James Witherspoon asked:




The United States bankruptcy code allows people and businesses who are in debt to file for debt protection and potentially discharge or reorganize the money they owe. Bankruptcy allows otherwise responsible people to overcome their debts and get on with their lives. Knowing the various chapters of the code and how they may (or may not) apply to you can be very important in weighing the decision to file for bankruptcy.

If you or someone you love is living with the pressure of heavy, unsustainable levels of debt, it may be beneficial to discuss your financial situation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. He or she may be able to go over your case with you in greater detail, and give you the professional advice you need to make an intelligent decision.

The Types of Bankruptcy

The US Bankruptcy Code is divided into several chapters, each of which describes a different situation and condition. Some are available only for individuals or only for companies, while others are available for both private and public entities. They are:

· Chapter 7. Chapter 7 involves liquidation of property and is the most common form of debt protection in the United States. Both companies and private citizens can file for Chapter 7. Your non-exempt assets are put up for sale, with the money raised from this sale taken to pay off your creditors. Individuals can have their debts discharged, while companies which file for Chapter 7 are dissolved.

· Chapter 11. Chapter 11 is a reorganizing bankruptcy for corporations. A business drafts a plan to restructure and pay off its debts and a timetable of several years over which to do so. In most cases, it allows the business to keep some or all of its property.

· Chapter 12. Chapter 12 applies only to commercial fishermen and farmers and is tailored particularly for these individuals. An experienced attorney can tell you more about whether you are eligible.

· Chapter 13. Similar to Chapter 11, Chapter 13 allows for reorganization for individuals. An individual submits a repayment plan to the courts, which decide if it is feasible and responsible. An individual needs a relatively large, stable income to be eligible for this chapter.

An experienced bankruptcy attorney can help you determine if any of these options are right for you. To learn more about the process and whether or not you are eligible, please visit the website of the Milwaukee bankruptcy attorneys of the DeLadurantey Law Office, LLC, today.

http://www.zimbio.com/chapter13bankruptcynow35/articles/3/Chapter+Thirteen+Bankrupcy+Rules

Marcus Peterson asked:




There are certain rules that must be followed when you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Bankruptcy law is a set of federal laws and statutes governed by Title 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

The debtor has the exclusive responsibility for filing a plan. Although most plans are filed at the time of the petition, the debtor has up to 15 days from the filing of the petition to file the plan, unless the court allows otherwise.The plan specifies what each creditor will be paid and under what terms. Chapter 13 creditors do not vote on the plan. A creditor should object to confirmation if the plan does not properly treat its claim. Sections 1322 and 1325 set mandatory and permissive requirements of a Chapter 13 plan and its confirmation, respectively.

The three mandatory requirements are that the plan shall provide for the submission of all or such portion of future earnings or other future income to the trustee as is necessary to fund the plan; the plan shall provide for the full payment, on a deferred basis of priority claims unless the holder of the claim agrees to different treatment and the plan may not be longer than three years unless the court approves a longer payment period, not to exceed five years. The debtor may deal with a secured claim outside the plan. A plan should not be confirmed, unless the priority claims are provided for in full, and the IRS should object to a plan that does not provide for full payment of priority taxes. In the event that the IRS does not object and a plan is confirmed without properly providing for priority taxes, the IRS can move to have the plan dismissed or modified.

http://chapter13bankruptcynow35.blogspot.com/2009/04/using-chapter-thirteen-bankruptcy-to.html

Jon Arnold asked:




Bankruptcy is seen differently by different people, especially depending on their situation. Some may see it as a quick fix to a long building problem while others may not see it as an option at all due to the costs of the attorney. Everyone should understand exactly what bankruptcy is, and if it is a good idea for them in their situation.

In reality, bankruptcy should only be seen as a very last resort, and sometimes it’s hard to tell if you’ve really hit rock bottom financially. Take, for instance, someone that has $100,000 in debt that they cannot hope to pay off any time soon. However, once they bring their case to court to file for bankruptcy, the fact that they own a second home comes to light. They really didn’t consider it because it’s an older home that’s not in great shape that they are letting relatives live in for free. Suddenly their asset to debt ratio looks completely different than what they had assumed, and the bankruptcy is either declined or pushed through on terms that are not at all good for the one claiming.

This is but one example of the many situations where a qualified attorney would’ve actually saved you quite a bit of money simply by looking at things from an angle that you had not considered because you do not deal with bankruptcies all day every day. There are also many situations where, no matter how hard he looked, the layman could not possibly see coming because they arise due to laws and regulations that most simply do not know, nor have the training to understand them even if they were able to look them up. Bankruptcy law was complicated to begin with, but with the legislation passed within recent years, there are now multiple levels of confusing changes that must be navigated. You probably do not stand where you think you do when it comes to your financial situation as seen by the law.

Another issue people face is the type of bankruptcy they plan to file: Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Put simply, in a Chapter 7, you discharge everything because you do not have the means to pay any or all of it within a certain time frame, and in a Chapter 13, only some of the debt may be discharged, if any, and what is left is generally reduced to an amount that the person filing is able to pay. And even at that, there are certain types of debt that cannot be eliminated through any type of bankruptcy, so if your debt is comprised in large part by these types of debt, a filing is not going to help you at all.

