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Review 3/23/2011
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STAY AWAY FROM THIS FIRM THEY DO BAD BUSINESS AND HAVE NO ETHICS.
Our experience with Stone Haven Law Group and in particular with Catherine Christiansen #182144 is COMPLETE INCOMPETENCE AND UNPROFESSIONALISM. We paid the firm 2,374.00 upfront for our chapter 13 bankruptcy which was filed July 15, 2010. Went to the trustee's meeting August 20, 2010 and had our scheduled Judges Confirmation meeting on October 22, 2010. Due to the Attorney giving us incorrect advice in regard to not having to pay our Junior Liens/Mortgages the case was dismissed on 10-22-10. At the Judges confirmation she told me that she was sorry, this happens all the time, and that she would resolve the issue and would re-file for us at no extra cost to us; "due to her making the mistake". She had us wait for 5 months, because she said; "that is when Judge Ellen Carroll would be retiring and that she did not like to deal with that judge". So next week is April 1st and Catherine Christiansen is no longer available to speak to us and she is now supposedly only at Stone Haven part time. Stone Haven Law Group now wants us to pay another retainer fee for 2,347.00 again when the reason it was dismissed was due to their ill advice (don't pay your second mortgages)They do not know what they are doing and once they cashed our retainer fee they were completely rude and unprofessional. We had already expended all our savings to pay this bankruptcy firm and now we are left with no resolution in the matter and have no money left. We are extremely upset with the entire situation and the fact that there is no managing partner this is only a small firm with an office manager who is rude and talks over you and just keeps asking for more money? Even if I had another 2,400.00 there is NO WAY I WOULD HIRE THESE GUYS AGAIN! STAY AWAY FROM THIS FIRM THEY DO BAD BUSINESS!
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Business's response - by Stone Haven Law Groupon 3/30/2011
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In Los Angeles County, as opposed to Riverside County, some judges prefer that lien avoidance actions be done through an adversary proceeding rather than a motion. In this case, an adversary proceeding to avoid the liens was timely filed on 8/16/2010, case number 2:10-ap-02515, in conjunction with the Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing 2:10-bk-39126. At the case confirmation hearing on 9/30/2010, Catherine was informed that the particular Judge assigned to this case required post-petition current second and third mortgage payments while the adversary case was pending. There was still time to make the payments, but clients indicated at that time that they could not afford to make those payments on their second and third mortgages. Catherine then filed a Motion to Suspend these payments on 10/1/2010. This Motion was denied by the Judge on 10/21/2010, and the case was subsequently dismissed. The Clients were informed that since they could not afford to make the payments on those mortgages, they should wait for a few months before refilling to ensure that they would not be assigned the same Judge with that requirement that they could not meet. Contractually, at the time of dismissal, clients still owed Stone Haven Law Group $2,000 in attorneys fees that they had elected to include in their reorganization plan payments through the Trustee. As outlined in our executed retainer agreement, our total flat fees for Chapter 13 services is “$4,000 in attorneys fees to cover the preparation of petition, an attorney appearance at one 341(a) meeting and one confirmation hearing, plus a $274 court filing fee, a $50 credit report fee, and a $50 due diligence/asset search fee, for a total of $4,374.” Of the $4,000 in attorneys fees, 50% is required before filing to cover our costs of several attorney-client meetings, reviewing and preparing the paperwork, and attending the court hearings; the remaining 50% is included in clients’ reorganization plan as an administrative expense to be paid
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