Posts Tagged ‘chapter 13 bankruptcy California’

Where to Find Experienced California Bankruptcy Lawyers

Friday, May 14th, 2010

One of the best places to find lawyers today is on the web. Some will point out there are scams, but if a lawyer has passed the bar, has been working in your area for years, has proof of helping clients across California, and has positive testimonials — these things point out the lawyer is in good standing.

If you’re looking for California lawyers, one of the best places to look is online, such as this blog designed to help consumers with legal help. An experienced lawyer in any state requires some research.  So how do you hire one?

How to Hire a Bankruptcy Lawyer
If you want to hire a bankruptcy lawyer in any state, use good hiring strategies over time. Starting online is a good start, but also look to your local yellow pages. The easiest thing to do is hire the first lawyer you come across; this can be a big mistake. You need to research lawyers, see their experience, discuss fees, and note how they’ve helped others. That should be done with several lawyers–not just one.

By looking for experience, you save yourself a lot of time. You need a lawyer who 1) has at a minimum  of several years experience and 2) specializes in personal bankruptcy cases.

Also, you want a lawyer to be local. You want to meet with him, not just send emails and chat on the phone. Your California bankruptcy lawyer can educate you more in person than at any other point. You have more time to ask questions. Also, you’ll be able to get fair rates, a lawyer who knows California eligibility and federal bankruptcy code, and one who can save you time and headaches in paperwork.

Where to Find Lawyers
So you went online, queried a few lawyers, but you’re not finding a match. No problem, because the State Bar of California has a directory of all the lawyers in your area, what they specialize in, and how to contact them. If you’re in a small town, you might have to hire a lawyer a bit further away. That costs you only a little gas money; you can  and should meet with them.

Tips on What to Look For
Surprisingly, price may not be your first question. After all, this bankruptcy lawyer may have 20 years experience in helping people through bankruptcy, saving homes, stopping creditor harassment, and letting you keep other assets. That is more valuable than the lawyer fresh out of law school.

In either case, price is still an issue. Once you’ve gauged your prospects experience, ask about fees. While actually filing bankruptcy may seem easy, it’s in fact a precise science, and often you will have to appear in court, and always have to fill out a lot of papers. Hiring an experienced California bankruptcy lawyer makes this process simple. You can expect lawyers to charge from $1,000-$2,000, sometimes more.

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How Foreclosure Works and What To Do

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Let’s get right to the problem: how do you handle foreclosure? You’ve fallen behind on your house payments. Now, before you do anything, you need to consider your options. Technically, Chapter 7 bankruptcy will not save your home–you lose it in the liquidation. If you act quickly enough, you can file Chapter 13 bankruptcy in order to save your home.

What really is foreclosure?
Foreclosure means you’ve fallen behind in mortgage payments and your lender decides to sell your home. If you do nothing, you will lose the home. If you act before the lender decides to initiate foreclosure proceedings, you can in fact protect your home with what’s called an “automatic stay,” which stops the foreclosure from going through.

How can Chapter 13 help?
Chapter 7 is a liquidation, Chapter 13 a debt repayment plan. You pay nothing, in most cases, with Chapter 7 as your assets are sold. Chapter 13 means you still owe money, but your payments are restructured over 3-5 years. That means if you can stay current with the Chapter 13 repayment plan, you can keep your home.

Foreclosure Process
Here’s what happens if you fail to act quickly enough. This is what could happen if you wait too long to file, or if you do absolutely nothing.

First, you fall behind in mortgage payments. How soon is this? It varies in different states, but technically foreclosure can begin after one missed payment. However, few lenders act that quickly; the majority wait until you fall far behind.

Second, depending on the state, the lender will usually send a notice explaining their intent to foreclose your property. This is a ten day notice, and by this time it may be too late to file for Chapter 13 to save the home.

