Anonymous from Cook County

My husband and I are a typical middle-class family living in the suburbs with our children. We are both professionals in the workforce although I had been unable to work for 2 years preceding our financial difficulties due to medical issues and numerous surgeries. Our medical bills began to pile up and our costs for medical care increased with every additional surgery. We paid what medical and credit card bills we could during this time. We were being sent to collection agencies for unpaid medical bills. The finances were so overwhelming, that we weren’t able to pay any credit card bills at all and eventually our credit accounts were forwarded to attorney offices for collection. We would get twenty to thirty calls a day from people wanting to collect from us. Our kids even started to ask why our phone rang constantly and what did these people want. The stress of it all was overwhelming. Our credit rating was dropping quickly as time went on. We had already done a loan modification for the upside down mortgage on our home. We were trying so hard to keep our home and what finances we had together. We realized that by only making small payments to so many different creditors, we would be unable to pay off all the debt we had…probably ever. Bankruptcy came to mind as our last resort. We were trying to do everything we could not to lose our home in the process, and wondered how we were going to support or family for the years going forward with no credit and so much debt. We started to seek out bankruptcy attorneys to gather information about our options.

We had gone to see several different bankruptcy attorneys before choosing Arianne. The other attorneys we saw made us feel that our situation was hopeless. We were told that we could try and file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but were assured that we would end up with a significantly large monthly payment in the end because we had a moderately high income. Then we found Ariane Holtschlag.

When we met Arianne, she was very confident, yet professional and not intimidating. She made us feel at ease with her demeanor, and listened to our story. She told us that in our case it would be difficult to prove that we were unable to pay all of our debt because of our income, but definitely not impossible at all. Speaking with Ariane was a breath of fresh air. She was very knowledgeable of the law, bankruptcy pros and cons, and how this could and would affect our future. Finally, someone who could help me stay calm, direct, and reassure us throughout this anxiety provoking situation!

Now that our case is over we are much more relaxed in living our life and managing our finances. We were able to start fresh again, pay all of our bills on time and put a little bit of money away to save every month. Our payment to the Trustee is affordable and where Ariane told us it would be. We pay our utility bills, mortgage, and Trustee payment. No more worrying about paying a bunch of different creditors.

Our family is smiling again, the kids are more relaxed and able to enjoy some extracurricular sport activities again, and our house is peaceful without the constant phone ringing. Ariane was such a big help to us and we were so fortunate to have found her to handle our case!