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There is no particular debt limit that you must have in order to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It really depends upon the particular person and their particular situation. I have had clients who have wanted to file a bankruptcy over a $5000 debt. I have had other clients who had $100,000 worth of debt and were fighting against filing a Chapter 7 and getting a fresh start. You have to determine whether or not you feel you can either pay your debt back over time or whether or not you need a fresh start to be able to survive.
The rule of thumb that I use is typically the six month rule. I advise my clients that after six months of making payments, if you have not put a serious dent in your debt, if you are just simply paying minimum payments or eat if you don’t see your debt going down, then Chapter 7 is probably a good solution for you to get out of debt once and for all and get back on your feet. If, on the other hand, you feel you have the ability to repay the debt in six months, or make a serious dent in the debt, then maybe you don’t want to file a Chapter 7 and you don’t want to take the hit on your credit.
If you are someone who has available money per month, maybe you lost your job and now you are back working, maybe you were ill and now you are back healthy, well then a Chapter 13 is a good way to repay your debt. There is no minimum debt that you need to have to file a Chapter 13 but there are some maximum amounts. If you exceed those maximum amounts of secured and unsecured debt, then you will not qualify for Chapter 13 and you will be forced into a Chapter 11. Your attorney will be able to sit down with you and advise you as to which chapter is best, how it all works and come up with a payment plan to get your case moving forward.
Parking tickets sound like a debt that you could easily eliminate, right, because it’s just a bill for a parking ticket. You didn’t purchase anything. It sounds like it’s unsecured. There’s no property they can take back or repossessed if you don’t pay. However, parking tickets are a fine to the government or municipality and by that fact, they are determined to be non-dischargeable.
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, you have a window of time of approximately 3 or four months where if you have parking tickets, your license will not be suspended during that period of time. However, if you don’t make arrangements to pay off that debt during that window of time and you receive a bankruptcy discharge, it is then that the creditor can then come after you for those non-dischargeable parking tickets. Coming after you can involve suspending your license, getting a judgment against you and possibly picking you up on a body attachment if you don’t appear in court several times.
Under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, the parking tickets are paid through the Chapter 13 repayment plan. Again, Chapter 13 will allow you to repay the debt in full or less than in full. However, if you pay less than in full, please be aware that you are going to owe the amount that wasn’t paid through your Chapter 13 once your case is over. If you really want to play it safe, make sure that you are paying back 100% of your parking tickets through your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. If you are filing a Chapter 7, do your best to pay off the debt owed to the parking tickets within that 110 day period or enter into some form of installment payment plan with the creditors so that after your bankruptcy case, your license will not be suspended and you will not be subject to a boot on your car.
Typically student loans are going to be non-dischargeable. A non-dischargeable debt is a debt that is not going to be eliminated in a bankruptcy case. Student loans are the type of debt that are typically non-dischargeable except for extreme hardship cases. In my 21 years of practice, I have never had an extreme hardship case+ Read MoreThe post Can my student loans be discharged in bankruptcy? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Got an email this week from Martindale-Hubbell, publishers of the famous Martindale Hubbell lawyer directory and also Lawyers.com. They told me my clients rated me in the top one percent in client satisfaction. “Less than 1% of the 900,000+ attorneys listed on martindale.com and lawyers.com have been accorded this Martindale-Hubbell honor of distinction.” They also wanted to sell me “this commemorative wall [...]The post Virginia Bankruptcy Lawyer Robert Weed gets Martindale Satisfaction Award appeared first on Robert Weed.
Bringing you the most up-to-date news, tips and blogs throughout the web. Here’s your Bankruptcy Update for May 16, 2013 Casino commission OKs Revel’s bankruptcy plan David Oreck Talks Bankruptcy And Book Cancer diagnosis puts people at greater risk for bankruptcy
Chapter 7 bankruptcy eliminates unsecured debt such as medical bills, credit card debt, and payday loans. In order to understand whether you qualify is by reviewing your eligibility factors. The most effective way to learn if you qualify includes discussing your situation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. Meeting qualifications of the means test and providing [...]
In America we don’t just own a house, we own a home. That is part of the America Dream. Because of that fact, Americans have a unique emotional attachment to their house. Whether to save a home becomes more than a business decision with dollars and cents, but instead an emotional decision regarding a homeowner’s past, present, and future. However, the reality is that in order to keep your home you must be able to make your payments. As the economy in America went from bad to worse many Americans were unable to save their homes.
Now that the economy is starting to improve more and more Americans are able to find work for the first time in months or years. They are now in a position to save their home from the delinquent payments that they have missed. However with large delinquencies and mortgage companies that are more interested in the bottom line than the American Dream, many with the means to save their home do not have the know how.
For individuals who find themselves facing foreclosure, there are a few options that can be used to help save their home. First, individuals can negotiate a forbearance agreement with the mortgage company, placing the delinquent payments on the back end of the loan. Second they can negotiate a mortgage modification that lowers their interest rate, spreads the loan out up to 40 years and reduces their payments, all while bringing the mortgage contractually current. Finally individuals can file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy protection.
Which option is right for any individual client involves a fact specific analysis that focuses on the individual circumstances of each specific home owner. If a loan modification can resolve all of the financial instability that was caused by the prolonged unemployment it may very well be the best option for the client. However, if there is additional debt and financial instability the home owner may find themselves in a situation where a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy could reduce or eliminate unsecured debt, strip off and release second or third mortgages and bring the first mortgage contractually current over a period of 3-5 years. Only a qualified bankruptcy attorney with knowledge of both mortgage modification and Chapter 13 Restructuring options can best advise you on a way forward.
