Prepare for your
case review.

Build a short overview around five facts

• The setting: your state and, if different, the location of the property, transaction, or proceeding. Identify more than one relevant location when needed.
• The people or companies: who you dealt with, what each did, and which name appears on the relevant record.
• The disagreement: the specific promise, entry, work, or conduct you question. Explain what you believe is different and what supports that view.
• Your earlier efforts: what you requested, when, and the actual reply or lack of a reply. Distinguish a promised correction from one already made.
• What matters now: the current condition, approaching date, and question you want answered. Put a time-sensitive notice first.

Keep the first message brief. The website description accepts 20–1,800 characters and no attachments. Keep longer notes for a possible later discussion. A missing document does not prevent an inquiry; identify the gap without reconstructing its contents as though you had the original.

Record the event, the date, and the source

• Agreement and performance: when you signed, paid, received a product, or expected work to begin or finish. Separate the promised schedule from what occurred.
• Discovery: when and how you first noticed the entry, damage, incomplete work, or other concern. The underlying event may have happened earlier.
• Requests and responses: when you sent a request, any confirmed receipt, and when an answer, correction, denial, or offer arrived. Name the recipient.
• Notices and proceedings: the printed date, when and how the notice arrived, and any stated hearing, sale, response date, or scheduled event.

Link each entry to an identifiable source, such as “September statement, page 2” or “installer email dated September 3.” Include a filename or document label so someone can find it. If you write a recollection later, note when you made the note. Preserve a conflict between a document and memory for discussion rather than silently changing either. For example, “notice dated September 3, received September 8, read September 9” preserves distinct dates without deciding which starts a legal period.

For a more detailed format, use the Document Your Dispute guide. A timeline helps explain events; it does not send a request or response to any recipient.

Separate the roles instead of treating every company as one

• Seller or sales representative: who described the product, service, price, financing, or expected result. Identify the person and business separately when known.
• Contractor, installer, or manufacturer: who promised or performed work, supplied a product, or provided a warranty. Those roles can belong to different businesses.
• Lender, servicer, or collector: who provided financing, handles statements and payments, or seeks payment. The servicer manages the account and may differ from its owner.
• Other relevant parties: a credit-reporting company, property owner, partner, insurer, or other person connected to the concern. Explain the connection rather than listing unrelated names.

Use only categories that apply. Note changes, such as a new servicer, and keep the notice explaining them. Record which organization received each request; telling one company does not necessarily notify another. Keep contact details and references in your records, leaving full account numbers and sensitive identifiers out of the initial message.

Explain your own role too: borrower, buyer, property owner, business representative, or someone assisting another person. Those positions are not interchangeable. If asking for another person or a business, identify your relationship and authority and avoid unnecessary disclosure of their sensitive information. Mention another attorney, prior complaint, signed settlement, or proceeding. These facts help the firm consider fit and possible conflicts; identifying parties does not confirm that screening is complete or representation accepted.

Organize the most relevant records into four groups

1. What was agreed or represented

Contracts, proposals, disclosures, warranties, relevant advertisements, change orders, and later agreements. Include the version you signed and later changes; label a proposal that you did not accept.

2. What was paid, charged, or reported

Receipts, payment confirmations, statements, itemized charges, refunds or credits, and the specific report or account entry you question. Identify the account, date, and period so similar amounts can be compared accurately.

3. What you requested and what was said

Complete emails, letters, message threads, reference numbers, and delivery records. Include responses that explain or disagree with your position, and distinguish a request you sent from a response you received.

4. What shows the current situation

The latest notice, relevant court papers, dated photographs, inspection or repair records, and any current offer or proposed agreement. Keep relevant earlier versions when they help explain what changed.

Make the file easy to follow

Keep originals unchanged and work from copies. Check that scans are legible and include every page. Use clear filenames, such as “2026-09-03-payment-receipt,” and group related documents. Put your comments in separate notes or clearly marked working copies. Preserve full message threads and original photo files when available; an excerpt or screenshot can omit a qualification, date, or response that matters.

List missing records, who may have them, and any steps you have taken to request them. You can begin an inquiry with what you have. If a document is difficult to read, unavailable, or different from what you remember signing, explain that rather than recreating it as an original. Label notes from memory as notes, not a substitute document.

Share requested copies using the instructions provided. The initial form is for a brief overview and has no document-upload feature. Leave out Social Security numbers, passwords, full account numbers, and confidential documents. If review proceeds, confirm which copies are needed and how to provide them. Ask before obscuring information that may be relevant; preserve the unchanged original separately from any copy prepared for sharing.

Explain the effect and separate the amounts

• Money already paid: identify the amount, date, recipient, and supporting receipt or statement. Keep your payments distinct from money a lender disbursed.
• Money still demanded: identify the charge or balance the other party says is due, the statement date, and the part you question. A demand is not another payment you made.
• Estimated future expense: label a repair estimate, quote, or projected cost as an estimate; identify its source and date. Keep it separate from an amount already spent.
• Credits, refunds, or corrections: distinguish a promised adjustment from one actually received or posted. Record whether a credit is temporary, confirmed, or unclear.

Avoid counting the same amount twice, such as including an itemized charge and the statement total that already contains it. Keep refunds separate so both the payment and later change remain clear. These categories organize records; adding them does not calculate legally recoverable losses. Explain nonfinancial effects concretely too, such as unfinished work or a product you cannot use as expected. Distinguish your observations from information someone else supplied.

List your two or three main questions, such as “What explains this charge?” or “What does this proposed agreement cover?” For an offer, keep the complete terms and stated response date. Identify what you would receive and what you would need to do, pay, or give up. Explain whether it is pending, has been accepted or signed, and whether anyone has performed the promised actions. An offer, an accepted agreement, and a completed resolution can be different stages. Assessment requires the actual terms, facts, timing, and applicable rules.

Bring questions that lead to a clear plan

• Information: which facts or records are missing, why do they matter, and what would help if they cannot be obtained?
• Options: what routes may fit your goal, what are their practical tradeoffs in effort, cost, and uncertainty, and what further review is needed?
• Scope: what particular work would the firm handle, and which related issues or later stages are excluded? Advice on a notice and handling a court response can be different assignments.
• Fees and other costs: how would fees be calculated, when is payment due, and who pays expenses such as filing charges or records? Do not assume a particular payment arrangement. Ask for a simple billing example and what happens if work ends or the outcome is unfavorable.
• Timing and responsibility: what is the next task, who will do it, and has responsibility for any approaching date been accepted? Identify anything still yours to address.
• Communication: whom should you contact, how should requested information or an urgent development be shared, and how will the next update be discussed?

The initial case evaluation has no evaluation fee. Later services, their scope, fees, and other expenses require a separate agreement. A free evaluation does not guarantee acceptance, free later work, or an outcome. Ask about unclear charges before agreeing to work; an estimate and a fixed price are different. The Our Approach page explains these stages and what to confirm before proceeding.