Experienced bankruptcy lawyers in California to provide you with the right legal advice for your bankruptcy options

 The US Bankruptcy Code is designed to provide a legal reprieve to individuals and businesses who are unable to repay their outstanding debts or obligations. All bankruptcy cases in the US are heard in the federal courts, who will appoint a trustee, to represent the debtor’s estate in proceedings. Before filing for bankruptcy, you may be presented with some alternatives by your creditors, like forbearance, wherein you will be allowed to postpone payments for a period of time. You may be provided with repayment plans to repay your debt in smaller amounts, stretched over a longer period. Some lenders also offer you a lower interest rate over the remainder of your loan.  

  

However, if nothing works out and you are only left with bankruptcy as the last resort, then you can contact specialist bankruptcy law firms, such as Recovery Law Group. They have specialist bankruptcy lawyers California who have helped thousands of individuals, including businesses, with their bankruptcy filings. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is for individuals for whom the debts have become overwhelming, and cannot be repaid by the individual despite their best efforts. A court-appointed trustee will make a list of your secured debts, which are backed by collaterals, and unsecured debts, which do not have any such backing. Secured debts take precedence over unsecured debts, and holders of secured debts are the first in line to be paid off.   

  

However, your Recover Law Group’s bankruptcy lawyers California will ensure that your exempt assets are not liquidated or sold off to repay the creditors. These include:  

  

·         A certain amount of home equity  

·         Clothing and household goods  

·         Spousal or child support  

·         Some tools of trade  

·         Most public benefits and insurance benefits, and  

·         Most personal injury awards  

  

Filing for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies   

Any debts after the bankruptcy completion will be discharged or not required to be repaid. To file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you will need to pass the Means Test, wherein your past six months’ average monthly income should be less than the Median income of the size of your household in the state of California. However, if you fail this Means Test, your bankruptcy lawyer California may suggest you to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 13. You will be given a reorganization plan, as approved by the court trustee, to repay your outstanding debts to your creditors over a period of three to five years.   

 

Also known as the Wage Earner’s Plan, you must compile a list of all the creditors along with the amount owed to each. In most circumstances, the repayment must provide a substantial payment to creditors, which must be at least equal to what they would receive under other forms of bankruptcy. Your all-outstanding debts will be consolidated into an agreed upon monthly installment, and the trustee will distribute the money to your creditors as per the reorganization plan. Any debt remaining after the completion of bankruptcy will be eliminated.   

  

Recovery Law Group’s bankruptcy lawyers California will ensure that all creditors’ collection activities are stopped as soon as you file for Chapter 7, Chapter 13, or Chapter 11 (or businesses) bankruptcy. If your creditors do continue these collection and harassment activities, the experienced bankruptcy lawyers in California will sue them for violating the court’s automatic stay.   

 

Know all your rights through bankruptcy consultation Denver in Colorado

 Most individual bankruptcies in the US are filed either under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, that eliminate your debt differently. You need to pursue different procedures for full or partial repayment to your creditors. If you take bankruptcy consultation Denver in Colorado, you will come to know that Chapter 7 bankruptcy could be an option if your financial means fall below a specified limit, which is the Median income of the family of your size in the state of Colorado. If your average income for the past six months before filing of Chapter bankruptcy is less than the Median income of the size of your family the Colorado, you will primarily pass the test and be eligible to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. However, your assets valued beyond an exempt amount will be forfeited and sold, and the proceeds will be distributed among your creditors.   

  

A trustee will be appointed by the bankruptcy court to oversee your personal assets and finances, and ensure that your creditors are paid off in the right order, as per “Absolute Priority” rules. Secure debts are cleared first, followed by unsecured debt. Secured debts are backed by collateral to reduce the risk associated with lending. In case of default, the bank will seize the collateral, sell it, and use the proceeds to pack the creditors. Debts that are secured include mortgages and auto loans. Interest rates on secured debts are often lower. Unsecured debts are not backed by any collateral. Credit card bills and medical costs are two examples. Your lawyer providing you with bankruptcy consultation Denver, such as the ones available with Recovery Law Group, will work to wipe out most or all of your unsecured debts.  

  

However, certain assets are exempt under Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which are:  

  

·         A certain amount of home equity  

·         A vehicle of a certain value   

·         Some tools of the trade  

·         Many household goods  

·         Most public benefits  

·         Retirement accounts, etc.   

  

Reorganization plan under Chapter 13   

Get to know more about exemptions under Chapter 7 during your bankruptcy consultation Denver. However, if you earn sufficiently and only need extra time to repay your debts, you may be suggested to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy wherein you will agree to a reorganization plan to repay your debts under the supervision of the court. Chapter 13 will halt the foreclosure process that would have resulted in your home being seized. You will pay all your secured debts, mortgages, car loans, etc., over a period of three to five years, and pay a portion of your unsecured debts, such as credit cards. You will pay an agreed-upon sum each month, that will effectively consolidate all your debts into a single monthly payment.   

  

At the end of the repayment plan, any remaining debt, with certain exemptions, will be discharged by the court, which means you will not be required to repay that. Your Recovery Law Group attorney providing you with bankruptcy consultation Denver will ensure that automatic stay is implemented as soon as you file for bankruptcy, be it Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Automatic stay means your creditors will not be able to contact you as soon as the bankruptcy is filed, and must stop all their collection and recovery efforts. If they still continue, Recovery Law Group’s specialist bankruptcy lawyers will sue them for violating the automatic stay.   