By John Clark
A report this week from Detroit’s emergency manager says the downtrodden city is completely broke and may soon have to file for bankruptcy, according to the Associated Press.
The report, a 41-page analysis that aimed to portray a realistic picture of the city’s finances, said Detroit is on the verge of financial collapse, which would lead to lost paychecks for city workers, deep service cuts, and the loss of pension benefits.
And Kevyn Orr, the city’s emergency manager, believes that Detroit’s only remaining option could eventually be a trip to bankruptcy court.
Detroit May Soon File for Municipal Bankruptcy
As the city teeters on the brink of financial collapse, Orr has been given the unenviable task of negotiating deals with Detroit’s numerous creditors.
But James McTevia, a financial expert in Detroit, believes that Orr may head to bankruptcy court when he “gets his back against the wall and he can’t meet payroll.”
If such a dire scenario does happen, Orr would be left with few options besides seeking the protection of a bankruptcy judge.
And the report released this week does not bode well for Orr’s attempts to avoid bankruptcy. Sources say Detroit had a staggering $162 budget shortfall as of April 26, and that the deficit will likely approach $390 million in the next two months.
Orr noted in his report that the data could change as his team gathers more information, but said that “continuing along the current path is an ill-advised and unacceptable course of action if the city is to be put on the path to a sustainable future.”
Detroit Sets New Standard for Financial Irresponsibility
According to sources, Detroit is the largest city in the United States to be forced into state control, and the city’s financial collapse led to the extreme solution of placing a single person in charge of its money.
Sources say Orr controls how Detroit spends its budget, as those decisions have been removed from the control of Mayor Dave Bing and the City Council.
The two sides, however, seem to be cooperating, as a recent statement released from Bing’s office says that Orr’s conclusions are “consistent” with the administration’s own findings.
Sources also note that Detroit’s financial woes started well before Bing, a former professional basketball star, took office.
Nevertheless, Bing is now the captain of a sinking ship. In Orr’s words, the city’s operations have been rendered “dysfunctional and wasteful after years of budgetary restrictions, mismanagement, crippling operational practices and, in some cases, indifference or corruption.”
In Oregon, homeowners who want to challenge a non-judicial foreclosure can now opt for mediation. They pay two hundred dollars in order to meet with a housing counselor, then sit down with both a state-sanctioned mediator and a representative of the bank. While Consumer advocates anticipate many homes will still be foreclosed, the hope is that those who are still capable of making mortgage payments will be able to renegotiate their loans. This modification to the foreclosure process is currently available only in non-judicial foreclosure. For a variety of reasons, lenders have in the last year or so shifted to initiating judicial foreclosure through the courts.
It is hoped that changes to Oregon’s mortgage mediation program allowing the mediation option in judicial foreclosure will be enacted by the 2013 Oregon legislature.The state senators who negotiated the foreclosure mediation program have said they want to expand mediation requirements to judicial foreclosures, since more lenders are going through the courts.
IF you are in the midst of a judicial foreclosure, there is no need to go it alone. Contact the Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm at 503-232-5303 or 206-674-4559. We would be more than happy to help.
The original post is titled Mediation and Oregon Judicial Foreclosure? , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .
The automatic stay in bankruptcy may feel like a children’s game, but the protections it offers are serious business.
You file for bankruptcy with the expectation that your creditors are going to buzz off. They can’t call, write or in any way ask you to pay a pre-bankruptcy debt.
There are some exceptions to the rule, but for the most part you’re persona non grata.
But as with anything else, there are rules to follow when it comes to the automatic stay.
Notice, Notice, Notice
The law provides that the only way a creditor or collector can get in trouble for violating the automatic stay is if they have notice of your bankruptcy filing.
Without notice, the creditor can’t get in trouble – it’s chalked up to an “oops” moment.
Your goal, then, is to be sure the creditors and collectors have notice of your filing. When I file a bankruptcy case for one of my clients, here are the steps I take:
- read the bill to find out the name and address of the creditor;
- if the creditor has an official mailing address to receipt of bankruptcy notices, use that on the bankruptcy schedules;
- if the creditor does not have an official mailing address to receipt of bankruptcy notices, call customer service and get a good address for the creditor if I don’t already have one;
- list every one of the creditor’s addresses I can find – including, if need be, the corporate headquarters;
- list all debt collectors that have ever been involved with each debt;
- review the credit report to list all debts shown there; and
- pick my client’s brain to find out any other possible creditors – and list them.
This is imperfect, but it’s the best means I’ve found for giving notice of the bankruptcy filing. Once the case is filed, the clerk will automatically send notices to listed creditors, collectors, and anyone else listed on the schedules.
Creditors Who Keep Calling Get Whacked
If a creditor has notice of your bankruptcy filing, they can’t claim they made a mistake.
If a creditor contacts you after notice, their actions are automatically assumed to have been intentional.
You have the ability to sue for violations of the automatic stay. You can get money for damages as well as for your legal fees.
That’s right, the creditor pays your lawyer.
Most important, however, is the fact that you can get the creditor to stop contacting you. The money’s nice, but the critical piece of the puzzle is the peace of mind you get when the phone stops ringing and the letters stop coming.
Image credit: madabandon
How To Handle Creditors Who Call You After You File For Bankruptcy 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.
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