There are two really great legal resources for San Francisco Bay Area residents who either have very low income, or who have AIDS.  The first is for low-income residents, and is called the San Francisco Bar Association’s Volunteer Legal Services Program (VLSP).  VLSP offers a Consumer Debt Defense and Education Clinic twice a month, where low-income debtors can learn about their options for dealing with creditors, including whether or not they should file for bankruptcy.  VLSP helps clinic attendees prepare cease and desist letters to creditors who are harassing the attendees, and helps the attendees prepare Answers to Complaint in response to collection lawsuits.  VLSP is operated by a wonderful set of people who go out of their way to help low-income debtors, and there are not enough nice words in the English language to express how I feel about this program.

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