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Many people who think about getting debt discharged may assume it can only be erased through Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In fact, Chapter 13 bankruptcy has the ability to not only discharge debt, but in some cases may help eliminate debt that is not eligible for discharge in Chapter 7. Meaning, you may be given a [...]
If you find yourself in over your head after filing for bankruptcy, there are options.
Life has a funny way of going left when you want it to go right.
You file for bankruptcy, go through the process, and come out the other end.
Though you swear you’ll never be in that situation again, sometimes the unexpected happens.
An unreimbursed medical expense, job loss, or other money crunch puts you in the financial hole again.
Can you file for bankruptcy again?
For A Second Bankruptcy, Consider Your Goal First
Depending on what you need to accomplish, you may not even care about getting a discharge at the end of a bankruptcy case.
For example, let’s say you’ve run up against some big tax debts and just need some time to pay them out.
Maybe you’ve got a past due mortgage and are looking for a way to catch up on the arrears.
In other words, you need to file for bankruptcy but don’t much need the discharge part of the equation.
For situations that can be helped with a little time on your side, filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be the best option. You can file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy at any time after a Chapter 7 discharge, but if it’s within 4 years of your Chapter 7 then you’ll need to propose a repayment of your entire debt.
If You Need A Discharge Of Your New Debts
There are limits to your ability to get a discharge of your debts in either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy if you’ve filed before.
Different rules apply based upon the type of bankruptcy case you filed first. In a nutshell, the time frames between discharge eligibility:
- If you filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy less than 8 years ago, you cannot get a discharge in another Chapter 7
- If you filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy less than 4 years ago, you cannot get a discharge in another Chapter 13
- If you filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy less than 2 years ago, you cannot get a discharge at the end of another Chapter 13;
- If you filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy less than 6 years ago and repaid less than 70% of your debts, you cannot get a discharge in a new Chapter 7.
If You Need To Wait
Remember that your only option is not to file for bankruptcy.
You can try to work out payment options with your creditors.
You can defend against a lawsuit or foreclosure with an eye towards settling the matters.
You can stop the debt collection calls using the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
These may not be perfect solutions, but if you can’t file for bankruptcy yet then at least you can get some of the power back in your hands.
Let the clock run down, wait until a bankruptcy will accomplish your goals, and go from there.
Image credit: JohnSeb
How To File Bankruptcy Again When You’re Back In Debt was originally published on Consumer Help Central. If you're seeing this message on another site, it has been stolen and is being used without permission. That's illegal, a violation of copyright, and just plain awful.
A Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be filed by an individual or a joint case husband and wife. Chapter 13 cannot be filed by a corporation. In order to file for Chapter 13, an individual must complete several prefiling requirements. The most important requirement is the taking of a credit counseling session. The credit counseling session+ Read MoreThe post Who can file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
The class of 2013 has just replaced the class of 2012 for the title of the most indebted class in American history. With the way student loan burdens are increasing, the class of 2013 will inevitably lose their title to next year’s senior class.
In 2013, graduating seniors left college with an average debt load of $30,000. That’s nearly double the amount that students graduated with 20 years ago. A recent study reveals that if you factor in credit card debt and money borrowed from family during school, students are really graduating with an average of over $35,000.
A separate study released Thursday by Fidelity Investments painted a bleaker picture. The class of 2013 carried an average of $35,200, Fidelty’s study found, which includes credit card debt and money owed to family members. Half of all graduates with debt said in the survey that they were surprised at how much they accumulated.
Given that student loan collections bureaus are among the most aggressive debt collectors out there, graduating seniors are in for a rude shock once they leave school and are unable to find jobs to pay the monthly minimum payments.
Given how difficult these loans are to discharge in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, student loan lenders must be ecstatic to find themselves in an almost risk free business. While these lenders may be happy, the overall picture young Washington and Oregon local graduates is obviously pretty bleak. Beyond our graduates and their families, the student loan problem has repercussions for all of us. First, the student loan dollars are almost all paid to the federal government or to out of state lenders so repayment dollars leave the Pacific Northwest. Second, experts believe that the student loan expansion will significantly burden the housing market. Young people will be so caught up in trying to fulfill their student loan obligations that they will be unable to participate in the housing market. A weak housing market, as anyone who has lived through the last decade will tell you, is the last thing we need.
Contact our offices immediately if you are struggling to meet your student loan burden and the creditors are calling. Though it is extremely difficult to discharge these loans, except under certain very narrow circumstances, there is relief worth discussing under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. I will look forward to hearing from you.
The original post is titled Crushing Burden of Student Loans in Oregon and Washington , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .
What will bankruptcy do to my credit? This is probably the question most often asked by our clients and potential clients when they are considering bankruptcy. While each client will have a different experience based on their individual circumstances, the question to the answer remains the same. It is absolutely possible to rebuild your credit […]
A common question that people considering bankruptcy may have is whether or not a judgment that has been entered against them will be discharged through their bankruptcy. The short answer is that in many cases the answer is yes, but there are some circumstances that won’t discharge the debt. For example, let’s say someone has […]
Getting your bankruptcy case filed can be a problem if you don’t know where to do so.
Lots of people call me up and ask me to file a case in Los Angeles because they work there and it’s easier for them to get to the court. This, of the fact that they live in Orange County.
Or they live in New Jersey but want to file in New York because it’s a quicker ferry ride to the courthouse than it would be to drive to Newark.
