FAQ

Bankruptcy is designed to help you get out from under the burden of your debts. To protect your property, lower your stress level and let you start sleeping again, and to regain control of your financial future.

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Yes, and they are known by the title of the Chapter of the Federal Bankruptcy Act in which they appear. Each “Chapter” contains a different set of laws and rules.

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Chapter 7 is the most frequently used chapter because it involves the complete liquidation of a debtor’s property, with the proceeds used to pay off the debts. However, the debtor can retain certain exempt property under Federal law and/or State law, such as tools of one’s trade, limited equity in a car and house, and some personal effects. If you use Chapter 7 you may lose your home (depending on your state) but it does enable you to get out from under the burden of debt more quickly.

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Chapter 11 is typically used for business bankruptcies and restructuring. It is not commonly used by individual consumers since it is far more complex and expensive to pursue. It allows businesses to reorganize themselves, giving them an opportunity to restructure debt and get out from under certain burdensome leases and contracts. Typically a business is allowed to continue to operate while it is in Chapter 11, although it does so under the supervision of the Bankruptcy Court and its appointees.

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Chapter 12 allows farmers with real estate debts to pay off the debts from the profits generated by future crops.

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Chapter 13, which has also been known as a wage earner’s plan, is used by about 25% of consumers. In Chapter 13, consumers work out a periodic payment plan with their creditors to pay off their debts, or at least substantial portions of the debt. Generally the creditors expect to get more than they would have received from the debtor’s estate if the debtor had sought a complete liquidation under Chapter 7.

One of the important benefits of Chapter 13 is that debtors generally continue to live in their home so long as they comply with the terms of the Chapter 13 arrangement. If the debtor fails to comply, the Court treats the matter as a Chapter 7 liquidation. The disadvantage of Chapter 13 to the debtor is that the debts can linger for years, burdening future income.

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Nobody can tell you whether or not bankruptcy will work for you. However, the Florida bankruptcy attorneys at Matthew Mazur, P.A. can help you decide whether to file based on your current financial picture. Some reasons to consider filing bankruptcy include inability to pay monthly minimums, impending foreclosures or property seizures due to non-payment, and/or inability to pay off debt due to adverse financial circumstances such as the death of a partner, a severe illness, or a lost job.

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Florida residents have three options when it comes to filing bankruptcy: Chapter 7, Chapter 13 and Chapter 12. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is also referred to as “straight” or “clean slate” bankruptcy. This option wipes out all applicable debt immediately. Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows the individual to create a payment plan to wipe out debt over several years of payment. Chapter 12 bankruptcy is a special process only available for family farmers and fishermen and follows slightly different procedures than the more common Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 proceedings.

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A bankruptcy is a matter of public record. However there are so many filings each year that unless someone is specifically trying to find information on you, it is not likely that anyone will even know you filed.

More likely than not, the only people who will know about a filing are your creditors and the people you tell. We recommend that you be careful who you tell that you have filed bankruptcy, as it is just good gossip for some people. So, if you do not want everyone to know that you have filed for bankruptcy, you need to keep it to yourself.

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Once discharged through bankruptcy your debts are erased; in other words you are no longer responsible for paying them.

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Most people who file for bankruptcy do not lose everything. There are exemptions in Florida that protect certain kinds of property. In rare situations where you have more property than can be protected under the available exemptions, you can file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, in which a plan can typically be developed to let you keep this property by paying back more to your unsecured creditors.

It should be noted, that filing bankruptcy does not generally wipe out mortgages or liens against your property. If you want to keep your car, home, or business equipment that may serve as collateral for a loan, you need to keep paying on that debt. If you make these payments and have exemptions that cover any value above what you owe, then you can rest assured that you will be able to keep these items.

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Actually, you are more likely to get credit after you file, than if you don’t file. Filing bankruptcy gets rid of debt. Getting rid of debt puts you in a position to handle more credit. This makes you look more attractive to banks, credit card companies and other lenders. At first, the banks, credit card companies and other lenders will want more money down and will want to charge you higher interest rates. However, if you are careful, keep your job, start saving money, pay your bills, and do things that put good marks on your credit report, the quality of your credit will get better and better over time.

Generally, if a client has not re-established good credit in 2 to 4 years, sufficient to even buy or refinance a house, it’s not because they filed bankruptcy. It generally means that something else has happened after the bankruptcy to hurt their credit.

