Having helped numerous people in training to become a VBA, we have had the opportunity to help them form best practices in petition work. One mistake that many newly trained VBAs make when given a petition to prepare is to immediately start entering information into their bankruptcy software. Ask yourself: if you were going to paint a room, would you walk in with a can of paint and just start painting? Definitely not. You would begin by preparing the room first. This is a best practice you should adapt for anything you do — whether you are cooking, running errands, paying bills, or working on a new bankruptcy petition, you need to do preparation work before you begin.
Check whether the debtor resides in a community property state.
Item 16 on the Statement of Affairs provides a list of all the community property states. If a debtor is married and is filing without their spouse, there could be a problem. In a community property state, everything the debtor owns belongs to their spouse as well, and any debts the debtor has are also owed by their spouse. So before you start working on a bankruptcy petition where the debtor resides in a community property state, make sure that both the husband and wife are filing together. If not, the attorney needs to prepare an Affidavit signed by both parties stating they understand creditors may collect from the non-filing spouse.
Check if the debtor has filed bankruptcy before.
Before you start working on a bankruptcy petition, do a check in PACER. This should be one of your very first tasks. As a VBA, if you miss this one detail and the attorney attempts to file the case, it will be rejected — wasting your time, the attorney's time, and the client's time and money. Be sure to also check the Client Intake Forms and tax returns to see if the debtor has lived at any previous addresses, which will tell you whether you need to check different jurisdictions for previous bankruptcy filings.
Check if the debtor is late on mortgage payments.
If debtors are greatly behind in their mortgage payment (6 months or more) you may have a problem if they cannot qualify for a Chapter 13. If debtors are behind in their mortgage payment and file a Chapter 7, they are normally required to catch up all back payments before the 341 Meeting. However, in some cases the attorney will provide foreclosure mediation services to the debtor and either reduce, strip, or negotiate the mortgage to the benefit of the debtor.
Check if the real property is due for a Sheriff's sale.
If the client or attorney does not inform you of a Sheriff's sale that is scheduled to occur, you can normally find the information when you do an online lawsuit check. You may also check the Real Estate page of the Client Intake Forms to see how many months the debtors are behind in mortgage payments. If there is a pending Sheriff's sale and the debtors want to keep the house, you should clear your schedule and do everything to get the petition filed in order to protect the debtor's home.
Summary
Being professional as a VBA starts in the preparation work you do before you start any petition. Remember that the work you do is to help people who are in need of your best efforts to make their bankruptcy a less difficult and stressful experience than it needs to be.
Ready to start earning income drafting bankruptcy petitions from home? See our online bankruptcy petition training courses at www.713training.com. You can also join our online community at www.navba.org.