Bankruptcy
Are the phone calls driving you insane? Do you receive calls every day, from morning until night? Is your mail getting more threatening? Have you been served with papers telling you that you are being sued because you are behind on your bills? Is it possible that you might lose your house? Is the stress taking a toll on your personal relationships? If you are in the middle of this kind of insanity, believe it or not, filing for bankruptcy might be the best decision you ever make. Some people feel embarrassed about taking advantage of this solution, but with Michigan’s economy in the dumps and local unemployment rates among the highest in the country, scraping by financially is getting harder and harder. There is no shame in filing for bankruptcy, especially under these conditions. Debt forgiveness is an option provided to you under the law. Debts were cyclically forgiven in the Bible, so what are you waiting for? Is it worth getting divorced or ruining your health just to avoid taking advantage of an option that will immediately improve your quality of life?
Here are some of the benefits of filing:
• You can stop creditor calls and even sue them if they harass you once they know you have filed
• If you have pending law suits, you will not have to go to court again
• If your house is heading into foreclosure, we can stop the process and give you a chance to see if your house can be saved
• If your utilities are about to be turned off, we can get you a grace period and avoid shut offs before filing
• Most people can keep all of the things they want to keep as long as they don’t have a lot of “toys” or excess equity in their homes
• If you have car or boat payments that you can no longer afford, you can surrender the asset to the bank and not worry about being sued
• If you have a 401k, don’t touch it! It can probably be saved in a bankruptcy
• You will have immediate peace of mind because you will no longer be harassed
Certain types of debts cannot be discharged, so you will need to keep this in mind if they apply to you:
• Student loans, Child Support, Alimony or Property Settlements in a divorce
• Tax debt
• Certain civil judgments, such as judgments for fraud or from purposely harming someone; however, run-of-the-mill judgments that were obtained against you for failing to pay a financial obligation are dischargeable
• Court fines and restitution from a criminal matter
The cost of bankruptcy is reasonable—we can get your paperwork started for $300 down and file your case once you have paid $1300. If you qualify for a Chapter 7 filing, $1300 will be your total cost except for credit counseling classes which run approximately $75. We allow you to make payments toward the $1300 while we work up your case. If you qualify to file a Chapter 13, additional fees apply, but they are taken out of your repayment-plan payments, so they do not really come out of your pocket and do not need to be paid up-front.
Determining whether or not you qualify for a Chapter 7 total discharge bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 debt restructuring bankruptcy requires case-by-case analysis. If you would like to meet to discuss your case, I offer a free initial consult over the phone or in the office, so call to set one up. During that consult, I can explain the differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 in more detail and advise you of your options.