When you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, not all of your debts may be eliminated.  For example, student loans, recent taxes, parking tickets, child support and debts incurred through fraud are not eliminated.  The video below talks about how some people will run up the balance on a credit card in anticipation of filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  This is a huge mistake as credit card issuers can bring a complaint within the bankruptcy case to have that particular debt held non-dischargeable.  The best advice is to see an attorney as soon as you are experiencing financial problems.  By do so, the attorney can advise you as to what is proper and what is improper under the bankruptcy code.   Jesse + Click Here For Read More

Most clients who call seeking chapter 7 bankruptcy relief do not have significant equity in their real estate. In fact, most clients who call today have no equity in their real estate. Since the real estate market plummeted several years ago, most clients are in a situation where they owe more on the property than what it's worth. For this reason, chapter 7 is readily available since there is no equity in the real estate property. Equity Exists However, there are some people that do have equity in real estate and it does become an issue as to whether or not they will be able to complete a chapter 7 bankruptcy case without giving up any interest in the property. In the state of Illinois, + Click Here For Read More

There are secured creditors that must be treated a certain way in a bankruptcy case.  The transcription below touches the surface on what a secured creditor is and what types of decisions have to be made with regard to those secured creditors. Jesse Barrientes: You said there were secured and unsecured creditors.  So then unsecured creditor would be like the gas company or utility company or a credit card bill, right?  And then what are secured creditors? David Siegel: Well, a secured creditor is someone who is secured by property.  And what I mean by that, if you don’t make a mortgage payment, you can be foreclosed upon.  If you don’t make an auto payment, your vehicle can be + Click Here For Read More

There are specific time restrictions on when you can file certain bankruptcy cases.  For Chapter 7, you can only receive a discharge of certain debts every eight years.  There are also complex rules for filing Chapter 13 subsequently to a Chapter 7.  In the video below, we talk about Chapter 7 in particular and how you should not have to file repetitive cases. Jesse Barrientes: But after you file a Chapter 7, when can I file a Chapter 7 again? David Siegel:  You can only file a Chapter 7 and receive a discharge every eight years. Jesse Barrientes: So if I get my discharge, they’re good for eight years.  So I’m not going to be able to discharge everything until eight years and a + Click Here For Read More

Protecting Life Insurance When filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy, you are allowed to protect a certain amount of personal property. One of those items of personal property is life insurance. Life insurance is treated two different ways when filing bankruptcy. The first involves term life insurance. Term life insurance provides for a death benefit. What this means is that the policy has no cash value while you are living, however, upon your death, a beneficiary will receive a death benefit. Because there is no cash value while you are alive, this is technically not an asset that can be administered by the chapter 7 trustee. Let's contrast this with whole life insurance. Whole life insurance + Click Here For Read More

Chicago clients are concerned about utility bills and how a bankruptcy filing affects their services. They are happy to know that they can get service to continue to or have it turned back on if it was disconnected. The video below talks about ComEd in particular, but it applies to gas service and telephone service as well. Jesse Barrientes: So what happens then if I owe Com Ed a chunk of cash and so now with automatic stay, they are prohibited from collecting the past due amount. Are they going to unplug me? Are they going to turn off my services? David Siegel: They’re not going to turn off your services but what they are going to do is they are going to wipe out the debt from the + Click Here For Read More

Depending on the budget, you might have to pay back 100% to your unsecured creditors in a chapter 13 bankruptcy case. The trustee appointed for your case is going to interview you at a 341 meeting of creditors. One of the main purposes of this meeting is to determine whether or not you are putting all of your disposable income towards your repayment plan. If the amount of your disposable income is enough to pay off your creditors in full within 36 or 60 months, then you are likely going to have to pay back 100% to your unsecured creditors. Disposable income is determined by IRS standards as well as local standards as to how much you can allocate for housing, transportation, food, and + Click Here For Read More

The typical debts that are eliminated with Chapter 7 bankruptcy include credit cards, medical bills, personal loans and more.  The transcription and video below explain what is eliminated in greater detail. Jesse Barrientes:   What debts are typically eliminated with the Chapter 7? David Siegel: Well, a Chapter 7 is going to eliminate typical unsecured debt such as credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, past due utility bills, auto repossession deficiencies, foreclosure deficiencies.  The majority of someone’s debt under Chapter 7 is going to be eliminated.  Now, there are some exceptions; student loans, recent taxes, parking tickets, child support, maintenance payments, debts + Click Here For Read More

The automatic stay in the most powerful tool when filing bankruptcy. The automatic stay provides a shield of protection against most collection efforts. In the video below, we discuss just how powerful the stay is when filing a bankruptcy case. David Siegel: Let’s talk about what’s created the minute a bankruptcy case under Chapter 7 is filed and that’s the automatic stay. What is the automatic stay and how does it benefit the debtor? Jesse Barrientes: Oh, yes. The automatic stay. It’s a really great tool because when you have all these creditors and I just want to tell our viewers at home. You can’t ignore the problem. If you ignore the problem, it’s not going to go away. It’s just + Click Here For Read More

There are income qualifications for filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  If you are over the median for your state then you are subject to a means test.  If it is determined that you have the ability to pay back at least 25% over the next three to five years, then you will not qualify for Chapter 7 relief.  The narration below talks about how it all works.  Jesse Barrientes: Can I make too much money to file a Chapter 7? David Siegel: You can’t make too much money.  If you are over the median for your family size and your locality, then you have to submit to a means test.  The means test is basically a determination as to whether or not you have the ability to pay back a portion of your debt + Click Here For Read More