Denver Bankruptcy Attorneys

Harkess & Salter, LLC

1075 S. Yukon Street
Suite 305
Lakewood, Colorado 80226
USA

(303) 834-7933

www.harkess-salter.com/

Contact Stephen Harkess

Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

At Harkess & Salter, LLC, located just west of Denver in Lakewood, Colorado, we have caring and skilled staff and our attorneys are personally involved with every client. Harkess & Salter is a general practice firm representing clients with a wide variety of legal issues and problems. We specialize in bankruptcy, collection and foreclosure defense, family law, and wills and estate planning. We also assist select clients with real estate issues, landlord-tenant disputes, criminal defense and civil litigation.

Languages: German, English

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Consumer Bankruptcy; Chapter 7 Bankruptcy; Chapter 13 Bankruptcy; Debt Collection Defense and FDCPA Claims; Dependency & Neglect

Practice Areas Description

Harkess & Salter, LLC provides legal representation on the following areas of practice:

- Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Chapter 7 bankruptcy refers to the corresponding section of the United States Bankruptcy Code that has to do with liquidation. In a Chapter 7 case, a bankruptcy trustee is appointed to evaluate any non-exempt assets. In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you ask the bankruptcy court to discharge most of unsecured the debts you owe (credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc). In exchange for this discharge, the bankruptcy trustee can take any property you own that is not exempt from collection, sell it, and distribute the proceeds to your creditors. Not everyone can file under Chapter 7. A person with primarily consumer debts will be denied a discharge if their income exceeds guidelines based upon the number of people in their household. An experienced attorney can help you ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible and help you protect as much of your property as possible.

- Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Chapter 13 bankruptcy refers to the corresponding section of the United States Bankruptcy Code that has to do with liquidation. In a Chapter 13 case, a plan is proposed whereby you make payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee for a period of between 36 and 60 months. These payments are used to pay debts in a prescribed order. At the end of the plan, if there is not enough money to fully pay all of the debts, much of the remaining debt is discharged just like it would be in a Chapter 7 case. A Chapter 13 case is available to people who cannot file under Chapter 7 because they have already received a discharge within 8 years or because their income exceeds the limits for a Chapter 7 filing. A Chapter 13 case can address debts that cannot be addressed in a Chapter 7 filing. You can stop foreclosure and catch up the amount you are behind on a mortgage over the course of the plan. You can pay off car loans through the plan at a reduced interest rate.

- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The FDCPA is a consumer protection statute which protects you as a consumer from harassing, oppressive or abusive debt collection tactics by a debt collector in the course of collecting a consumer debt. You have a right to be treated with truth, fairness, dignity, and respect in all your dealings with a debt collector. If you’re not, you have a right to sue them. If you’re contacted by a debt collector, you have a right to dispute the debt either verbally or in writing. If you want to preserve some rights under the FDCPA, you must send a written dispute within 30 days of your receipt of the first “validation notice” from the debt collector. If you have suffered from any of these abusive collection practices, you may be entitled to compensation. We can help any consumer who is currently in collections, or has suffered from collection harassment.

- Foreclosure Defense

For most families, their home is their biggest investment – and their largest debt. The real estate market has been extremely volatile in the past few years and homes in many areas are not worth what they used to be. Additionally, banks were for several years, making loans to people who would never have qualified for a loan before and setting mortgage terms such as adjustable rate mortgages which greatly increase the cost of a loan over time. Combined with the rocky economic conditions and the fact that banks in trouble are no longer refinancing loans with the same easy terms as they used to offer, these conditions have been leading to unprecedented numbers of foreclosures. When the borrower can no longer keep up with their payments, the bank has to foreclose the mortgage and the borrower loses their home. When this happens, the aid of an experienced attorney is essential to getting things back on track or limiting the damage so that you can move on with your life.

- Family Law

Family law is a broad area which encompasses adoption, premarital agreements, divorce, legal separation, visitation and parenting time, the allocation of parental responsibilities, child support and dependency and neglect. Just about everything related to the formation or dissolution of a family or the care and custody of children is included. Judges are tasked to handle family issues equitably (fairly) and make rulings that are in the best interest of children when they are involved. Often, the parties to a dispute disagree about what is fair and what is in the best interest of their children. A judge has a very short time, usually less than a day, to sort out the situation and decide on the orders to issue. This is why it is very important to have an experienced attorney to assist you to ensure that the judge is presented with the right information to reach a decision that is favorable to you.