If you are facing foreclosure, bankruptcy offers two choices: 1. Delay foreclosure so that you can save money and find another place to live (Chapter 7 bankruptcy); or 2. Save your house be catching up on past due mortgage (Chapter 13 bankruptcy).

Valarie emailed me a little after midnight, to let me know she’d bought a new house. When Valarie came to see me in 2010 she was living in a trailer park.  Next month, she’ll be a homeowner.

On June 1, the filing fee for a consumer chapter 7 bankruptcy goes up from $306 to $335.  Is that fee fair? Let’s do a comparison.  In a month-long jury trial ending yesterday, Apple was awarded $119 million in their patent lawsuit Samsung.   Apple had asked for lots more–$2.2 billion–in this battle of smartphone giants.

A Chicago Bankruptcy Timeframe for a case can last anywhere from 3 to 4 months from filing until discharge. This assumes that there is no objection to your discharge or no adversarial complaint in your case. Let’s start at the beginning.

The interplay between divorce and bankruptcy is confusing. There are also important decisions to make when deciding whether to file bankruptcy and when to end a marriage. Divorcing is generally easier on all parties when the divorcing couple can agree on as many issues as possible.

In Law v. Siegel, a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in March, the Court unanimously ruled that the bankruptcy court exceeded its authority when it surcharged the debtor’s homestead exemption to pay the Chapter 7 Trustee’s attorney fees, despite the debtor’s misconduct.

New Filing Fees Starting June 1, 2014, bankruptcy filing fees are going to increase. The filing fee for a chapter 7 bankruptcy case is increasing to $335.00. The filing fee for a chapter 13 bankruptcy case is increasing to $310. 00.

You are not required to use a Chicago bankruptcy lawyer if you live in cook County and wish to file for bankruptcy relief. Much more important than where the attorney is located, is what type of qualifications does the attorney have to handle your case.

One possible avenue to save your home from foreclosure may be to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy relief and then to negotiate with the mortgage servicer for a mortgage modification while the Chapter 13 bankruptcy is pending. The filing of the bankruptcy stops the progress of the foreclosure action and may give the homeowner many months to negotiate a modification. Perhaps the mortgage company may be more willing to allow a mortgage modification if faced with the alternative of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan.

Atty. Jordan E. Bublick - 1221 Brickell Ave., 9th Fl. - Miami, Florida