the citizen to again participate in the greater economy which benefits everyone in the long run. It’s why every civilization since the beginning of civilization has had bankruptcy relief in some form or another – even the Old Testament had its brand of bankruptcy relief.

Bankruptcy has nothing to do with judging the bankruptcy filer. Bankruptcy has everything to do with putting financial problems into the past and making the filer financially whole again through a fresh start. The radio show opened my eyes greatly to what I consider to be the most commonly held misconception about bankruptcy, which is that the Bankruptcy Court exists to judge its filers. To the contrary, the Bankruptcy Court is there for the purpose of helping filers get beyond their financial problems and, in some cases, even cheering them on towards a brighter future.