Macey & Aleman - Legal Helpers.com - Legal Helpers Suppose to file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to save my house and repaid all our creditors Chicago Illinois

Cause #: 71D040709PL00264
Complaint:
Attorney firm negligence in filing papers (Chapter 13) to save our home and repay our creditors. As a result, we lost our home, temporary homelessness, trouble with creditors, stress and pain, moved 4 times in less than 2 years and very little stability.

History:
In April of 2005 we found out that our house was being foreclosed on. On April 21, 2005 I used my company's employee assistance program to seek advice. The suggestion was for us to file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy so that we would be able to keep the house, cars and setup payment plans with all our creditors. They searched out attorneys for us to discuss our options in this matter. Aleman & Macey (aka Legal Helpers) was suggested by them so my wife and I called to set up an appointment with the attorney. On May 5, 2005, at 5:30 pm we met with attorney Mark Telloyan at the JMS Building in South Bend, IN. As instructed we brought all our bills and pay stubs to our free consultation with the attorney. We explained our situation and he gave us the same advice as the employee assistance program suggested. We decided to go forth with Chapter 13 and gave a $100 down payment to retain services and they in return made copies of all the information which included all that I was instructed to bring and the court summons.

He explained the process to us and set up a payment plan for the remaining balance. The money was taken out of our bank account in 2 payments, one in May and one in June. He then told us don't worry and that everything will be taken care of and they would start working for us immediately. At the time of the consultation, we did not have a date of the sheriff sale for our house, so he told us to let them know immediately when that happens.

Once we received the sheriff's notice of sale, we immediately contacted the attorney's office and told them the sale was set for August 18, 2005. The person wrote the information down and told me to also fax the paperwork which we did immediately. I received another notice from Waterfield about the court date for the sheriff sale on my house and I sent this information overnight by DHL to the attorney.

Around June 20, 2005, paperwork for Chapter 13 filing was received from the attorneys for our signatures and asking additional information. On July 15, 2005, I sent the paperwork, signed and dated, back to the attorneys with the additional information requested and the filing fee of $194.00. The next day I called to verify if they had received the information and they said yes. I also asked if they will be able to file before August 18, 2005 and they said no problem that they had plenty of time. I talked to the attorneys by phone 3 or 4 times giving additional information needed for the filing of the bankruptcy. The first week of August I received a phone call from them about more information needed and I asked then if there was still enough time to file before the August 18, 2005 court date. He saw no problem in making the date before the sheriff date.

On August 19, 2005 I received a phone call at 5:30 pm from the attorney's office asking for additional information for the Chapter 13. He then asked when the sheriff sale is and I told him it was yesterday. First thing that he said is that he was not told and my heart sank. He explained to me that if my house was sold there was nothing that he could do so fax all the information to him immediately. He will call the court about our house to see if the house was sold and he will let us know. We did not receive another call instead we received a letter that our house was sold and that we would receive a letter from the court telling us when we would need to vacate the house.

By the guidance of a financial officer, we were told to go into the attorney to demand our money back. We were going to use the money to get our home back from Waterfield who had brought it back. I went into the attorney in South Bend, IN and demanded my money because they did not do anything for us, only got us into more trouble. They refuse to give us any of our money back. The next day under the advice of the financial officer we went down to Waterfield in Fort Wayne, IN to try to get our house. Waterfield talked with the financial officer on our behalf and were told if we had this financial officer involved earlier in our case we would not have lost our home. Again we had depended on the attorney's office to do their job so we did not know to involve the advisor. The only thing we were able to do was get an extension on when we had to get out of our house by September 19, 2005.

We spoke to another attorney about what we could do to stop this process. He honestly told me that there nothing he or anyone could do keep our home. I showed him all the paperwork and he said everything was in order and he did not understand why they did not file. He told us that it looks like the attorneys sat on our case. He also said we needed to obey the law and get out of the house by the date and he hopes that the attorney has good malpractice insurance. It only takes 7 to 10 days to file a Chapter 13 and they had our file over month and still could not get the job done. He gave us some attorneys that may be able to take our case but I may have to go down to Indianapolis, IN to get legal services. After the stress of trying to find someplace to go, pack up 5 years worth of stuff, work, and clean up the house, I called attorneys and attorney referral services to get help. Aleman & Macey sent a letter to us at the end of September that they are dropping us as clients even though they did nothing for us.

I have contacted the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Indiana and Illinois about the attorneys. One of the major things we had going on owed the IRS who wanted to garnish our wages but we managed to make payment plans on the balance which was much more than we originally owed to the IRS.


Finally on April 7, 2007 Aleman & Macey sent us the money back stating that it may have been some confusion in our case and on April 10, 2007 I was in court for final garnishment proceedings in another case. We continue to get letters and calls from creditors that we owe but because of all the moving and the garnishment we are struggling and don't have the funds to pay.

The damages we are seeking:

1.The value of the house we lost of over $104, 000 and the lost equity dollars of our house up to this point.
2.Pain and suffering that we have suffered and still suffering - $5 million per person. Total 3 people in the household.
3.Amount owed to creditors around $15,000.
4.Rent paid out - $4200 Hawthorne address; $8300 Cedar address; $10800 Otsego address. Totaling= $23300

Presently, I have not had my day in court against them, however, they have file to dismiss my claim but the Judge has not submitted his decision yet. That was in June of this year. Another creditor is garnishing my check and they are located on the same street as Legal Helpers office in Merrilleville, IN.

Herb
South Bend, Indiana
U.S.A.