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The answer really depends on your financial picture. An individual with serious financial difficulties would most likely find Chapter 7 “straight” bankruptcy proceeding as the preferred type. A Chapter 7 proceeding, used by approximately 70% of all consumers filing bankruptcy petitions, is faster to complete, giving the debtor a financial “fresh start” without the years of sacrifice.

On the other hand, a Chapter 13 plan offers an alternative if you have a steady income, a stable job, and want to pay off most or all of your debts.

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If you have very few assets with no property and your assets can be exempted then Chapter 7 may be right for you as long as you have no other obligations such as court ordered alimony, child support payments, criminal restitution, non-dischargeable taxes, or student loans. (list of non-dischargeable items) Many national creditors prefer that you file Chapter 7 if they cannot recover at least 50 cents on the dollar.

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Florida places restrictions on who may file for straight bankruptcy through Chapter 7. They use a median income test to qualify individuals for bankruptcy. If you make less than Florida’s mean income, you are immediately eligible; however, if you make more than the median, you will be subject to a formula which takes into consideration your last six months of income, factors like child support, alimony or overdue taxes, and current payments and debt obligations. If this formula shows that you can pay at least $6,000 in debt over the next five years, you will be denied the option of Chapter 7 and forced into Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

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It depends. Florida does allow you to keep alimony and child support money, proceeds from life insurance or retirement, benefits like unemployment insurance or Social Security, and even your home. However, Florida bankruptcy does not wipe out certain debts, such as tax obligations, most student loans, and obligations to pay child support or alimony.

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It depends. Florida does allow you to keep alimony and child support money, proceeds from life insurance or retirement, benefits like unemployment insurance or Social Security, and even your home. However, Florida bankruptcy does not wipe out certain debts, such as tax obligations, most student loans, and obligations to pay child support or alimony.

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Filing bankruptcy gets rid of certain debt. Getting rid of these debts will free up money for you to better take care of your family. Freeing up money to better take care of your family allows you to put your life back in order. Putting your family first is good and honorable and noble. It means you are a good person.

Lots of honest, hard working people run into financial difficulties. With the way the economy is today more and more families are running into hard times. There are many good reasons why almost 1,000,000 families file for bankruptcy every year. The lose of a job, a major medical problem, failed business, to name a few are major reasons families file for bankruptcy, not because the are bad people.

Bankruptcy was created to help people during severe financial hardships. It was designed to provide families with a way to start over with a clean slate.

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A bankruptcy will be on your credit report for up to ten years. More likely than not, if you are filing bankruptcy your credit is already in pretty bad shape. The bankruptcy will actually help your credit in the long run. It will enable you to start with a clean slate and rebuild your credit history. Your credit report will indicate that you filed bankruptcy, but just because that is on your report does not necessarily mean you can not get credit. If you have not re-established good credit in 2 to 4 years following your bankruptcy, chances are that it has nothing to do with your bankruptcy.

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Whether married couples should file a joint petition or a single one depends on various factors: type of property, the amount of community debt involved, and how the property is held (e.g., community, joint tenancy, or an estate-by-the entirety–see “Real Estate”).

Filing together eliminates the separate debts of you and your spouse and all the jointly-held marital debts. Filing alone leaves the non-bankrupt spouse still liable for his or her share of joint debts, but wipes out the spouse’s separate debts and his/her share of the joint debts.

If you are legally separated, have divided your property, and taken care of all the financial considerations, your best option may be to have your spouse go it alone. If all the debts were incurred before you were married, there is no point in having you both file.

However, the bankruptcy court takes a dim view if the non-bankrupt spouse is merely holding the property or has received the property from the bankrupt spouse within one year of filing bankruptcy. In this case, this transaction is considered fraudulent, and the property will be turned over to the bankruptcy trustee.

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If you want to file for bankruptcy on your own, I wish you the best of luck. Make sure that you get yourself some good books, review the bankruptcy court rules and be prepared to spend a lot of time preparing your filing. It is not impossible, but it is very difficult for someone who is unfamilar with the Bankruptcy Courts to file a bankruptcy. It has been done before, but I am not sure that the people who have done it would do it again.

With the help of Matthew Mazur, P.A. filing for bankruptcy is easy. The decision to file may be the toughest decision you will ever make. However, once you make that decision and you contact us to assist you, the filing will be easy. We pride ourselves on providing quality legal services, that allow our clients to move on with their lives and secure their financial futures.

