Bolingbrook Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Serving Aurora, Orland Park, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn and Surrounding Cities
With my experience in handling various bankruptcy cases, I am able to quickly assess what form of bankruptcy is the most suited to my client’s situation.
If you qualify for a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy I can help you reorganize your current debt and determine an appropriate payment plan while enabling you to keep your home, cars and other property.
One of the benefits for this particular form of bankruptcy is that it enables you to keep your assets without having to liquidate them, while only paying a fraction of your unsecured debt. To find out if you qualify for chapter 13 bankruptcy or for a free consultation, contact our office today.
After 19 years of helping clients file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy the majority of my clients file for three common scenarios:
A. Save Home from Foreclosure – life throws curve balls at us and sometimes we get knocked off track. If you fall behind in your mortgage payments filing a Ch 13 bankruptcy can stop the foreclosure and allow you to get back on track. Time is of the essence, however, as the Ch 13 filing must occur prior to the judicial sale.
B. High Earner Debtor(s) – those debtors who are unable to qualify under the Ch 7 means test can still file under Ch 13 to stop any accruing interest and/or late penalties and to propose a workable plan to have their creditors paid off in 5 years or less.
C. Too much equity in Debtor’s Property – the majority of Ch 7 debtors who file do not have to relinquish any property to the Ch 7 trustee because the exemptions are adequate to protect their property; however, in cases where the debtor has too much equity in any one property and doesn’t want to risk losing it in a Ch 7, a Ch 13 would provide a safer alternative. Mr. Bauer works with his Ch 13 clients to propose a workable repayment plan to have it confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court.
Chapter 13 is a proceeding defined in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code meant to protect debtors from their creditors. Chapter 13 ensures that your unsecured creditors are paid as much as possible of what they are owed. In a chapter 13 bankruptcy all of your debts are combined into one managable monthly payment. Penalties and interest are typically removed so 100% of what is being paid to your unsecured creditors goes to the principal balance. A chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan is much more beneficial then simply continuing to pay your monthly minimum credit card payments. If you were to pay the minimum payment each month on your credit cards it would take approximately 25 or so years to pay in full, however, paying them through a Chapter 13 payment plan will take 5 years or less. That is so because a Chapter 13 payment plan can last no longer than 5 years and the majority of time your monthly plan payment is lower than the total of your minimum monthly credit card payments.
The main difference between a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is that in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy a plan payment must be paid to your trustee for a period of typically 36 – 60 months before you receive a “discharge” of your debts. Whereas in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy your case typically lasts 3-5 months without any payments being paid to your trustee before you receive a “discharge” of your debts. A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is ideal for those who are unable to qualify for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy due to higher income, those who own personal or real property that have too much equity in which the Illinois exemptions are unable to protect, or for those who are facing an Illinois home foreclosure and want to save their home.
Yes. If saving your home is your goal, a chapter 13 bankruptcy filed in time will stop foreclosure and allow you to “make up” the past payments over time. If you are facing foreclosure and would like more information, contact my office today to speak to an experienced Illinois Bankruptcy Attorney.
Yes. If this is your goal, please call and take advantage of our free initial consultation in either our Aurora, Bolingbrook or Oak Forest offices so we can talk about how the law applies to your unique situation. In the case that your home has dramatically reduced in value, there are ways to reduce or eliminate a second mortgage once it becomes “wholly unsecured.” Again, the laws around this process are complicated and it’s important that you are getting advice that is custom tailored to your specific situation. Call today for a free consultation.
Get In Touch
If you are seeking legal representation, contact me online or call me at 708-687-8000 for a free consultation today.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
I am very grateful and thankful to Mr. Bauer, it is because of his assistance and guidance that my wife and I were able to save our home and start a new life without our former credit card debt. Thank you.
Tim F. Lemont, IL