There are many reasons to speak with an attorney about tax and other kinds of debt. In fact, if you are even remotely considering making a call, I recommend doing so NOW. Immediately. Don’t wait. Don’t think the problem will go away (though it may). Don’t avoid the problem because it’s so stressful. Odds are the debt issues you are facing today will become worse with time and more expensive to solve. The very best way to deal with debt issues is to educate yourself TODAY so that you’ll be able to make an informed and quick decision later, if you have to.
I get annoyed by potential clients who call me only when the problem has exploded: the IRS has garnished wages after years of ignoring Notices from them; the FTB has filed a tax lien against a home and the client notices only when they go to sell their house; a credit card files a collections lawsuit against the client who then calls me in panic. I know it’s human nature to ignore stressful or hard-to-solve problems, but don’t do it: it is always better get good legal advice about debt problems than to ignore.
Second irritating thing I encounter: the potential client who did come in to speak with me months, or even years ago, and then proceeded to ignore my advice or their problem until the day of a lien, levy, foreclosure, garnishment or lawsuit, and then calls me in a panic needing immediate attention and thus turning their lack of planning into my emergency. I am not a magician and it’s not my responsibility to fix on dime the problem you chose to ignore for months or years.
I write this now to urge those of you who know you need to either speak with an attorney or take action on a debt problem to do so sooner rather than later. And here’s why.
You Will Feel Better Knowing What Your Feasible Debt Management Options Look Like
Everyone’s finances are different and therefore the solutions to your debt or tax debt problems need to be customized to what fits your profile. The only way to do this is to speak with someone who can lay out the possibilities. For example, there are five ways to handle tax debt: uncollectible status, Offer in Compromise, Installment Agreement, Collection Due Process Appeal or Bankruptcy. Do you know which one you qualify for? Which one is the cheapest? Which will be the fastest? Which will allow you to keep the most money or assets? If you don’t, then you need to educate yourself. Come and speak to someone like me who does this all day, every day and can lay out what will and won’t work for you. Everyone feels better once they know the shape that solutions for their specific circumstances look like. Do don’t need to take action necessarily, other than to know what the likely ways to handle the problem are. And, when and if you do need, to take action, you’ll be prepared. That’s a big stress relief.
Debt Management Will Be Cheaper If You Don’t Wait Until A Crisis
Those credit card bills you’ve been ignoring for months? If the bank or collections agency holding that account files a lawsuit, then you will invariably pay more to settle that lawsuit than you would have if you or I had picked up the phone and negotiated a settlement amount with them before filing suit. Why? Because once that lawsuit is filed, the bank has a legal upper hand: it knows it will win, and so do you. It also has invested more of its own resources filing that lawsuit, so the bank’s costs of collection have gone up, necessitating a higher settlement from you to cover costs.
Similarly, calling me only after you learn your passport renewal for a trip to Europe next month was denied because of an IRS hold on your passport is more costly than calling me when you first start getting Notices from the IRS. The IRS and State Department don’t work quickly under normal circumstances; getting them to fix a passport hold *you* created requires special efforts, and those aren’t free. Moreover, I charge extra for people needing to cut to the front of my line on client matters, ahead of other clients who’ve been patiently waiting for my time, Any work that needs to be done a rush or emergency basis will always cost you more.
You’ll Have More Debt Management Options If You Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute
Consider that case of a client with $100,000 in tax debt who’s ignored a year’s of IRS Notices until his bank account gets levied. The only immediate way to stop the IRS levy is to get into an Installment Agreement, where the IRS generally takes the excess between monthly income and expenses. If a person qualifies for bankruptcy, that will stop an IRS levy and discharge (erase) the tax debt, if tax returns were filed. If the person failed to file a tax return, and the IRS filed a substitute for return, then the tax debt can never be discharged in bankruptcy: the person has lost the option of using bankruptcy. Moreover, if the IRS has placed a lien on the person’s home, bankruptcy will not discharge or lift the lien. On the other hand, if the bankruptcy had been filed prior to the IRS placing a lien, then the IRS cannot place a lien.
Anxious Stress-Ball Clients Require More Work of Attorneys and Are Often Turned Away
People who wait until an emergency to contact me are generally anxious balls of stress. They can also be whiny, impatient and come with a sense of entitlement that I need to fix their problem immediately and perfectly – ironic given that their problems are their doing, not mine. Does that sound like someone you want to work with? Often I will simply turn such a person away – your lack of planning isn’t my crisis. Also, I often can’t fix last-minute problems in the time available. And, even if I can help and I choose to do so, I will almost certainly charge more for it because I need to adjust my schedule. “Crisis” clients also require not just legal skills, but also my and my staff’s emotional intelligence to address the invariable stress the client oozes that needs calming and reassurance.
So, please, do yourself a favor: if you have tax or other debt, call me (818-889-8080) or another tax or bankruptcy attorney sooner rather than later. We’ll all thank you for it.
June 26, 2026