WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Woman Gets Tax Bill After Bankruptcy Attorney Pockets Money

Woman Gets Tax Bill After Bankruptcy Attorney Pockets Money

By Charla Young

(EMINENCE, Ky.) -- Filing bankruptcy can be tough for anyone. But when you hire an attorney to help you and he doesn't represent you well, that can be even more trouble. That's what happened to woman in Eminence, Kentucky. She called WAVE 3 Troubleshooter Charla Young to get results.

Janie Shinkle has called Eminence home for the past 25 years. She has a nice home and car, but five years ago, her financial situation was different.

Disabled and unable to work, Janie had to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. She hired Attorney David Williams of Simpsonville to handle outstanding debts.

But now Janie says "come to find out he kept the money rather than paying my bills that he was supposed to pay."

Part of the money in question is $1,200 she gave Williams to cover her property taxes. Weekly deductions from her paycheck covered the cost.

Now Janie says this past January, she received "a court order saying taxes to be paid."

With no other options, Janie paid the property taxes again from her retirement account.

"It was very frustrating," Janie said, "because I didn't know if I was going to get my money back from this lawyer or if he just took my money and was gone."

Janie tried calling David Williams but soon discovered he had disbarred. She also called the Kentucky Bar Association but she says she got the runaround for nine months.

So she called us, and we called the Kentucky Bar Association. They got the money from Williams plus interest. The check for $1,200 came in the mail about two weeks ago.

"I was just very happy," Janie said, "because here it is tax time again. "Those tax bills are coming again, and it's gonna come in real handy to help pay this year's taxes."

Janie says there's a valuable lesson to be learned from her experience: always check out any attorney before doing business with them.

You can do that by contacting the Kentucky Bar Association -- that step may have saved her a few heartaches and pains.

Online Reporter: Charla Young

Online Producer: Michael Dever