Will I lose my house in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

The honest answer is it depends.  You will certainly have the ability to keep your home provided that you make timely payments.  Allow me to explain.  One of the main benefits of filing Chapter 13 or the main reason why people file Chapter 13 is in order to save their real estate and other property.  Property can be saved through Chapter 13 by putting everything you are behind on the mortgage, something called mortgage arrears, into your bankruptcy plan and paying that back over a three to five year period.  You can also put property taxes and the like into your bankruptcy plan in order to repay those debts through your bankruptcy.  The total that you are behind on your mortgage needs to be + Click Here For Read More

Anything I should NOT do if I’m filing for bankruptcy?

There are several things that you should not do if you are considering filing for bankruptcy under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.  One of the things that people do which is a prohibited act is repaying a family member or a friend within a year of filing for bankruptcy.  This is known as a preferential payment and the court can undo that type of payment or repayment.  Your family member may be required under court order to turn over those funds to a Trustee who will then administer the asset for the benefit of creditors.  Leave Your 401(k) Alone The other thing people do is they borrow from their 401(k) in an effort to repay their creditors only to find that they did not have enough money + Click Here For Read More

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Can Help In Many Ways

Chapter 13 bankruptcy can help you in a ton of ways if you are struggling financially.  The first way that Chapter 13 can help you is to save your house.  If you have fallen behind on your mortgage payments because of the loss of job or illness or just unexpected expenses, you can put what you are behind on your mortgage (the arrears) into your bankruptcy reorganization plan; that way you can pay the amount that you fell behind over 3 to 5 year period and resume making the regular mortgage payment.  If you fall behind on your property taxes, you can pay those property taxes through Chapter 13 bankruptcy as well.  Reorganizing Your Financed Vehicle If you fall behind on your financed car, + Click Here For Read More

Information About Debtor’s 341 Meeting of Creditors – Bankruptcy

A creditors’ meeting is required under section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code.  In simple terms, it is a meeting of the minds between the parties present at the meeting.  The parties that will be present at the meeting will be you, the debtor; the debtor’s attorney, and a representative from the trustee’s office.  If you are in Chicago, Cook County, the trustee will be either Marilyn Marshall or Tom Vaughn.  If you are in Lake County or DuPage County or Will County, then  Glenn Stearns will be your trustee. The creditors’ meeting is nothing to be scared about.  As long as you are upfront and honest with your attorney when you originally met with him, the creditors meeting should be no + Click Here For Read More

Is there anything I should NOT do if I’m thinking of filing for bankruptcy?

There are several things that you should not do if you are considering filing for bankruptcy under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.  One of the things that people do which is a prohibited act is repaying a family member or a friend within a year of filing for bankruptcy.  This is known as a preferential payment and the court can undo that type of payment or repayment. The other thing people do is they borrow from their 401(k) in an effort to repay their creditors only to find that they did not have enough money in their 401(k) to repay all of their creditors and now they have exhausted all of their retirement.  The retirement accounts would have been protected in either a Chapter 13 or a + Click Here For Read More

What do I need to do before filing for Chapter13 Bankruptcy?

The very first thing you need to do before filing for Chapter13 is to meet with an experienced attorney in your area to talk about your case. Most attorneys will have a bankruptcy questionnaire which you will fill out in advance or at your meeting. The questionnaire is a detailed listing of all of your assets, all of your liabilities and your statement of financial affairs. By filling out this questionnaire, the attorney will start to understand what your situation is. You may be trying to save a home that’s in foreclosure. You might be trying to repay non-dischargeable debt over time. You might have disposable income and you just want to protect all of your property and repay either all or + Click Here For Read More

Who can file a Chapter13 bankruptcy?

A Chapter13 bankruptcy can be filed by an individual or a joint case husband and wife.  Chapter13 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 is a one hour session on the computer or over the telephone whereby you talk with a credit counselor in order to receive a certificate enabling you to file for bankruptcy. In addition to the credit counseling requirement, you will have a personal financial management instruction course which must be completed after your cases filed but before it goes to a + Click Here For Read More

What are the most common causes of Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is reorganization through a Chapter 13 trustee.  The reason why many people will file Chapter 13 is to save a home that has gone into foreclosure.  Now, the reason why the home fell into foreclosure could be several; in many cases, someone has lost their job, fallen behind on their bills and now they are back employed.  In other cases, someone has had an illness which caused them to lose work and now they have recovered from illness and are back gainfully employed.  There are other situations such as divorce or straight job loss that can lead someone to fall behind on their bills and be in need of a Chapter 13. The most common form of Chapter 13 or reason for a + Click Here For Read More

Do I have to hire an attorney to file for bankruptcy?

You do not have to hire an attorney to file for bankruptcy; however, I would strongly recommend that you do so.  You do have the ability to fill out forms online or from an office supply company, go down to the clerk’s office and attempt to handle a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case on your own. The problem with doing so is that the law has gotten very complex, especially since the law changed October 17, 2005.  It used to be that someone with a simple Chapter 7 case could technically do the case themselves with very little in the way of error except for possibly losing property.  Under the current law, there are all kinds of pre-filing requirements that must be satisfied before a + Click Here For Read More

What is Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is one form of bankruptcy under the United States Bankruptcy Code whereby someone reorganizes their debt and pays back either all or a portion of the debt over a 3 to 5 year period.  Chapter 13 is most commonly used to save a home that’s in foreclosure.  In a Chapter 13, a debtor is able to make the regular mortgage payment on time once again and pay the part that they fell behind over the next 3 to 5 years.  The amount that they pay per month is dependent upon their income, their expenses, their assets and their liabilities. In a typical Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, there is a Meeting of Creditors, a confirmation hearing and then an amount that is solid in terms of + Click Here For Read More

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