THE first client is 48 and got married in the last four years. Her husband was a foreigner who professed his love for her in so many ways. Unfortunately, his love for her was actually for her U.S. citizenship.
The client, who had never been married before, fell head over heels for her newfound Romeo whom she met in a party in her hometown. He looked handsome and dashing in his own peculiar way. Never mind that he was height challenged at 4 feet 4 inches tall and had webbed fingers and toes. He was an athlete and was the fastest swimmer in their town. His nickname was ‘Aqua-Man.’ All of these traits did not bother the client; in fact, it was these traits that endeared him to her. She called him “my BB” for baby “beluga.” She reasoned that he would have no problem getting a job in California. SeaWorld in San Diego would certainly offer him a job to swim with the dolphins and whales.
Well, you know how the K-1 fiancée visa works. You have to prove to the USCIS that you met your loved one at least two years before the petition date with evidence consisting of pictures with dates on them, cards, letters, emails, the works. It’s just too bad that there is no camera that can take a picture of the real intent of the human heart. The client petitioned her husband for his green card as soon as they were married. It wasn’t a $15-M wedding like Kanye and Kim’s in 2014. The client’s reception was held in a popular restaurant a block from Trump Towers. All of the client’s family, her brothers and sisters attended her wedding, but tried to convince her not to marry the guy. “Why him?” “You’re better off being single than marrying that human milkfish!” said her older brother. Her guest of honor, FBI director Comey said, “It just makes me nauseous to see you marry this guy, he looks fishy to me!” But despite all of the well-intentioned objections of family, friends and the FBI, client tied the knot. She charged their honeymoon, a two-week cruise in the Mediterranean, to MasterCard. That was followed by a romantic river cruise at St. Petersburg in Russia and a three-week Asian tour of China, Japan, Korea and all the Southeast Asian countries. The honeymoon set her back $50,000 but thanks to MasterCard and Visa, she was given the opportunity to make minimum payments of $1,500 a month for the $50,000 of credit cards. It was money she thought was well spent. It was her dream come true, to see the world with her prince charming.
She was a certified nursing assistant who grossed $3,000 a month. Her take-home pay is $2,400 — so 62.5%of her take-home pay or $1,500 is for monthly minimum payments on her $50,000 credit cards. So she has $900 left before rent. They rent a room for $600 so she has $300 left for food.
What about her husband? Well, he did not want to work because he said that as the head of family, she should be the one working. He decided he would just stay in the room and watch Disney movies the whole day. So, the client decided to get a second job to pay for monthly necessities and the immigration lawyer fees for husband’s green card. Since the petition was filed before the Trump era, husband beneficiary was not fully vetted. He obtained FBI clearance despite Mr. Comey’s objections, and soon enough he became a legal permanent resident of our country, which at that time was not “great again.” Our country, at that time, was just “so-so.”
As it turned out, the beloved husband was actually secretly married in his country of origin. So again, the FBI did not uncover this anomaly so the USCIS allowed a criminal bigamist to become a legal permanent resident. “Bigly Bad!” “That’s a no-no!”
As soon as he got legalized, he disappeared. The client hired the best private investigator that money or credit cards could buy. It was finally determined that he had gone to another state. He filed for divorce from the client since he already got legalized and the client had maxed out her credit cards. No more honeymoons for free around the world. Thus, being now of sound mind and body, the client decided to forget her fake husband and start fresh without accumulated debt. She decided to discharge the $50,000 of credit cards with a Chapter 7 petition. Finally, she’s making the right decision for herself.
Uber driver seeks to discharge $20K credit cards
The second client is 45. He owes $20,000 of credit cards. He pays $750 a month for minimum card payments. He is self-employed because he makes his living by driving full time for Uber. By full time, I mean five days a week. He has a late model SUV, which he pays $400 a month. His gas expense is $125 a week or $500 a month. So, if you are wondering how much you can make driving Uber five days a week, you will gross $3,500, less $500 for gas. You can net about $3,000 without considering car insurance and car payments.
In the client’s case, he has family abroad and needs to send them money every month. So he decides to discharge his $20,000 of credit cards with Chapter 7, so he can send $750 back to his family monthly.
I have another client who drives Uber part-time. He has a full-time job. He makes about $800 a month gross from Uber.
If you are saddled with debt, now is the time to get them discharged. Better now than later when you are about to retire. But if you have not yet gotten rid of your debts yet and you are now a senior, believe me, you need to get rid of your debts now that your income is less than half of what it was when you were younger.
If you need bankruptcy relief, please call my office for an appointment and I will analyze your case personally.
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Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S. Fremont Ave, Mailstop 58, Building A-1 Suite 1125, Alhambra, CA 91803.
