HOW IT WORKS -
cHAPTER 13
We help you start your Chapter 13 with very little money out of pocket usually $199. We also ask you to make your first Chapter 13 plan payment to help your plan get confirmed with a lower chance of extra hearings. This makes it easier to file when you are just getting back to work or have a garnishment running! The Chapter 13 plan is based on income, expenses, amounts to repay secured debt and protecting equity in your assets and repayment to unsecured creditors. Everyone’s Chapter 13 plan is different due to their individual circumstances. The Chapter 13 Trustee collects the money from your paycheck and pays it to your creditors. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy lets you set a repayment plan paying your secured creditors, such as house, car or furniture and catching up those payments that are behind while protecting your property.
The unsecured creditors, credit cards, payday loans, medical bills are paid back at a percentage of the debt from 1% to 100% with interest depending on your income, expenses and equity in real and personal property.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy stops creditors from foreclosing on property or repossessing vehicles. Chapter 13 stops wage garnishments and gives you a chance to repay debts while under the protection of the Bankruptcy Court.
When you file for bankruptcy protection, the Bankruptcy Case is filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. You must have a pre-bankruptcy certificate to file a bankruptcy. We help our clients with that process. The pre-bankruptcy class helps you look at your budget and see where you can make changes to help you stretch your paycheck.
Chapter 13 plans often offer a repayment plan that is less than a debt consolidation plan offered by most credit counseling agencies. Bankruptcy also protects you from being sued on the debts being repaid under the approved plan. Credit consolidation plans do not protect you from being sued.
EXEMPTIONS AND PROTECTIONS
The exemption for personal property (items that can be protected for you – for example, cash in the bank, paid for cars, jewelry and furniture) is $10,000 per person and $20,000 per married couple.
Chapter 13 will stop foreclosures and allow past due mortgage payments to be caught up over the life of the Chapter 13 plan. Chapter 13 should be filed before the date of the foreclosure to ensure proper notice to the mortgage company. Chapter 13 will also stop the IRS from garnishing your wages or selling your property. It allows you to make repayment of the tax debt while stopping the penalties and interest from running. (The Chapter 13 is NOT a dispute of the amount owed.)
Chapter 13 is often available if you have filed and received a Discharge in a prior Chapter 7 within 8 years. You may be eligible to file a bankruptcy even if you have filed before!
Chapter 13 protects necessary property such as your house or your car. A repayment plan allows those with any regular source of income to pay back debt over a period of 3 to 5 years. This results in a drastically lower payment on secured debts, thus relieving the “cash crunch” for most people.
Federal income taxes may be paid back with no interest.
The Chapter 13 Trustee facilitates payment to the creditors. Their job is to ensure you pay your unsecured creditors as much as you can, as fast as you can. The Chapter 13 Trustee has a website for case comments and information: http://considerchapter13.org/ The Chapter 13 Trustee in Nashville offers a Financial Management Class that you schedule on the Trustee’s website at http://www.ch13nsh.com/debtored/ch13class.aspx
The Chapter 13 plan requires all disposable income go to your repayment plan —- so if you inherit money, win the lottery, or get a lawsuit, you must turn over that money to the Trustee for your creditors. Failure to pay all of your disposable income to the plan may result in dismissal of your case or conversion to a Chapter 7 and loss of the asset. Tell your lawyer if you have a possible lawsuit or inheritance. Even if you have not filed the lawsuit yet. Failure to list the possible asset may cause you to lose the asset and your discharge in bankruptcy.
We partner with a third party ad network to either display advertising on our Web site or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our ad network partner uses cookies and Web beacons to collect non-personally identifiable information about your activities on this and other Web sites to provide you targeted advertising based upon your interests. If you wish to not have this information used for the purpose of serving you targeted ads, you may opt-out by clicking here (Link to TRUSTe global opt-out: http://preferences.truste.com/). Please note this does not opt you out of being served advertising. You will continue to receive generic ads.