If only it were that easy.
Venue In Bankruptcy Case
If you file bankruptcy in the wrong court, your case may get transferred or thrown out entirely.
In order to prevent that, you’ve got to file your case in the proper venue.
Venue, in case you’re not someone who kicks back by reading legal dictionaries, is the technical term for the place where the bankruptcy will be filed. Each state has at least one bankruptcy court, and each court is divided up into divisions.
For example, California has four districts – aptly named as Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central. Within each district there are multiple divisions.
Los Angeles County is in the Central District of California, which contains the following divisions:
Santa Barbara
Santa Ana
Riverside
Los Angeles
San Fernando Valley
Your ZIP code determines the division in which your case should be filed. You can use the Court Locator to figure out where you need to be.
Venue Based On You
You can file a bankruptcy case in any district in which you have been domiciled, had a residence, principal place of business or principal assets for 180 days immediately before filing for bankruptcy or for a longer part of such 180 days than in any other District.
The decision, therefore, can give you some choices. If, for example, you own a business with a principal location in Nevada but live in Louisiana, you may be able to file bankruptcy in Nevada or in Louisiana.
More important, however, is the word domicile. You probably think a domicile is the place you live, but that’s not necessarily so. In fact, a domicile is considered to be your permanent home, where you reside with the intention to remain or to which you intend to return.
For example, let’s say you are in Ohio for work but intend to return to Brooklyn once the job is done. If you can prove that intent to return to Brooklyn, you may be able to file for bankruptcy there as well as in Ohio.
Venue Based On Others
If you have a family member, a partner or an affiliate which already filed a case, then you could choose to have your case go ahead in that district. In other words, if your sister filed for bankruptcy in Wisconsin and you live in Oklahoma, you could conceivably make a case to file there.
In addition, if there’s a bankruptcy case concerning your affiliate, general partner, or partnership pending in a particular place then you could file there as well.
Finally, you could file for bankruptcy in the United States even if you don’t live here but are being sued here.
Plan Your Venue Wisely
As you can tell, you may have some options as to where your bankruptcy case is filed. Different places have different benefits – not only convenience, but also exemption choices.
If you’ve got a choice, make it a wise one.
How To File Bankruptcy: Where Your Case Is Filed was originally published on Consumer Help Central. If you're seeing this message on another site, it has been stolen and is being used without permission. That's illegal, a violation of copyright, and just plain awful.
Medical debt continues to be one of the most common reasons why people file personal bankruptcy. Yet, recent studies may provide evidence that rising drug costs are partly to blame. Medical debt related to unpaid bills is one matter, but for those who are dealing with a medical illness, the rising cost of medicine is [...]
A recent article by the New York Times reviewed a study of whether medical bills for cancer patients cause more bankruptcies. The researchers found that “cancer patients were twice as likely to file for bankruptcy as people without cancer.” The study was conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
The effort determined based on “court records and information from the regional cancer registry” that younger people with cancer experienced the highest bankruptcy rates. In a comparison of all cancer patients versus people without cancer, the cancer patients were 2.65 times more likely to go bankrupt than people without cancer. In addition, there was a significant discrepancy between younger cancer patients and older cancer patients (sixty-five or older). The younger patients had 2-5 times higher bankruptcy rates than the older cancer patients. The study authors believe this discrepancy is due to Medicare and Social Security as a possible mitigating factor that is decreasing the risk for the older group.
Perhaps not surprisingly, nearly 60% of debtors report medical debt at the time of filing for bankruptcy, with medical bills being one of the major causes of people filing for bankruptcy. The report noted that “the financial burden of cancer can be substantial for patients and their families” with as much as “$1.3 billion of the $20.1 billion spent on cancer care” coming directly from the patients. The financial burden worsens if the patient is unable to work during treatment. Research suggests that from 40% to 85% percent of cancer patients stop working during initial treatment.
The fact remains that medical debt is a leading cause of bankruptcies, but whether or not the specific medical condition can be associated with filing for bankruptcy is still being researched. According to ThinkProgress’s evaluation of this study, “Americans who have access to health insurance aren’t necessarily safe from bankruptcy, since high cost of treating cancer can still put an untenable strain their finances.” A majority of people who file for bankruptcy due to medical debt have some type of health insurance. The insurance just does not cover all of the costs of care.
People facing high health care costs should consult with their doctors, hospitals, pharmacists, and community resources about lowering medical bills. For the truly needy, many doctors and hospitals will substantially reduce a medical bill, accept affordable monthly payments, or both. Many drug companies offer expensive medications at a substantial discount for those who could not otherwise afford them.
If medical bills become overwhelming, though, bankruptcy is one way that often works to discharge the debts. Bankruptcy stops bill collectors from trying to collect medical debts. And, medical bills can be included in the bankruptcy discharge so that the patient will never have to pay them.
One precaution though. While hospitals generally have to provide emergency care, they do not have to agree to provide non-emergency care. Doctors, too, do not have to continue to provide medical services. So, if you leave a doctor unpaid, you may expect the doctor to refuse to provide you future medical services after a bankruptcy. For that reason, some bankruptcy debtors work out payment arrangements with their essential doctors and continue to pay them even after the bankruptcy case is filed. Potential bankruptcy filers considering these issues should consult with a qualified bankruptcy attorney.
The post Do Medical Bills from Cancer Increase the Risk of Filing Bankruptcy? appeared first on AKB.
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