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Here’s our fee agreement for Chapter 13 in the Alexandria VA  Bankruptcy Court.   c13 2020 fee
The post Robert Weed Chapter 13 Fee Agreement by Robert Weed appeared first on Northern VA Bankruptcy Lawyer Robert Weed - .

From: Crain's New York Business
By: Gwen Everett

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/coronavirus/ag-james-and-cuomo-suspend-state-debt-collection

New York will freeze collections on medical and student debt owed or referred to the state, Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.
More than 165,000 debts are affected by the decision, the AG and governor said, adding that the freeze will last at least 30 days.

During that time, the attorney general's office will take applications to suspend other types of debt owed or referred to the state, James said, and will decide whether to extend the freeze.

It's an effort to mitigate the mounting financial stresses New Yorkers are facing as the Covid-19 crisis rattles the state's economy. The state shut down restaurants, bars and event spaces Monday.
"In this time of crisis, my office will not add undue stress or saddle New Yorkers with unnecessary financial burden," James said. 

How should you handle your creditors if you experience an unexpected drop in income, a layoff or loss of that part time job that was keeping you afloat?In March, 2020, the economy in Georgia and throughout the United States took a huge hit with the spread of the COVID-19 corona virus. Over the course of a week, the narrative from Washington changed from “we have this under control” to “do not leave your home.” Professional sports leagues have shut down, restaurants have discontinued in location seating, airlines have parked airplanes and just about every type of business was and is being affected.No doubt you are feeling the pinch.  Relief from the government – if it comes at all – will be short term and incomplete.Meanwhile, creditors may hold off pursuing collection for a short time, but you should assume that they will not be so quick to forgive late payments and defaults once the immediate crisis passes.While the unprecedented speed of the corona virus damage to our economy is, hopefully, a rare event, unexpected job losses or reductions in income are not so rare. No matter what the circumstances you need a plan to deal with your creditors. How do you handle the phone calls? Who do you pay first? When is it time to give up collateral? When might bankruptcy be an option?The key to surviving this, or any unexpected disruption in income, will be knowledge and communication.  First, you need to find out if your creditors have any programs to help  you weather emergencies.  In the case of financial hardship due to the corona virus, you should check the web sites of creditors to see if they are offering deferments or other relief.  Even if there is nothing on the web site, you can call to ask.It is always better to ask about a deferment or other relief while you are still current. If the creditor representative indicates that you will be expected to make payments as usual, you can make the decision about what to do.  In the case of a “buy here, pay here” vehicle lender, for example, you may choose to keep that debt current to avoid a repossession.I would also advise you that credit card debts should be at the bottom of your list.  Credit card creditors cannot use “self help” to take you property and the only course of action they have other than collection calls would be to sue you.  If the courts are shut down, lawsuits are going to be delayed and judges are likely to be unsympathetic to a credit card company who sues an individual during the Covid 19 crisis.You may be surprised to learn that we usually do not recommend the bankruptcy option while your financial situation is unsettled. Bankruptcy works best when you can see with a high degree of certainty what you will be facing financially in the next six to twelve months.  The bankruptcy law also uses a 6 month look back to evaluate your level of “disposable income” and your reality 6 months ago may be very different than it is currently.At Ginsberg Law Offices, we have been working with and counseling honest, hardworking men and women in the Atlanta area about financial problems for over 25 years. We are standing by to answer your questions and help restore your peace of mind.The post How Should You Deal With Creditors If You Lose Income Due to the Corona Virus? appeared first on theBKBlog.

From: NY Post
By: Rosemary Misdary, David Meyer and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
Coronavirus has slammed the brakes on the Big Apple taxi industry.

New York City cabbies are suffering a radical drop in ridership amid concerns over the potentially deadly bug, with some only scraping together a few bucks after long shifts behind the wheel.

“We don’t make money,” said Queens cabbie Jones Donkoi while trying to land fares on the Upper West Side. “I collected $300 in fares but if you take the taxes and surcharges and lease payment, I make about $40 at the end of a 12-hour shift.”

“I support three children,” he said. “I’m going to find another job because I can’t continue like this. I can’t buy anything.”

Driver Mohammad Azad said it’s so bad out there that he had just $10 in his pocket after his first three hours on the road on Sunday.

“Our pockets are empty,” said Azad, who was near Spring Street in SoHo Sunday. “If it continues like this, it will be very hard to survive in New York City. All taxi drivers are miserable. Am I scared? Yes. But we take the risks.”

Another driver said he took home just $50 one day last week, and at one point drove around two hours without a single fare.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said the cabbie, who would only identify himself as Patrick. “I am driving around hoping to get a passenger and there are none. They are too scared.”

One cabbie said his family has had to cut down on food spending and even stopped buying laundry detergent to try to get by.

Taxi garages throughout the city told The Post that business has dropped by 30–50 percent as fewer tourists hit the city and more locals stay indoors to avoid contact with the COVID-19 virus.

And cabbies are feeling the squeeze.

“It’s really dire out there,” said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. “Trips dry up after evening hours and with significant loss of airport trips, only small fares remain.”

A chunk of the fares they collect go toward paying off their pricey taxi medallions or, in some cases, the weekly lease payments to garages that rent them their cabs.

“Tomorrow I will ask if my garage can lower the rate to rent the cabs,” said Brooklyn cabbie Abdallah Abdujabar. “Every week I pay $600 plus gas, EZ Pass. It adds up to $800, $900.”

Then there are fees that come out of the fares, including a $2.50 state congestion surcharge and a 30-cent city surcharge.

According to taxi garage owners and dispatchers, the crunch is having a ripple effect on the industry.

Garages that rent out the cabs rely on the drivers’ lease payments to pay off their medallions, and without that money coming, some owners said they risk defaulting on bank loans they took out to make their medallion payments.

“My drivers work a 12-hour shift and they’re not even making the money to pay the lease on the car,” said Mahbub Hassan, a dispatcher at Yellow Cab Crescent Management in Long Island City. “In four hours, they’re lucky to get three rides.”

“We have 268 cabs in our fleet, and 100 of those cars are just sitting there without drivers,” Hassan said. “We have been giving our drivers $200, $300 discounts on the lease, and drivers are still not making enough to cover the lease payment.”

Added a manager at Midtown Operating Corp: “At the end of the day, we are all in the same boat along with the rest of the city. My pockets are not that deep.”

Meanwhile, drivers said they also have to live with the fear that they’re exposing themselves to the virus while trying to make a living.

“They give me three hand sanitizers per shift,” driver Muhammad Boote, a cabbie for 12 years, said of his bosses at Queens Medallion Leasing in Long Island City. “I’ve almost run out. I need to ask for more.”

Additional reporting by Anabel Sosa and Khristina Narizhnaya