Archives for 2013

There are some cases under Chapter 7 where I will file a case prior to being paid in full.  Those cases involve wage garnishments, bank citations or other court appearances required that would be a burden to the debtor and would actually hinder the debtor’s ability to pay the law firm in the long run.  In those certain circumstances, when the debtor must be filed, if they show good working history, if they have the ability to fulfill the obligations under the Bankruptcy Code, then I will consider filing prior to being paid in full.  In those circumstances, we will want a post-petition retainer agreement which basically sets forth what the law firm is going to do after the case is filed and + Click Here For Read More

At the time of this writing, the filing fees for Chapter 7 bankruptcy are $306.  The filing fees for Chapter 13 bankruptcy are $281.  Each law firm differs on how much they require down as well as how much they require in terms of a total fee to file a type of bankruptcy.  In my office, we typically start with a $100 down payment to hire the firm.  It is from that point that the debtor will make payments of at least $100 every two weeks until their case is paid in full.  The typical timeframe to file the case is once the fees are paid in full and once all of the prefiling bankruptcy requirements are satisfied. There are some cases where you want to file the bankruptcy prior to be paid in + Click Here For Read More

Once a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case is filed and a plan is proposed, it’s going to run for a certain number of months, typically between 36 and 60 month.  Now, there are some cases that end much earlier than 36 months and there are no cases that can exceed the 60 months.  So somewhere between a couple months and 60 months, your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case will come to a completion. Every six months or so, the trustee sends a periodic report to the debtor and the debtors attorney basically laying out what has been paid, what still needs to be paid and approximately how much the payoff is on the Chapter 13.  Many times debtors will receive this and they won’t be able to read it or understand + Click Here For Read More

Differences Between Bankruptcy And Debt Consolidation There are huge differences between bankruptcy and debt consolidation services.  If you’re filing a chapter 7, you are going to get a fresh start.  If you are using a debt consolidation service, you are going to wind up paying back to creditors.  It’s quite possible that you really don’t have any legal obligation to repay creditors if you file for a chapter 7 bankruptcy.  If you don’t file for chapter 7 and you want to repay your debts, then debt consolidation may work for you.  However, in my experience, I have seen too many cases where somebody has been in debt consolidation only to wind up filing for chapter 13 or chapter 7 bankruptcy + Click Here For Read More

How Soon Can I Buy? You can typically buy a house two years after the filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Lenders want to see that you have rehabilitated yourself after a bankruptcy filing.  They want to see that you have not incurred any negative credit since the time of filing.  They want to see that you have the ability to pay on a mortgage and that you have the ability to make a down payment on a house. Old Debts Will Be Forgotten If you qualify for a mortgage and you are able to buy that house, then the debts that were discharged in your bankruptcy are no longer going to bother you.  The trustee has no right to come back to years later and seek to take your property.  You have gotten + Click Here For Read More

Payment Plans Are Available You most certainly can get on a payment plan to file a bankruptcy.  In fact, most people do not have the ability to pay the lump sum which is the court costs and the attorneys’ fees, all at one sitting.  What I like to do is offer a client a reasonable payment plan whereby they can hire the firm for as little as $100 down and then go on a payment plan of $100 every two weeks.  The typical payment plan that I work in my office is called an electronic fund transfer.  The electronic fund transfer is an automatic deduction every other Friday out of a checking account, typically in the amount of $100.  This gives clients the ease of being able to make payments without + Click Here For Read More

All Creditors Must Be Listed If you are filing bankruptcy, then all of your creditors must be listed.  This includes credit cards, personal loans, auto payments, mortgage payments and any other debt, including debts owed to family members.  I understand that many people have lived off credit cards, they love the convenience of credit cards and they want to keep one credit card free and clear and they don’t want to lose it in the bankruptcy.  Now, this is true even if they have a zero balance on that card and even if it’s the card that they’ve had since they turned 18 and they’ve had it forever and they don’t want to lose it. The problem is the Bankruptcy Code mandates that all debts be + Click Here For Read More

Creditors Should Not Call Creditors should not be calling you after your bankruptcy case is filed.  In some cases, creditors just have not received the required notice under the Bankruptcy Code.  In some cases, notice has gone to the proper address, however, there is a collection firm involved now who did not have knowledge of the bankruptcy case and is calling you.  Stopping Creditors There is a real simple way to stop creditors from calling.  Firstly, and this is before your case is even filed, give your creditors your attorney’s name and number.  Let them know that you are filing bankruptcy, you’ve hired an attorney, give the attorney’s name, give the attorneys number and advise them + Click Here For Read More