The lender’s next step is to file a lawsuit with the courts; if you can catch up with payments, this won’t happen. You have a chance to fight this case in court after being given a summons, by responding within a few weeks. This is your opportunity to prove to the judge that something is wrong with this process. At this point, you might consider hiring an attorney to help you. The best choice would clearly be to hire a bankruptcy attorney before this process is initiated.

The next steps are pretty straightforward: you are told of intent to sell if the courts don’t stop it, an auction is held on your home, and you are either evicted or allowed to stay.

That last step, where you are either evicted or allowed to stay, depends on the state. Many states allow you to stay in the home until you are given an official eviction notice.

Steps to Avoid Foreclosure
These laws can be navigated if you take immediate action. Since the time involved depends on the lender, the court, and the market for your home, sometimes you have more time and sometimes you have little if any. There are few ways to gauge how this will work in terms of time. So upon falling behind in payments, if it’s clear you won’t be able to catch up, contact a bankruptcy attorney. The good news is, with Chapter 13 filing, you can save your home.

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Before You Go into Foreclosure, Consider Hiring a Bankruptcy Attorney

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Did you know you can avoid or delay foreclosure by working with an attorney?

Filing bankruptcy can be scary. It sounds like throwing in the towel. Yet no matter how the economy is doing, no matter if you’re employed or unemployed, and no matter the size of your family, things happen. That may be a simple way of putting it, but when a $10,000 medical bill comes in, you fall behind on mortgage payments, or you lose your job, there is nothing easy about it.

What are your options if you fall behind in bills or lose your job?

Depending on your situation, you may be eligible to file bankruptcy.

Why bankruptcy? Technically, Chapter 7 bankruptcy can eliminate the majority of your debts. But this guide isn’t about eliminating debts, but helping you save your home from foreclosure.

You can, in fact, hire a bankruptcy attorney to save your home from foreclosure. If the lender on your home offers no way out, if they make it clear they won’t or can’t work with you, you might have to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 13 bankruptcy includes in it the “automatic stay,” whereby you can save your home from foreclosure. This may sound too good to be true, and there is some fine print.

If you wait too long to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and hiring an attorney, technically the lender can file for a motion to lift the stay. Meaning: the automatic stay will be invalid. Also, they can appeal directly to the court to lift the motion at some point during the Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In both cases, you still have a very good chance of saving your home, especially if you have an experienced bankruptcy attorney.

What is Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
Chapter 13 bankruptcy is different than the more common Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Usually, filers have more in the way of assets. If you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, as long as you stay current on bills and the debt repayment plan, you can keep all of your assets.

While Chapter 7 is a liquidation where assets are sold to pay back debtors and your debts are discharged, Chapter 13 bankruptcy buys you time to pay back assets and can delay foreclosure proceeding — effectively saving your home.

How do you file Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be very simple, especially if you hire an experienced bankruptcy attorney. You will have to appear before court in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but in a limited way.  Prior to the bankruptcy, you will have to take credit counseling with an approved agency. Once this is done, you pay the fee of $274 and file forms.

Hiring an  Attorney
Before even thinking of all the advantages of saving your home from foreclosure via Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you should query experienced bankruptcy attorneys in your area. This is simply a must. And when you hire one, make sure they are affordable, experienced, and not overloaded with clients.

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How to File Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in San Diego

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

The news is bad. You might lose your home through foreclosure, or you lost your job, or a loved one was in the hospital and the bills are piling up.

It doesn’t always work out that way, as each person’s reasons for filing any kind of bankruptcy are rarely the same. There are ways to 1) buy yourself some added time to pay back bills and 2) save your home from foreclosure. It’s file for Chapter 7 in San Diego, right?

That’s a decision this guide is going to help you make, along with how to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If at the end of this post you think Chapter 7 bankruptcy is your only option, it’s time to call a professional bankruptcy attorney in San Diego. If you feel Chapter 13 bankruptcy is best, hiring professional bankruptcy lawyers is just as important.

