Bankruptcy

The best thing about filing for bankruptcy is that you will wipe out all of your debts and get a chance to start over. That means that you can eliminate the stress of making hundreds of dollars of minimum payments to your debt without paying anything toward your interest.

However, a bankruptcy case will stay on your credit report for up to 10 years from the date that you file your case. That means that it will be considered in determining your credit score for up to ten years. If you have a relatively good credit score prior to filing, your score may decrease as a result.

Filing for bankruptcy may disrupt your plan to buy a house. A mortgage backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has a two-year waiting period after a potential home-buyer files for bankruptcy before they will qualify for a mortgage, while most other conventional mortgage lenders have a three- to five-year waiting period.

With that said, filing for bankruptcy will wipe out all of your existing debt, which will enable you to save more for a down-payment on a home, which will allow you to have a lower mortgage payment when you do purchase. Schedule a consultation today so we can discuss your medium- and long-term goals!

If you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you can get a new credit card or auto loan immediately after filing and it will not be affected by the bankruptcy. If, however, you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will need permission from the bankruptcy court for as long as you are making your Chapter 13 plan payments.

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the shortest and most straight-forward version of bankruptcy. This type of bankruptcy is best for people who make less than the median income for their household size and have little to no equity in their assets. With a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you are telling the court that you do not have any money or any valuable property which you can sell to pay your creditors. Because of this, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy typically takes between 3 and 6 months from filing to discharge, and there are usually no payments to a trustee.

On the other hand, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be thought of as a debt reorganization bankruptcy. In this type of bankruptcy, you'll make payments to your trustee for 3 to 5 years. This is called your Chapter 13 Plan. When your plan is complete, any debt that was not paid (excluding your mortgage and car loan) goes away.

There are several factors that go into determining what a Chapter 13 plan payment will be, including how much equity you have in your house, how much you're behind on your mortgage and car payments, and how much disposable income you have. When I build my clients' plans, I start with what the law says has to be paid off first, and then I work with my clients to make sure that the plan payments are feasible for them.

Absolutely! A Chapter 13 bankruptcy will be the best option for you. Schedule a consultation so we can review your options together!

While a person can always choose to represent themselves (appearing "pro se") in bankruptcy, pro se filers are much more likely to be dismissed and not receive a discharge. On average, more than 60% of pro se bankruptcy cases are dismissed every year. According to the data gathered by the District Court of Maryland, only 2% of pro se filers in Chapter 13 cases made it to discharge last year. Hiring an attorney will significantly increase your odds of receiving a discharge.

Absolutely! Schedule a consultation today so we can discuss your options.

In the short term, filing for bankruptcy may affect your ability to rent an apartment. A good rule of thumb is that you should wait 3 months after filing to rent an apartment.

No. Bankruptcy only affects the person who is filing.

When you file for bankruptcy, you must list every debt and every asset that you have. The only debts that you can keep are those that 1) you reaffirm, as in the case of car loans, 2) are non-dischargeable, such as new tax debt, or 3) are your mortgage, if you choose to keep your house.

Yes, with some parameters. If you have filed for any type of bankruptcy and received a discharge, you must wait 8 years from the date the first bankrutpcy was filed before you can file a Chapter 7. If you received a discharge from a Chapter 7, you must wait 4 years to file a Chapter 13. If you received a discharge from a Chapter 13, you must wait 2 years to file a another Chapter 13. If you're unsure whether you qualify to file another bankruptcy, schedule a consultation and we can review your options.

There are a couple options available when you've fallen behind on your mortgage payments. Your lender may be willing to work out a mortgage modification for you so you can catch back up over a period of time, or help you get a HUD loan to cover the arrearage. If those options do not work for you, you can file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and pay the arrearage back over the course of 3 to 5 years. Schedule a consultation so we can help you review your options.

A person who is married has the choice of filing as an individual or the married couple can file together in a joint case. If you choose to file as an individual, the court will still want to know how much your spouse makes and what their expenses are, but the bankruptcy will not affect them in any way.

Filing bankruptcy does not affect anyone who is not named in the petition. If you've been separated for longer than six months, the court will not ask for your spouse's income and expenses either.

It depends on the type of bankruptcy you want to file. There is no income threshold for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. If you would like to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will need to show that you have sufficient income to pay your living expenses and your Chapter 13 plan payment. Schedule a consultation today so we can review your options.

It may, depending on the type of account that the funds are stored in and how long the funds were deposited in that account. If you have a 529 account for your child, step-child, grandchild, or step-grandchild, and the funds in the account were deposited more than two years prior to filing for bankruptcy, then they will be protected. If you're not sure whether your child's education funds are protected, schedule a consultation so we can discuss your options.

Bankruptcy will not affect your rent in your current lease. Your rent is set by the terms of the lease agreement that was signed when you moved in, or by subsequent modifications of your lease agreement. However, at the end of your current lease term, your landlord has the right to increase your rent for the next lease term.

Your mortgage will still remain in place. If your mortgage lender is seeking to foreclose on your house, then filing bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure process. You will then need to make a provision in your bankruptcy plan to pay all missed payments so you can get back on track.

There are other options such as debt consolidation or debt renegotiation. However, these alternatives do not offer any of the protections that the bankruptcy court provides, and creditors have little incentive to engage with debtors through these processes.

Bankruptcy filings are considered public records. However, you do have to search for a person specifically through the federal court’s case search system to see if that person has filed for bankruptcy.

Student loans may be discharged if certain criteria are met. The Biden Administration is working to make it easier for student loans to be discharged in the bankruptcy process, but right now, it’s still highly dependent on several factors such as the type of student loan, whether the debtor was the student or a co-signer, and whether the loan value exceeded the cost of attendance for that school.

Yes, medical expenses that occurred prior to filing bankruptcy can be discharged.