February 2007

 

 

We’re so proud to be a sponsor of NACBA’s fifteenth annual convention and hope to see you in Philadelphia in April. Suite Solutions has not been in existence quite as long as the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, but we have a similar point of view. Like NACBA, we are dedicated to doing what is best for consumer bankruptcy practitioners. 

 

That dedication gets tested from time to time. For example, we’ve always known that the credit reports attorneys need for their clients must contain information from all three national bureaus. And that’s the only kind of credit reports we’ve ever provided.

 

Our competitors haven’t necessarily shared that conviction, and they haven’t always been able to work with all three bureaus. So they are most happy to provide reports compiled with data from one or two bureaus. That suits their purposes better, and of course it allows them to be the low-cost providers.

 

 

So we ran studies, to see if a two-bureau report really would do the job. If two bureaus would give you the full picture, we were prepared to consider that as an option. The results varied from one region of the country to another, but in general, about 40% of two-bureau reports were missing information. You know and I know that those liabilities tend to surface after the bankruptcy has been discharged. Then you have to go back and amend the petition, while your client may suffer considerably worse consequences.

 

So three bureau reports remain the only option, and now we are able to make them more convenient than ever, with all the information merged and ready to download into your bankruptcy preparation software.

 

Of course BAPCPA provides even stronger reasons for wanting full and accurate credit reports. Suite Solutions is with you in trying to make it easier to comply with the requirements of the reform law.

 

One thing I often wonder about is why all bankruptcy attorneys don’t order online credit reports for their bankruptcy clients as a matter of course. When I started this company in 1998, I knew that the ability to download credit information into bankruptcy preparation software would be a significant timesaver. And now, saving time would seem to be more important than ever. We all know how the costs of filing bankruptcy have shot up since the reform law went into effect. And I hear from many of you that you are trying to find ways to lessen the impact of that on your financially-strapped clients. That can mean cutting down on your own expenses.

 

Yet, as best as we have been able to determine, the majority of bankruptcy attorneys are not ordering credit reports to download into their bankruptcy files. It’s still a typing job at many firms.

 

 

So I’m wondering if you could give me a realistic idea of how much time, and money, importing credit reports is saving you. How long did it used to take to type in the information? How many hours a week or a month or a year does that equate to, with the number of cases you file? What does that time savings free you or your staff to do? What would be the overhead cost of manually entering the information instead of clicking the mouse a few times? Any light you can shine on this issue would be fascinating to me! I invite you to send me your thoughts at candy@suitesolutions.info.  

 

Please stop by and say hello if you’re at the NACBA conference in Philadelphia, April 19-22. It’s always a pleasure to talk with you and hear your take on the trends in the industry, and how they’re affecting your practice. I’m always interested in hearing what new services you would like, and how we can serve you better. And, of course, you can count on finding something “suite” to sustain you at our booth.