Practice Areas / Bankruptcy
Kermit L. Dunahoo, the supervising attorney, attends
several continuing legal education seminars each year to keep updated on current
developments in bankruptcy practice and related debt matters. He is a member of the
American Bankruptcy Institute (which provides daily updates on national developments
impacting debtors here in Iowa) and the Iowa State Bar Association's commercial and
bankruptcy law section.
Stop Creditor Harassment Immediately!
As an integral part of our total bankruptcy package, the Dunahoo Law Firm will act
effectively to immediately stop those persistent, harassing telephone calls from creditors
to your home or your worksite (or to your relatives, neighbors, co-signers or debt
guarantors).
The Dunahoo Law Firm will accept a partial down payment (usually $250) on your total
bankruptcy retainer and then you can inform your creditors (on their very next - and last
- call) that you have retained the Dunahoo Law Firm for a bankruptcy. This attorney
relationship will prevent creditors from having direct contact with you for a reasonable
time (generally 4 to 6 months). Creditors usually are reluctant to expend their money and
time in filing lawsuits with bankruptcy looming on the near horizon. Thus, this initial
consultation and partial retainer can have these significant benefits for you: 1) restore
your peace of mind by being free from those persistent harassing telephone calls; 2)
effectively preventing or at least delaying commencement of collection matters; and 3)
allowing you to go home from your initial consultation with the Dunahoo Law Firm being
essentially debt free. (While the dischargable debts actually won't be discharged until
approximately 90 to 100 days after filing of your bankruptcy petition, nevertheless you
will not have to worry about those debts anymore, but instead just concentrate on timely
completing the necessary paperwork for your petition and paying the rest of your retainer
and filing fee - and enjoying peace of mind!)
Comprehensive Bankruptcy Planning and Services
You should consult with an experienced bankruptcy attorney once it is apparent that your
debt situation is becoming hopeless or overwhelming. The Dunahoo Law Firm offers
comprehensive bankruptcy planning consultation services to explore several options, such
as:
(1) Whether you are eligible for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy (to discharge or eliminate most,
if not all, of your unsecured debts)
(2) Whether you should or must consider instead a Chapter 13 bankruptcy (essentially a
wage earner's debt-consolidation payment plan over a period of 36 to 60 months before
finally discharging any remaining unsecured dischargeable debts).
(3) Whether a credit counseling service is a reasonable alternative to bankruptcy.
(4) Availability of other alternatives to bankruptcy (such as deeding a house back to the
finance company or arranging reduced cash payouts on credit cards or refinancing a loan).
(5) Timing of your bankruptcy filing in order to effectively protect your assets and to
include expected upcoming debts (including legitimately liquidating non-exempt assets and
restructuring your financial holdings into exempt assets).
(6) Preventing or stopping (and possibly recovering) garnishment of your wages or bank
accounts.
(7) Preventing or stopping foreclosure of your home or repossession of your vehicle(s)...
DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOUR PAYCHECK IS GARNISHED, A LAWSUIT IS FILED OR YOUR VEHICLE IS
REPOSSESSED BEFORE YOU SEEK LEGAL ADVICE!
(8) Assisting you in completing the necessary paperwork, valuing your assets, accounting
for your living expenses, getting your credit report(s).
(9) Filing a 2-part emergency petition, immediately, to prevent garnishment of your wages
or bank accounts (even on tax levies), a sheriff's sale of your house after foreclosure,
or shutoff of utilities.
(10) Handling certain bankruptcy-related matters (such as lawsuits defense, collection
matters, liens, divorce decrees, real estate foreclosures, tax delinquencies, etc.) that
can impact on your bankruptcy.
(11) Consultation on how to start rebuilding your credit even before filing your
bankruptcy.
(12) We refer federal and state delinquent tax matters to a local C.P.A. and then
coordinate on resolution of the tax matters before filing your bankruptcy.
(13) We maintain and closely monitor a checklist of common bankruptcy pitfalls for you to
avoid in your bankruptcy (and thus assure that your bankruptcy gets completed without any
trouble).
(14) We send you several informational form letters or descriptive leaflets to guide you
throughout the pre-bankruptcy, bankruptcy, and post-bankruptcy processes.
Scope of Statewide Bankruptcy Practice
The Dunahoo Law Firm maintains a statewide bankruptcy practice and can effectively handle
your case regardless of the county you live in. The creditors meeting (your only required
court-type appearance) can be held either in Des Moines or Fort Dodge regardless of where
you live.
All potential bankruptcy clients certainly are welcome to have an in-person office
consultation in one of our four conveniently located central Iowa locations (Ames,
south-side Des Moines, Dexter, or Urbandale/West Des Moines). Alternatively, non-central
Iowans (or anybody else locally) can choose to handle all of the other processing of their
bankruptcy (except for the mandatory creditors meeting) through our law firm's
comprehensive initial and follow-up questionnaires and detailed written instructions, plus
supplementary telephone consultations on our toll free line (800/464-6317).
[See DLF Website Forms Nos. 15-17]