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If you want to file for bankruptcy on your own, I wish you the best of luck. Make sure that you get yourself some good books, review the bankruptcy court rules and be prepared to spend a lot of time preparing your filing. It is not impossible, but it is very difficult for someone who is unfamilar with the Bankruptcy Courts to file a bankruptcy. It has been done before, but I am not sure that the people who have done it would do it again.

With the help of Matthew Mazur, P.A. filing for bankruptcy is easy. The decision to file may be the toughest decision you will ever make. However, once you make that decision and you contact us to assist you, the filing will be easy. We pride ourselves on providing quality legal services, that allow our clients to move on with their lives and secure their financial futures.

If you have any questions that were not answered here, please contact us for a free consultation.

Yes. The minute your bankruptcy is filed, the Bankruptcy Court issues an order called an “Automatic Stay.” This order tells all of your creditors to leave you alone. If they don’t obey that order they will have a problem. It prohibits creditors and collection agencies from initiating any further collection actions against you. They are not even allowed to call you anymore.

If one of your creditors violates the automatic stay, you have the right to bring that creditor before the Bankruptcy court on a contempt charge and be compensated accordingly. Bankruptcy Judges do not like it when their orders are ignored by creditors and collection agencys.

Once you file your bankruptcy there will be no more phone calls, no more collection letters, no more collection lawsuits, no more repossessions, no more foreclosure actions, no more threats. You will be able to take the first step to regain your family’s financial future.

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It depends whether you file a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13. A Chapter 7 debtor can wipe out federal income taxes if all the following are met: the IRS had not filed a prior tax lien on the assets you own (if they have, the lien survives bankruptcy, which means that the government may still seize property to collect the discharged tax debts); you didn’t file fraudulently or try to evade paying your taxes; your liability is for a tax return filed at least two years prior to the bankruptcy; the tax return was due more than three years ago; and tax deficiencies that were assessed on prior returns were assessed at least 240 days prior to the filing of the bankruptcy. In a Chapter 13 filing, you’ll pay the IRS as part of your repayment plan.

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Under Chapter 7 you can file once ever eight years. If you have previously filed a Chapter 13 and received a discharge and want to file a Chapter 7 you must wait 6 years from the date of your Chapter 13 filing. If you want to file a Chapter 13 and you previously filed a Chapter 7 and received a discharge, the wait is only 4 years. If you want to file a Chapter 13 after you have previously filed a Chapter 13 and received a discharge, the wait is only 2 years.

If a prior bankruptcy case was dismissed as opposed to discharged, there is no required wait time between bankruptcy filings, barring a rare court order to the contrary. However, it the bankruptcy was dismissed within the last 12 months, there may be issues with the automatic stay protection that you need to be aware of. If you are in this situation you should hire a bankruptcy attorney to assist you.

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No. It is against the law. Under the Bankruptcy code, when you file for bankruptcy, you have to list all of your property and all of your debts. If you want to keep paying on specific debts, you are able to do so. After you file, there are some debts that you have to keep paying. For example, if you have a car, even though it is listed as a debt in your bankruptcy, if you want to keep it you have to keep making your payments. As long as you stay current on the loan and keep the car insured, you are protected under the law and you get to keep it.

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You can rebuild your credit immediately with a secured loan or credit card. In fact you can even obtain these items while going through the bankruptcy process.

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You can rebuild your credit immediately with a secured loan or credit card. In fact you can even obtain these items while going through the bankruptcy process.

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Chapter 7 takes between 3 to 8 months. Chapter 13 can take several months while trying to get your repayment plan approved. However, the actual discharge is not final until you’ve met the payment plan requirements which takes from 36 to 60 months to complete.

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Rebuilding credit depends on how aggressively you try to get back on track, but don’t figure less than 1-3 years. Remember, you can always get a secured credit card or a mortgage with a low loan to value (LTV) and high interest rate, sometimes even still in the middle of a bankruptcy.

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You didn’t actually exempt the vehicle (or any asset) you really only exempted the equity (if any) in the asset . So, if you have a loan for $17,000 on a vehicle worth $20,000 then you exempt $3,000. However this does not mean you get to keep the car free. You only keep the vehicle if you make payments on it.

On the other hand, if the situation was reversed and you owed $20,000 on a vehicle worth only $17,000 then you could choose to simply give the vehicle back and owe nothing. One of the advantages to filing bankruptcy.

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You become personally liable for the debt again. For instance, in the vehicle example above if you kept the car and made payments the creditor would probably want you to sign a new contract (reaffirm) for the vehicle.

