This Friday will mark nine years since the bankruptcy laws were last changed. That law known as BAPCPA which stands for Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was really designed to prevent those who have the ability to pay from getting out of their obligations under chapter 7 bankruptcy. The credit card companies lobbied Congress for years to get some reform in place. Congress was basically fooled into thinking that bankruptcy was actually being abused. Unfortunately, the Congress was really only hearing one side and that was the credit card lobby. They really didn't take the time to learn all that was going on in the trenches or at least give as much weight on what they + Click Here For Read More

Chapter 13 Question: The question arose recently as to whether or not a person should pay off their chapter 13 with inherited money that was received after the case was filed. The answer to that really depends upon whether or not the person is in a 100% paid back or whether or not the person is in a less than 100% pay back. If you are paying back less than 100%, then your case needs to last at least 36 months. If you make the mistake of prepaying or overpaying in a 10% case, you will be forced to pay in additional funds which were not actually required. If, on the other hand, you are in a 100% repayment plan, then you can pay off the case at any time with inherited funds at no detriment to + Click Here For Read More

There are so many people that claim that they want to get out of debt, yet they don't make the first step. They lament over their financial situation. They complain that they're being held back and there's nothing that they can do about it. They've heard about bankruptcy, but they really don't want to go down that road. Many will do research online. Others will actually come in for an appointment and gain a ton of useful information about the process. Regrettably, only a small percentage of those people actually get the help that they need. Unfortunately, there are many reasons for this reluctance. First, many people think that their financial situation will somehow change without taking + Click Here For Read More

As a chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer in Chicago, my goal is to help people reorganize their debt or to eliminate their debt so that they can improve their financial situation. This often means saving a home from foreclosure. It also may mean saving a vehicle from repossession. It also could mean stopping a wage garnishment and agreeing to repay a small portion of a debt over a three to five-year period. To make all of this happen, many things have to line up in place perfectly. One of the things that I found most helpful, yet not without its difficulties, is to have my clients be set up on payroll control. This means, in theory, that the chapter 13 plan payment will be deducted from the + Click Here For Read More

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy The amount that you pay back in a chapter 13 per month is dictated by your income and your expenses. The trustee is going to scrutinize your budget to make sure that you are putting all of your disposable income towards the repayment of creditors in your chapter 13 case. This means that you are limited to IRS standard allowances for things like food, clothing, transportation, and other necessary expenses. There is some leeway if you can prove that you have a reason for a higher-than-expected expense for let's say medical or housing or utilities. Reasons To Budget The reason why you have to budget and pay all that you can in a chapter 13 is that you are asking the + Click Here For Read More

Believe it or not, there are certain circumstances where you are too broke to file. You simply don't have the means to even come up with the filing fee which is $335. Just yesterday, a potential client walked 45 minutes to see me in my office. Not only was he unemployed, but he had his driver’s license suspended due to dui.  Worse yet, he had an upcoming court date whereby he had to pay the court $4000 for his fine. Of course, he does not have the $4000 and will be begging and pleading for additional time to come up with the money. The judge may not grant his request. In that case, he will likely be incarcerated. Another gentleman recently came to see me and he is also unemployed. He is a + Click Here For Read More

Case Set-Up This is the bankruptcy case study for Darius from Chicago, Illinois who was in my office to determine whether or not chapter 7 or chapter 13 will help him. He currently resides in Chicago and he has a spouse who will not be filing with him. He has filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy in the past which was not successful. In terms of real estate, he owns a single-family home which he wishes to surrender. The house is worth $150,000 and he owes $210,000 on the home. He has not made a mortgage payment in several months and realizes that the best thing to do would be to let the house go into foreclosure and eliminate that debt through bankruptcy. In terms of vehicles, he has a 2013 Chevy + Click Here For Read More

You always have the ability to switch bankruptcy attorneys if you are not satisfied with your current attorney. Depending upon which type of bankruptcy case you have filed will determine whether or not it makes good sense to make the switch. For example, if you have already filed a chapter 7, fresh start bankruptcy, then there probably is not going to be a significant benefit to switching attorneys. First, you've already paid your first attorney and you have to pay a second attorney to jump in on your existing chapter 7 case. Second, absent an adversarial complaint, there should be nothing that the first attorney can't take care of under the original contract with him or her. Switching + Click Here For Read More

People often wonder what percentage creditors are going to be paid back in a chapter 13 bankruptcy. As a bankruptcy attorney in Chicago, I can only estimate what the approximate amount may be. The reason why I cannot provide a definitive answer is because I do not know what type and amount of claims are going to be filed in the case. I can tell the debtor that based upon their income, their expenses, their assets and liabilities, the approximate monthly payment to the chapter 13 trustee. This video talks about the different scenarios and the different types of questions that debtors ask with regard to percentage pay back on debt. + Click Here For Read More