To make a long story short, the Comfort law firm literally saved our lives financially. They were able to negotiate debt settlements with major creditors totaling some $135,000. They also gave us strategic IRS advice that saved us from possible IRS tax liabilities on these debts in excess of $80,000.
For some people bankruptcy is not an option. If you have a government security clearance, if you are a law enforcement officer, if you are employed at a financial institution, or if you have certain professional licenses, the filing of a bankruptcy petition can literally be a career-ending even.
From 2004-2008, my wife enjoyed those heddy times when houses literally doubled in value and credit card companies could not hand out high-credit limited unsecured credit cards fast enough.
When financial markets collapsed in late 2008, "the bill came due for our massive debt." We woke up one morning with a credit card debt of $135,000 and a personal home that crashed in value some $400,000. We were truly insolvent and should have taken bankruptcy. But we could not.
I knew that we needed a great law firm to get us out of this mess through skilled negotiations. I talked to several lawyers here in Pacifica. The Comfort law firm was mentioned several times. I contacted them and set up an appointment. I got to meet the senior partner Mike Comfort and Alan Sherman. They were very professional and knew what they were doing. My wife met with them and agreed to retain them.
Alan Sherman went to work and amazed us. He negotiated our credit card debt down from $135,000 to $27,000, We paid the credit card companies this money and were literally free of credit card debt. I came to the conclusion that Alan Sherman is one of the finest negotiators on planet earth.
Alan also advised us that we would get Form 1099 miscellaneous income statements from the credit card companies for the $109,000 in forgiven debt. He advised us to contact the IRS and present them with a balance sheet backed up with creditable source document to prove that we were insolvent. We did this and the IRS agreed that we were insolvent. We saved a possible state and federal tax bill of $40,000.
Mike and Alan then helped us with getting a loan modification on our house's first lien with Bank of America. They did not negotiate directly with the lender. Rather they let me do the negotiations and advised me from the sidelines. Their good advice paid off. Out loan interest rate dropped from 10% to 6.68%.
Mike and Alan then went to work on the second mortgage we had on our home with Wells Fargo Bank. This was a long and protracted negotiation battle. It lasted from 2009-2012. In April of 2012 Alan got Wells Fargo to agree to accept a payment of $20,000 to settle a $145,000 second lien.
We also followed their advice and sent a statement to the IRS that we were insolvent so we would not have a tax liability of $40,000+ on the forgiven loan.
The Comfort Law Firm is a good firm if you need to file for bankruptcy. If you have some very complex negotiations on financial matters, they are one of the best firms in the world to retain.
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