FAQ

Chapter 7 is the “fresh start” bankruptcy. It allows you to eliminate almost all of your unsecured debts. If you have a home or car with payments, most clients are allowed to maintain those assets as long as they can afford to make the payments. The process eliminates most unsecured debts such as credit cards, medical debt, deficiencies from foreclosure or repossession, personal loans, and old utility bills. Sometimes tax debt can be eliminated. Chapter 13 is a form of bankruptcy that allows you to create a repayment plan of your debts. This bankruptcy works well for those who are behind on mortgage or car payments and those who may have tax problems. We focus on creditors that have a mortgage or lien on your property to pay them back while other creditors, such as credit cards and medical bills are paid little to nothing in the plan.

Yes. When a bankruptcy is filed, the court issues a stay upon all your creditors. This acts as a “stop sign” to tell your creditors to halt their foreclosures, repossessions, garnishments, collection calls and letters, and lawsuits.

Yes, bankruptcy will have an impact on your credit score. The filing of your bankruptcy will be reported to the credit bureaus. After your bankruptcy is completed, creditors with debts that have been eliminated will show that the debt has been “discharged in bankruptcy” on your credit report. Once your case has been completed, you will have to take small steps to start rebuilding your credit score.

A bankruptcy discharge is an order from the court that states that all your debts that are allowed to be eliminated have been discharged. Your creditors can no longer collect on those debts. You no longer owe those debts.

No. When you file for bankruptcy protection, you must disclose all of your assets and property, debts, and income. The bankruptcy code and court will not allow you to choose which assets or debts that are placed into your bankruptcy. Full disclosure of your financial condition is the most important aspect of filing for bankruptcy.

For most people that file chapter 7 bankruptcy, the process is around 90 days. Once the case is filed, a meeting will be scheduled by the court and a trustee will conduct a meeting of creditors. This meeting is usually about 30 days after you file. Then it typically takes another 60 days to receive your discharge after the meeting with the trustee. For chapter 13 cases, the process will be a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 5 years. Like a chapter 7, a meeting of creditors requiring your attendance will be scheduled with a trustee. The trustee will then review your repayment plan. The court will schedule a hearing on the plan. If the plan meets the requirements of the bankruptcy code, the court will approve the plan. The bankruptcy discharge cannot be issued until the plan is completed.

All bankruptcy filings are a public record. They are generally not published in a newspaper but are available to be searched on the court terminals located at any United States Courthouse or on the PACER website. The PACER website does require the user to register and there is a fee for searching records on the PACER website.