You can file whichever you like, but it is not the one filing who decides which type of bankruptcy is passed. The court determines how much the filer is able to repay, and whether the case constitutes as a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, regardless of which is initially filed. A qualified bankruptcy attorney knows how to present the case in a light that is much more likely to get the type of bankruptcy passed that you need.

http://www.zimbio.com/chapter13bankruptcynow35/articles/3/Chapter+Thirteen+Bankrupcy+Rules

Benjamin Anosike, Ph.D. asked:




A recent post on the internet propagated one increasingly common myth – a blatant falsehood, many will probably say – about filing for bankruptcy, namely, that debtors can no longer even file cheap chapter 7 bankruptcy without a lawyer, let alone any type of bankruptcy. As the writer of this piece put it in the caption of his write-up, article reproduced in Verizon.com titled, “Sorry You Can No Longer File Bankruptcy Without a Lawyer.”

In these bad economic times when consumers show growing sensitivity about cost for bankruptcy, this is a common notion, or at least a close variation of it, which one hears increasingly among mainstream bankruptcy law practitioners these days. Apparently, there is a growing feeling among the bankruptcy lawyers and the swelling army of unemployed Americans who inquire about the bankruptcy process, that only largely by having bankruptcy without a lawyer, could a debtor file cheap chapter 7 bankruptcy. Usually, the mainstream bankruptcy lawyers’ argument about the supposed inability of the debtor to file bankruptcy without lawyer, is made along the same line argued by the writer in the above stated article, namely, that since the new “reform” bankruptcy or BAPCPA law implemented in October 2005, “the climate has drastically changed” in respect to the law and the procedures for filing bankruptcy, and that they have gotten so “complex” now that it is almost too difficulty, if not impossible, for a debtor to file chapter 7 bankruptcy without lawyer. Or for him or her to file Chapter 13, or any bankruptcy of any kind.

BUT IS THE NEW LAW REALLY THAT COMPLEX?

This view could not be more false or erroneous, however. In fact, nothing – absolutely NOTHING – could be farther from the truth in the entire current administration of the bankruptcy system! Actually, what is really TRUE, is that objective experts and knowledgeable persons from all spectra in the bankruptcy industry, including lawyers, court trustees and judges, who specialize in bankruptcy, have it quite amply on the record that most personal bankruptcies are really simple. So much so, in fact, they say, that such work really don’t need the services of a lawyer to handle since they are generally very elementary and largely clerical in nature, and so generally easy and simple to undertake. Most of such experts say that at least, with respect to Chapter 7, if not Chapter 13, debtors can easily file Chapter 7 bankruptcy without lawyer.

They generally cite two basic reasons upon which they rest their basis for saying this: (1) that an overwhelming majority of personal bankruptcy cases are so-called “no asset” or “minimum asset” cases – meaning, cases in which the owing debtors literally have or own absolutely NOTHING that the creditors can claim or attach, let alone any money for paying the lawyer’s hefty fees, and so have no basis to hire lawyers since they lack any worthy property or asset for a lawyer to protect from the creditors if they filed for bankruptcy; and (2) the FACT that bankruptcy, they say (contrary to the layman’s common belief that bankruptcy is a complicated procedure), is really a relatively simple matter which often involves the mere completion of simple routine forms and submitting them to the local bankruptcy court.

Janice Kosel, Professor of law at Golden State University, San Francisco, and a recognized author and expert on personal bankruptcy issues, explains:

“Do you need a lawyer in order to file a Chapter 13 (bankruptcy) repayment plan? No. [Even] Filing a Chapter 13 plan is often easier than preparing your income tax return. If you can do that, you can probably handle your… [bankruptcy] yourself…There is no requirement (under the law) that you have to have a lawyer (in order to file for bankruptcy)…You can choose to represent yourself.”

Stephen Elias, California Attorney, prominent author and specialist in bankruptcy law, most recently
summed it up this way:
“There is seldom a good reason to use an attorney in a consumer Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. The procedures are almost exclusively administrative – that is, there is no appearance before a judge…The forms are all (with very few exceptions) pre-printed in plain English….[But, in spite of that fact], What’s tragic is that people actually think they have to have attorney representation [to be able to do it].”

BUT LARGE NUMBERS OF DEBTORS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FILING PRO SE, ALREADY, EVEN WITH THE RESTRICTIVE 2005 LAW

But, in all of this, there’s probably one piece of evidence which remains as the strongest proof, the clearest demonstration, and most incontrovertible, of the utter fallacy of the claim that bankruptcy is “complex” and beyond the capability of the average debtor to comprehend or to undertake. And that is this: THE CHEER STATISTICS!

Independent survey studies by this writer and others, as well as bankruptcy court statistics, show that in several parts of the United States, but more particularly in urban jurisdictions like New York, Arizona and Los Angeles, both before as well as AFTER the draconian 2005 “reform” law, a significant number of the debtors who file bankruptcy, particularly Chapter 7, still file Chapter 7 bankruptcy without lawyer. Such debtors are referred to as pro se filers, meaning, without the use of a lawyer! And, while their numbers may have been larger in the years before the BAPCPA law was implemented, that number remains significantly high even today and is now growing incrementally in the current condition of national economic recession.