Choosing Between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in San Diego
This blog goes over these topics a lot, but all you need to know is where you’re at financially. If you face foreclosure of your home and want to keep it, filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in San Diego buys you years to pay back debts in installments and keep your home. If you feel you need to be rid of all your debts immediately, that 3-5 years just isn’t enough, filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in San Diego may be the best choice.

How  to File for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
You file a petition with the bankruptcy court in the San Diego area where you reside.

You must file, according to the US Courts: “a schedule of assets and liabilities;  schedule of current income and expenditures;  a schedule of executory contracts and unexpired leases; and a statement of financial affairs.

There is more to it than that, because after you must also file a certificate of credit counseling and a copy of a debt repayment plan you created through credit counseling. That means you need to show the court proof you’re actively working on creating a feasible budget to pay back assets, as no debts are being eliminated.

Next, you need to show evidence of payment from employers if you have any, within 60 days before filing. The last three steps are to show a statement of monthly net income,  note any expected increase in income, and any records you have in Federal or California (or your state) education accounts.

The Next Steps in Filing for Bankruptcy
There are more steps. The problem with filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy by yourself becomes clear here. It can be done and has been done, but hiring professional bankruptcy attorneys in San Diego can save you from making mistakes in documentation and at the hearing.

So you need to follow these steps too.
-Create a list of credits, debt amounts, and nature of their claims
-The source, amount, and frequency of your income
-A list of all your property, such as homes and vehicles
-A detailed list of all your monthly living expenses, from food to rent

Hire Professional Bankruptcy Attorneys in San Diego
Filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy is now more common than ever, though still most debtors try to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a liquidation. How to choose between types of bankruptcy, how to file all documentation, and how to handle creditors are all complex tasks. With the right bankruptcy lawyer in the San Diego area, you can focus on the future instead of the past.

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5 Ways Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorneys Can Help You

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Chapter 13 bankruptcy helps you do many things, including rebuilding credit, stopping foreclosure, saving other valuable possessions, and buying you an extended period of time to pay back outstanding bills. While Chapter 7 bankruptcy is all about cutting your losses and starting from scratch, Chapter 13 bankruptcy is different. It doesn’t take the debt away, but gives you considerable more time to rebuild your finances.

It’s wise to work with specialist Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys no matter where you live, from California to New York. Chapter 13 bankruptcy in New York and California works under the same laws, but not all bankruptcy attorneys are equal. Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys are really a must as filing is far from simple. But there are many attorneys, so how can you choose, how can they help, and what will it cost?
Let’s go over 5 clear ways professional bankruptcy attorneys can help you with Chapter 13 bankruptcy to answer those questions.

1-Stop Foreclosure
What happens if your home goes into foreclosure? Chapter 13 bankruptcy is the perfect solution for buying you more time to get help. It’s wise to get counsel with professional bankruptcy attorneys as to whether you should file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The advantage with Chapter 13 is you are better able to hold onto your home, because after filing you are legally protected from foreclosure for outstanding mortgage payments.

2-Save Your Car
The second most important item most individuals and families have is their car. Just like saving you from foreclosure, Chapter 13 bankruptcy saves your vehicle from the “repo” man. Your past due payments will be consolidated and you’ll get 3-5 years to pay them off.

3-Student Loan Problems
If you have outstanding student loans, times can be tight. Chapter 7 bankruptcy isn’t always wise here, as you can’t eliminate most student loan debts. However, just as you can stop foreclosure and avoid losing your car, you can consolidate your student loans and buy yourself some extra time to pay them off.

4-Paperwork in Filing for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Hiring bankruptcy attorneys is always a must no matter if you’ve decided on Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, even if you think you know the process. Bankruptcy is a complex task and is far from simple. A bankruptcy attorney can help you save your home, car, and relieve problems with other outstanding bills like student loans.

5-Handing the Case in Court
Lastly, the Chapter 13 bankruptcy hearing may be short, but there is a lot that goes on. Instead of risking mistakes, having professional counsel on hand to offer expertise is essential. If you need bankruptcy attorneys in New York, California, or any state, hire counsel you can trust.

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