I receive numerous emails to my office in Windsor asking who we, as Trustees, work for. In addition, there are numerous for-profit counselors advertising stating “don’t go see a Trustee, they work for your creditors” (if you have been following my blog you can read more about for-profit counselors).

Trustees are appointed by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy to help you with either a bankruptcy or a consumer proposal. Yes, you pick the Trustee and yes you pay the Trustee to help you, but the Trustee does not work for you. Well then, you must be thinking that we work for the creditors. No, we are here to make sure both parties, the debtor and the creditors, are following the rules.

Let me give you a few examples. I am not using anyone’s real name.

Sue filed a consumer proposal with me. After the date of filing, Credit Union X took money from her pay cheque. We advised the credit union that they had to give the money back and they refused. Although the money in question was around $200, the point is that the credit union was violating the rules by not returning the money. I arranged a court date and the Credit Union finally agreed to return the money. That doesn’t sound like I was working for the creditor does it?

Robert filed for bankruptcy and was due to be discharged later this week. He hasn’t made the payments he was required to make based on his income. As a result he is not getting his discharge as scheduled and will have to pay the required payment in order to get out of his bankruptcy.

When you are in financial difficulty and need advice it is important to feel comfortable with the person you are dealing with. If you were uncomfortable at your meeting, you always have the option to see someone else before you sign any papers.

Call me at 310-PLAN or email me and I will explain all of your options to you.