For example, in the Central District of California, San Fernando Valley Division, the reported proportion of debtors who had filed for bankruptcy without use of attorneys just before the 2005 law went into effect, was well OVER 50%, but then as of June 2006 even AFTER the restrictive 2005 law had gone into effect, it was about 27%. (That figure should obviously have gotten much higher today than that by the end of 2008 and thereafter, a time when a severe economic down turn and high unemployment rate hit the nation!).

After the passage of the 2005 law, there was an immediate dramatic fall off in the number of bankruptcy filings. But today, debtors, being increasingly overburden by their debt because of the current economic recession, and increasingly concerned about cost for bankruptcy, are now beginning, once again, to go back to the earlier ways in bankruptcy filing, which means they’re doing doing the bankruptcy themselves without lawyers. And given the severe economic down turn and high unemployment rate that has since hit the nation by the end of 2008, and the fact that by the end of 2008, the official statistics for total bankruptcy filing had, once again, topped over 1,000,000 filers for the 2008 year, clearly the American debtors are beginning once again to troop to the bankruptcy courts for relief, with lawyers or without lawyers, notwithstanding the obstacles and discouragements earlier placed on their path by the new 2005 law!

LISTEN TO THIS FIRST-HAND ‘expert’:

“When I found myself with no other choice than bankruptcy, I did what most people do, I found a lawyer. Within a few weeks I became disenchanted with the lawyer’s service I was getting and realized that I could probably do this on my own. After much research, I finally found this book …guide explains all the details of filing a bankruptcy on your own…. when to use a lawyer and when to file on your own, to step by step form guidelines…. The book is written without the “legalese” that lawyers use to confound and keep us in the dark. Also, there are great resources for finding the forms needed online and getting the additional information I needed to file for bankruptcy. I’ve saved myself considerable time, aggravation and money. I would recommend this guide to anyone. You can do it yourself!- the statement by SANDRA D. WEISNER of Ohio, a recent bankruptcy filer who used competent self-legal manual to do her bankruptcy (quite easily and successfully), and wrote about it on Amazon.com.

What more is there to say, really? What more solid proof or objective evidence that is simply beyond debate, is there, really, that regular, average American debtors can readily file bankruptcy, particularly file chapter 7 bankruptcy without a lawyer? They’ve been doing so ALREADY for decades now. They’re ALREADY doing so right now, as we speak! And this writer (and many other objective students of the American bankruptcy system) KNOW that all too well to be so, first hand, from a preponderance of studies!

http://rexkaufman6721.tripod.com/chapter13bankruptcynow12/index.blog/1903264/using-chapter-thirteen-bankruptcy-to-stop-foreclosure/

Jeffrey Ingram asked:




One or the other usually best fits individual’s particular circumstances. A person filing bankruptcy only uses one of the chapters. You can’t file both chapters. So it’s important to understand the difference between chapter 7 and 13. Any trained bankruptcy attorney and point out the differences in the two and how one or the other is better for what you are trying to accomplish. All bankruptcy attorneys’ are trained in both chapters and are competent to work with either a chapter 7 filing or a chapter 13.

For either of these chapters a bankruptcy attorney is needed to help an individual file. All bankruptcy attorneys are knowledgeable in both chapters. The can evaluate your circumstances and recommend which of the two chapters works best for your specific circumstances. When considering whether to file for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, remember you don’t need to go to two different attorneys. The same attorney can handle whichever one you decide to file.

What can’t be over emphasized, is don’t try and make decision as to whether chapter 7 or chapter 13 is right for you without professional help. That would be a big mistake. It may even be the case that you think bankruptcy is an answer for you and it isn’t. Either way you need to go over your individual circumstances with a bankruptcy attorney and they can tell you which course of action to take that will work best for you needs. This isn’t an area for amateurs or does it yourself enthusiasts. It’s serious and needs professional support.

http://sites.google.com/site/chapter13bankruptcynow68/using-chapter-13-bankruptcy-to-stop-foreclosure

jimsusierickard asked:


We had filed chapter 13 last October. The payments were so high we just couldn’t make the payments. The bankruptcy courts dismissed our case for non-payments. Are we eligible to file for chapter 7? Will we lose our home? We live in Ohio if that makes any difference at all. What should we expect to happen?

shadowboat asked:


if i agree to make payments each month.. how much of that am i left with?

Rae asked:


I filed Bankruptcy about 5 years ago and i think it was a Chapter 7, am i able to file Chapter 13 now?

Gary W asked:


we are trying to buy a home, but have open collection accounts. We are trying to get our credit back on track. what is the best way. Filing bankruptcy and/or paying off the collectioins accounts and settling the judgements???

Em’Rae asked:


If we file Chapter 13 bankruptcy to get some debt relief we’ll still have tons of school loans left to repay. We’re thinking of using our $13,000 credit card to pay off one of the school loans and then including that card in the bankruptcy. Are there any laws that would prevent this or is there any reason you can think of that this wouldn’t be a good idea?