Bankruptcy

I prefer to take on Chapter 13 Cases. I enjoy the challenge of Chapter 13 Filing and have found success in this area. I regularly take on Chapter 7 clients and enjoy these cases as well. I also enjoy filing Adversary Petitions in the Bankruptcy Court for both Chapter 13 Cases and also separately outside of Chapter 13 Cases. I prefer cases in Cook County, Illinois but I am open to accepting cases in Will, DuPage, and Lake Counties as well. I encourage the academic challenges of Chapter 13 cases that involve automobile loan cram downs and modification of interest rates. I will acceptance filing an appearance for debtors who have already filed their Chapter 13 case or have previously had their Chapter 13 case dismissed. I am interested in Chapter 13 Cases where home mortgages are under water and the possibility of eliminating second mortgages through adversary petitions is possible.

Estate Planning

• Cook County Probate Matters
• Drafting of Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney for Financial and Healthcare applications

Real Estate Law

• Residential Real Estate Sales and Purchases
• Commercial Property Sales, Purchases and Leases
• Entity formation and partner/shareholder agreements
• Land Trust

IL, May 2002
Bar Number: 6276706

WI, Apr 1994
Bar Number: 1022920

• Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois

• Chicago Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
• State Bar Association of Wisconsin
• National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
• Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association

I teach a first homebuyer's seminar once a month at Latin United Community Housing Association focusing on the attorney roles and responsibilities section of the seminar. I regularly attend Continuing Legal Education courses at the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, ATG Legal Education and the Salvation Army's Annual Estate Planning Conference (Roy Adams Class).

I publish a blog that covers a variety of legal issues for my various practice areas.

Typical Chapter 13 Case:
A typical Chapter 13 Bankruptcy case involves a married couple with 2 children who are $100,000 in credit card debt, have two automobile loans and are 12 months behind on both their first and second mortgages. In 2010 alone, I had more than five cases successfully confirmed with similar circumstances where the home mortgage was brought current, the second mortgage was stripped from the property and the credit card debt was paid at .10 to .50 cents on the dollar allowing the debtor/s to reorganize their finances in five years. Even in the most difficult cases, the usual upfront costs to the debtor were less than $1,600.

Typical Chapter 7 Case:
A typical Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case involves a single person who has $40,000 in credit card debt, a car loan this not current, a pending garnishment and at least two unsatisfied court judgments. Typically, a Chapter 7 debtor in 50% of the cases owns a home or has recently lost a home to foreclosure and is using the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy to eliminate a deficiency judgment of $100,000 or more. The income level of a Chapter 7 debtor is usually less than $74,000 with a family and less than $44,000 without a family. Even the most difficult Chapter 7 cases involving the surrender of businesses, investment property and huge unsecured debt typically have legal fees under $2,000.

Real Estate Law
Our firm is a strong supporter of legal representation of First Time Homebuyers. A typical first time homebuyer is purchasing a home in the City of Chicago with a closing cost grant of $5,000 and an FHA loan. The typical purchase price of this first time purchase is $200,000 or less. A majority of these purchases are for condominiums with the remainder being small single family homes. Occasionally a first time homebuyer will purchase a multi-unit building. Typical cost of a first time homebuyer closing is $450.

In 2007, I assisted a long time client's purchase of a defunct industrial property. The property had originally been a heavy industrial sight used to make metal cookware including a small foundry. The original industrial site had comprised several different parcels and had a rail terminal. I negotiated a contract for the purchase of two sections of the property for rehabilitation as warehouse usage. This transaction was successful, but had several challenges including $100,000 of underground storage tank removal and soil abatement along with an appeal to reduce the tax assessment on the property.

Estate Planning:
A recent client of my firm was an 89 year old who wanted to update her estate plan. In working with the client I learned that she owned farmland outside of Illinois and also had several bank accounts with a large amount of cash investments. The client was beginning to have difficulty managing her assets. After analyzing the situation I determined that a revocable trust was the best option for her needs and would allow her to avoid probate in a foreign state for the farmland. Unfortunately, the client did not fund the trust prior to her death and forced the probate of her entire estate. The probate estate is filed and moving along well, however, this is a good example of the challenges of estate planning with complex tools such as revocable trusts. The client needs to understand that certain upfront costs are necessary to reduce costs later on in the administration of the estate.

A recent client came into the office wanting to purchase a "Living Trust" estate plan. After meeting with the client we determined that she did not have any real estate outside Illinois and her total assets were below $100,000 and her life expectancy was another 30 years. Although she could go through with a revocable trust estate plan, at this point of life a will, power of attorney and other provisions was a less expensive, simpler and easier to maintain option.

In a recent probate case, the deceased did not have a will and came from a large family primarily located in Alabama and Mississippi. In this case, most of the children were born out of wedlock and in a few cases, some heirs simply were not known with certainty. In drafting the affidavit of heirship, my client who was one of the heirs of the estate had to procure birth certificates for all of the heirs to prove their paternity. In addition, it was required that the estate publish to unknown heirs. Bottom line - a will with clear beneficiaries designated might have saved almost $5,000 in attorney fees and several months of delay.

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Illinois and Wisconsin

My law firm is focused on providing high quality legal representation in the areas of debt relief through bankruptcy for primarily consumers and small businesses. An additional focus is providing legal representation to real estate purchasers and sellers. We also focus on probate matters in Cook County.

My firm was founded in 2002. Originally, my firm focused primarily on probate matters and real estate transactions. Bankruptcy was always a part of my practice but became a larger part of the practice after 2006. My firm was originally a sole proprietorship doing business under the name of Nelson Law Office. In 2006, I incorporated my practice and named it the Law Offices of David C. Nelson, Ltd. In 2008, to shorten our name and make it easier to recognize, my firm started doing business under the name NLO Nelson Law Office.

Prior to starting my firm, I was most recently employed by Trippe Manufacturing Company of Chicago. Prior to that I worked with several firms in the Chicago Area including International Insurance, Corgeis Insurance and Talegen. Shortly after graduating law school, I worked for the Law Firm of Dillman, Holbrook, Wurtz, Roth & Rostollan located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. During law school, I worked for Betty, Neuman & McMahon of Davenport, Iowa, the Drake University Legal Clinic and was a Student Judicial Clerk for the Iowa Supreme Court.

Deanna

(312) 626-2479

Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Saturday
12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Yes

Spanish

Saturday Only Office
Servicios Flores Building
2215 South California Avenue
Chicago, IL 60608
(773) 960-1162

• First Time Homebuyer Purchase $450.
• Bankruptcy Consultation: Free.
• Any other matter first time consultation is a maximum of $30.

$250

Free Bankruptcy Consultation. For other matters, first time consultation is $30 regardless of time spent.

$1,000