Bankruptcy Lawyer

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With his rapid-fire speech, it's hard to imagine bankruptcy attorney Roman Rector meditating or taking a yoga class. And yet Rector's practice is dependent on relieving one of the biggest stressors anyone can face: overwhelming, spirit-numbing debt.

"I'd say that 98 percent of the debtors we see are trying to save their homes," says Rector, who sees himself as fighting the good fight: "helping the little guy versus large credit card companies and predatory lenders."

And business is booming. According to La Jolla-based property researcher DataQuick Information Systems, defaults and foreclosures in the Sacramento region rose to new highs for July to September of this year, and half the state's record 72,571 third-quarter defaults were in the Central Valley and Riverside and San Bernardino counties. DataQuick noted that at least 6,638 homeowners in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties received notices of default from their lenders during the same period.

And where there are defaults, there are bankruptcies. The most recent numbers from the administrative office of the U.S. Courts show that bankruptcies in California increased in the second quarter to 17,050 up from 9,704 in the second quarter of 2006.

Rector, who came to Sacramento in 2002 and graduated from the McGeorge School of Law, is managing partner of Attorney Debt Solutions, along with partners John Tosney and Chad Johnson. Their practice covers credit counseling, debt settlement, bankruptcy and credit report disputes.

Born in Augusta, Ga., and reared in Columbia, S.C., Rector says his early exposure to the small-town conservatism of the South made him yearn for more liberal environments. He clerked for a series of big law firms and got a law degree to specialize in insurance defense but after six months said, "I want to work for everyday people" and decided to focus on bankruptcy, civil litigation, personal injury and business law.

Rector says most of his clients are still adverse to the stigma of declaring bankruptcy and harbor many false assumptions. Two key points: Not all debt is created equal in the eyes of bankruptcy court, and it's crucial to understand the differences.

"People don't realize that as soon as you file there is an automatic stay, like an umbrella or force field, where no creditors can attempt to collect," Rector says. "So if the bank is going to foreclose at 10 a.m., you can file at 9:59 a.m. and stay in your house rent and tax free for 90 days.  Let's say the bank sues, that can be two or three years."

Rector says it takes two to 2.5 years to restore your credit, not the 10 years that most people fear, and referring to the all-powerful credit report, says, perhaps surprisingly, "When handled properly, bankruptcy can actually help your credit score."

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