 

How to file for an emergency bankruptcy petition and what all documentations are needed for it

The procedure of Emergency Bankruptcy Filing comes in handy only when you need immediate bankruptcy relief, and you don’t have the time to go through the procedure and file a traditional bankruptcy. A normal bankruptcy filing takes about a week for the attorney to complete the entire procedure, whereas, if an emergency requires immediate action, an Emergency Bankruptcy Filing requires a few hours at max. You may need to file an emergency bankruptcy petition to prevent a foreclosure sale, car repossession, eviction, lawsuits, and wage garnishments, and disconnection of utilities. It will also bring an automatic stay, which means all creditors’ collection efforts must stop, including phone calls and visits. 

 

Individual emergency bankruptcies are usually filed under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the US Bankruptcy Code. Chapter 7 will eradicate all or most of your unsecured debts, while Chapter 13 will require the submission of a plan to repay the debts within three to five years. 

 

Before filing the emergency bankruptcy petition, you will need to take a court-approved credit counseling class, which can be taken online. Filing for bankruptcy may require filing over fifty pages, which will may take a lot of time. But with specialist bankruptcy lawyers, such as the ones available with Recovery Law Group, form filing for emergency bankruptcy petition can be completed online in a fast manner. Moreover, you will have to submit some essential documentation moving with emergency bankruptcy petition, and the remaining paperwork can be submitted in the coming two weeks’ time. These essential documents include:

 

·        Your identity information

·        Names and addresses of your creditors

·        Certificate of completing credit counseling requirements, and 

·        Form B121

 

In regards to Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the repayment plan will also need to be filed within 14 days, and must make your first payment within 30 days of initial filing. You will also generally have the opportunity to revise the terms of car loan. An emergency bankruptcy petition is a legal tool designed to give honest people debt protection from creditors so that they can regain their financial stability.  

 

As per Section 521 of the Bankruptcy Code, you will have to file the below documents also within 14 days of filing for emergency bankruptcy. 

 

1.     A) Schedule of Assets and Liabilities, and Income and Expenses

2.     B) Debtors Financial Affairs statement

3.     C) A 342(b) Certificate

4.     D) Evidence of all payments received within 60 days of filing the petition

5.     E) Monthly Net Income Statement with its calculations

6.     F) Statement of an anticipated increase in income or expense over the next 12 months from filing

7.     G) Statement of intention on the secured property of the debtor.

8.     H) Interest record in an Education Individual retirement account

9.     I) For Chapter 7 – a copy of the most recent tax return filed. 

10.                        For Chapter 13 – the debtor must have filed all the required tax returns for the 4 years preceding the filing

 

If you need more information on your bankruptcy options, or need help with your emergency bankruptcy petition, you can contact specialist bankruptcy attorneys at Recovery Law Group. The attorneys will ensure that your petition is moved successfully, and not rejected due to incomplete documents or on other technical grounds. The attorneys will ensure that your creditors no longer harass you, and if they do, they will sue them for violating the automatic stay. 

 

Affordable bankruptcy in Houston TX to protect your rights under times of financial distress

Bankruptcy is available to distressed consumers and businesses, and gives them a way to repair their balance sheets amidst the challenging economic environment. The US witnessed a total of 34,447 bankruptcy filings in December 2023 alone, which was a 16 percent increase from total 29,654 filings in the month of December 2022. Bankruptcy courts in the country have seen a rise in filings post-pandemic, when many people lost their jobs and businesses plummeted. The US Bankruptcy Code is created to help all such individuals and businesses, and assist them with a fresh financial start when they are not in a position to repay their debts as agreed. Fresh financial start is made possible through affordable bankruptcy Houston TX, either by eliminating all or a portion of outstanding debts, stretching out the monthly payments under the supervision of a court-appointed trustee.

 

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is filed by most individuals who find it almost impossible to repay their debts. Filing for affordable bankruptcy Houston TX though reputable law firms like Recovery Law Group will ensure that your debts are eventually wiped away. Moreover, the specialist bankruptcy lawyers will enforce automatic stay, that will immediately stop most collection efforts by the creditors, and provide you with much-needed peace of mind in times of financial distress. There are absolute priority rules that stipulate the order in which debts are to be repaid. Secured debts take precedence over unsecured debts. You will not stand to lose everything under Chapter 7, there are certain exemptions, and below will not be liquidated or sold even when you are declared bankrupt by the federal court.

 

·        Home equity

·        clothing

·        Tools of trade

·        Pension and retirement accounts

·        Household goods

·        Social security benefits

·        Child support and alimony

·        Jewelry

 

Means Test for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy 

To qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you need to pass the Means Test. For this, your average monthly income for the past six months prior to filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy should be less than the median income of the size of your family in the state of Texas. However, if you fail to pass the Means Test, your Recovery Law Group’s attorney providing you with affordable bankruptcy Houston TX may suggest you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy instead. Also known as reorganization bankruptcy, Chapter 13 calls for making monthly payments over a period of three to five years, after which many outstanding debts are erased. 

 

Chapter 13 bankruptcy and the reorganization plan 

Chapter 13 will shield you from lawsuits, wage garnishments, and other tactics of creditors, and you will ultimately be freed of your debts, but certain obligations like heirlooms, collectible stamps, cash, bonds, and stocks, and a second vehicle or a second home cannot be discharged under Chapter 13. A court-approved bankruptcy trustee will submit a plan wherein you will be required to repay your outstanding debts over three to five years. The debts will be repaid in the priority order of tax obligations, alimony, child support, secured debts, and finally secured debts. All debt remaining after the completion of repayment period will be written off or forgiven. For more options on affordable bankruptcy Houston TX, please contact Recovery Law Group.