Is Bankruptcy Right For Me?
Perhaps the idea of bankruptcy leaves you feeling ashamed. However, there is no reason to be embarrassed by bankruptcy, as filing bankruptcy might be the most responsible strategy for your situation. In fact, there are many times when people get into financial trouble based on situations out of their control. Bankruptcy is there to help and the government of the United States has created a responsible, specific way for you to handle adverse financial circumstances that help in restoring yourself financially. When given the alternatives, it is far better to act now and turn your situation around rather than delaying longer than necessary thereby making the situation worse. Consider the following scenarios to determine your situation and then click on the one specific to your needs or scroll through the entire list:
Harassment, lawsuits, foreclosures, repossessions, garnishment, delinquent payments (including IRS, property tax, etc.) high car/merchandise payments, great debt load or difficulty staying current on bills. Regardless of your situation, we are ready to help you with your case, so contact the law offices of York and Associates to set up a consultation regarding your specific situation.
a) Are you being harassed by your creditors? If you are being harassed by collection agencies, the mere retention of our services will stop the harassment under federal law. Upon the filing of a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, all creditors (collection agencies and primary account holders) will be barred by federal law from contacting you.
b) Is one of your credit card companies currently suing you or about to sue you in state or federal court? A Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case will force the judge to dismiss the lawsuit. In addition, a bankruptcy case will stop all procedures that would result in the filing of a lawsuit on the underlying debt. Therefore, the credit card company would be unable to obtain a judgment that could be enforced against you in the future.
c) Is your house about to be sold in a foreclosure sale? A Chapter 13 bankruptcy case will stop the foreclosure sale, save your house, and will also allow you to pay the back owed mortgage payments over a 3 to 5 year time frame through your Chapter 13 Plan. The case must be filed before the foreclosure sale occurs.
d) Is your car about to be repossessed or has your car been repossessed already? A Chapter 13 bankruptcy case will end the threat of repossession and allow you to pay the back owed car payments over a reasonable time frame.
If your car has already been repossessed, a Chapter 13 filing before the auction sale will force the car finance company to return the car. The car finance company must give you advance notice of the auction sale. Upon proof of the Chapter 13 case filing and proof of full coverage insurance on the car, the car finance company must release the car for your pick up.
e) Is a creditor garnishing your wages or bank account (i.e. a child support agency, the IRS, student loan co., etc...)? A Chapter 13 bankruptcy case will stop the garnishment and allow you to deal with these debts in a more advantageous manner through a Chapter 13 repayment plan. For instance, a student loan company would be forced to stop garnishing and then would be treated as a credit card company for the purposes of receiving payments under the Chapter 13 (a scenario that is almost always financially better for you). In addition, Chapter 7 may also be used to stop garnishments.
f) Is your house payment, car payment, or any other debt payment delinquent or difficult to stay current with? A Chapter 13 bankruptcy case will put you on a reasonable payment plan to get you caught up on your house and/or car payment(s) and will help you deal with your unsecured creditors in a much more favorable manner. Eventually your Chapter 13 will result in the elimination of your entire unsecured debt with very little if any at all actually paid back to the unsecured creditors.
If you believe or are worried that you will be unable to afford your house and/or car payment(s) in the future, a Chapter 7 will eliminate your personal liability on the mortgage loan, car finance loan, and also all of your unsecured debt.
g) Is your unsecured debt load so large that it will be virtually impossible to pay it off? A Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy case can be the answer. For instance, a Chapter 13 can often result in you paying pennies on the dollar with respect to your unsecured debt while the other unpaid unsecured amounts are eventually eliminated. While you are in Chapter 13, you can even save for retirement. Moreover, a Chapter 7 will eliminate all of your debt within a matter of months.
h) Is your car payment or other secured merchandise payment unreasonably high? Under certain scenarios, you might be able to pay your car loan off at the replacement value of the car as opposed to the amount still owed on the car finance loan. For instance, if the replacement value for your car is $10K, you owe $20K on the loan, and the car was bought more than 910 days before the filing of the case, you are allowed to pay the car loan off at the lower $10K in Chapter 13. The same rule also applies to secured loans for furniture and other merchandise (including semi-trucks used in business), although the time frame is 365 days as opposed to 910 days. Also, this scenario is always available in Chapter 13 for car title loans regardless of the time frame.
In addition, under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, you may be able to entirely avoid liens off of your property. For example, if you own household goods that are exempt under bankruptcy law and pledge the goods as collateral to a creditor in exchange for money, the lien you granted to the creditor can be avoided under bankruptcy law meaning that you keep the property without paying the money loaned back to the creditor.
Contact Us With Any Questions
You very well might have more questions on whether bankruptcy is right for you. Mr. York is ready to answer every question you have. Contact us at any time. We offer flexible payment plans for you.