This is the bankruptcy case study for Michael M., who resides in Aurora, DuPage County, Illinois. Michael is currently being garnished for a hospital bill and is seeking protection under the bankruptcy code. He is inquiring as to whether or not he can file a Chapter 7 to stop the garnishment and yet keep all of his personal property free from the trustees reach. He did file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case more than 10 years ago and that case failed. He simply was unable to make monthly payments on a consistent basis. In this effort, he does not feel he has the ability to make monthly payments. For that reason, in addition to the current garnishment, he needs the help of a + Click Here For Read More

Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases are difficult for the debtor as well as the attorney. The debtor has to fulfill a series of requirements prior to filing as well as additional requirements subsequent to filing. The attorney does the bulk of his work upfront and fights to get paid as the case progresses. In recent weeks, it was discovered that a particular chapter 13 trustee in Chicago waits to pay the attorney fee for longer than was expected.  He denied this practice.  However, his staff has put in writing said practice and states that this is how it has always been done. This has caused the loss of fees as well as set payments being made to secured creditors in advance of attorney's + Click Here For Read More

  There are five major areas of concern when considering filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.   1) The first concern is the type of debt. There are certain debts that can be eliminated in a Chapter 13 at less than 100% payback. There are other debts that cannot be eliminated and must be paid back in full through the plan. Thus, the first consideration that an attorney must look at is the type of debt that a client has.  In many cases, most of the debt can be easily compromised. I'm referring to parking tickets, credit cards, medical bills, unsecured loans, utility bills and most debts for services rendered. On the other hand, we do run across cases where the outstanding debt is + Click Here For Read More

A Chapter 13 debtor filed for bankruptcy on September 11, 2014. Within the Chapter 13 case, he planned on repaying approximately $4,700 worth of parking tickets owed to the city of Chicago. The proposed plan was going to pay back approximately 10% to 20% of those parking tickets over a 3 to 5 year term. Everything was going smoothly for the debtor until the time that he received a notice from the city of Chicago. It appears that subsequent to the filing date of September 11, 2014, the debtor, or somebody driving the debtor's vehicle, incurred parking tickets owed to the city of Chicago. The total outstanding debt, which was all incurred after the original filing date, totaled approximately + Click Here For Read More

If your car was recently repossessed by the finance company, you have the ability under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law to recover that vehicle. You do so by filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case and proposing a plan to reorganize or repay that auto debt over time. You can reduce the interest rate owed to the finance company no matter when you file the chapter 13. For example, if the vehicle was purchased more than 2 1/2 years prior to filing, then the vehicle can be crammed down to the actual market value. The remainder can be paid as an unsecured debt of less than 100%. If the vehicle was purchased within the past two and half years, then the contract rate must be maintained.  However, the + Click Here For Read More

In recent memory, the city of Chicago had a slogan that was plastered all over town.  You would see it in campaign ads, hear it on the radio, see it written in the newspaper and talked about in City Hall. Chicago was declared the “city that worked.” It was the model case, the shining example of a city that other cities should emulate because it worked. I'm not so certain that the slogan holds any real value today. This is especially true if you are someone trying to recover your impounded vehicle and you are standing before a supervisor at 400 W. Superior during their normal Saturday hours of 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. This was the case this past Saturday for one of my clients desperately trying to + Click Here For Read More

Bankruptcy Attorneys Must Ask Personal Questions: Bankruptcy Is Personal Attorneys Ask Questions If you are someone who is considering bankruptcy, you may have already spoken to or met with a bankruptcy attorney about your situation. Whether you had an initial consultation over the telephone or whether you appeared in the attorney's office, you will recall that the bankruptcy attorney asked you a ton of personal questions. This is not because the attorney was being curious or nosy with regard to your personal situation. Rather, it was because the attorney was trying to determine whether or not you qualified for bankruptcy, which chapter of the bankruptcy code would be best suited to your + Click Here For Read More

Bankruptcy Is More Difficult It's a lot harder to file for bankruptcy now than it was prior to 2005. That was the year the federal government passed sweeping changes and reforms to the then existing bankruptcy laws. Since then, there are pre-requisites to filing as well as financial documentation that must be submitted contemporaneously with a bankruptcy filing. These requirements make the process more difficult on a debtor seeking relief. However, with the guidance and support of a knowledgeable bankruptcy lawyer or bankruptcy law firm, the degree of difficulty can be lessened. The Initial Consultation Every bankruptcy case still starts with an initial consultation with a lawyer. This + Click Here For Read More

I have noticed a rush of Chapter 13 filings lately that never make it past the starting gate. The client gets the relief of the automatic stay, but not for very long. It seems that lately there is a lack of sincerity with regard to Chapter 13 filings. This trend is counterproductive to realizing the benefits of Chapter 13. This trend is mostly seen but not exclusively seen with non-payroll control debtors. Benefits of Filing One of the many benefits of filing Chapter 13 is to recover a vehicle which has been either repossessed or impounded by either a finance company or by the city of Chicago. By filing Chapter 13, the debtor has a temporary lease on life so to speak. The debtor's driver’s + Click Here For Read More

If a debtor does not know the true value of his home, he may find himself in an asset case under chapter 7 bankruptcy. This was almost the case for a recent client who was seeking a fresh start under Chapter 7 bankruptcy law. The debtor purchased his home slightly over three years ago for $92,000. When he came into my office and completed an in-take questionnaire, he valued the home at $94,000. If I were to accept his figure, he would've found himself in an asset case with approximately $18,000 of unexempt real estate. This would've been an unnecessary tragedy for both the debtor and the law firm. After all, my goal is to help debtors get out of debt while maintaining ownership of their real + Click Here For Read More