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No. But your shares go to the trustee and may restrict your voting and transferring privileges.

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Individuals may file for Chapter 11 in some circumstances.

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No, you will meet with a trustee and your creditors at a meeting called 341.

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Find assets with equity, liquidate them and then pay off the secured creditors. If any money is left then they also pay unsecured creditors based on priority.

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In most cases, you can buy them back from the trustee.

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Only the judge will decide if it may be dismissed or not. Even if you get the case dismissed your credit report will still show that you filed.

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In Chapters 11 and 13 you may negotiate with your creditors out of court. In a Chapter 7 you may do a workout if the trustee abandons the property.

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When the liquidation value of an asset cannot pay off the secured creditors, the trustee “abandons” it, or simply gives it back to the debtor. Although you’ve been discharged from the obligation, if a workout can not be achieved or payments made, you’ll probably lose the property at a foreclosure.

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When you file Bankruptcy, you receive an “automatic stay” on court actions such as foreclosures and sheriff’s sales. A creditor can still go into court and ask the bankruptcy judge for a “relief from stay”, and if granted the creditor can proceed with court action to foreclose.

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You filed a chapter 7. You fail to file a reorganization plan or other required documents on time . You default on your scheduled Chapter 13 or Chapter 11 payments. Your income is insufficient to execute a reorganization plan within the court’s guidelines. The asset in question will not be needed to reorganize. The value of the asset is rapidly eroding.

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If you truly cannot make payments on your home or other assets you’re probably better off filing Chapter 7 and using the money you would have spent on Chapter 13 to survive on.

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No, you should include all debts.

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Yes, it’s called “motion to convert” and can be done after you’ve filed for either chapter, be advised that the trustee can also request a conversion!

For instance, if your chapter 13 fails, either you or the creditor, may request a conversion to chapter 7. Likewise if the trustee thinks money might be available for unsecured creditors they may make a motion to convert your chapter 7 to a chapter 13.

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After filing you can exempt certain items such as a house or pedigree dog. However, in order to keep these items you’ll need to stay current on payments such as a mortgage or car payment.

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After all exemptions have been exhausted, you may still be able to buy back from the trustee certain assets.

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As long as there was no joint debt, your credit will not be affected. However, any future join credit purchases will depend upon the member with the worst credit history. On the other hand, if there was joint debt and only one member filed, then the member who did not file will be help responsible for the entire debt.

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No. There are exemptions and depending on your circumstances bankruptcy may or may not make sense for you. You must decide whether, after the bankruptcy, you will be better or worse off.

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In general:Liens, such as mortgages and security interests in cars are non-dischargeable as are some other types of obligations including: Federal, State and local tax claims (subject to specific time rules); Customs duties; Spousal and Child support; Most student loans; Secured debts; Fines and penalties imposed by government agencies; Debts incurred due to false statements made with the intent to deceive; Fraud committed in a fiduciary capacity, such as embezzlement or larceny; Punitive damage claims for “willful and malicious” acts; Debts not list on the forms filed with the Court; and Drunk driving obligations.

A non-dischargeable debt is one that will survive the bankruptcy proceeding. The debtor still has the obligation to pay this debt; the creditor has every right to collect.

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Yes, this means that the creditor is asking that the debtor pay the debt anyway, even after it has been discharged. A debtor may be willing to do this if there is a co-signer or guarantor of the debt (such as a family member, friend or employer) that the debtor does not wish to leave saddled with the debt.

Also, a debtor may want to reaffirm a debt in order to avoid having a secured creditor take the collateral provided for the debt. A creditor may also ask a debtor to reaffirm the debt before he (the creditor) will agree to do business with the debtor again.

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A pay day loan seems like an easy solution to your problem, but it is not. Pay day loans are used to borrow against your future paycheck. These loans charge extremely high rates of interest, which will most likely make your problems worse.

Payday lenders prey on people who do not have bank accounts. People without bank accounts who use pay day loans will typically take out 11 loans a year. People using pay day loans can easily fall behind and make their situation worse.

There are better options to Payday loans. The easiest is to get a bank account and manage your money. You can apply for a line of credit with the bank once you establish a history with them. You should also get overdraft protection for your account. You may also want to check with a local credit union. If these are not options, you could always check with your employer to see whether or not you can get an advance on your pay.

Pay day loans should never be an option if you are having problems paying your bills, as you will end up with even more problems then you started with before taking out the pay day loan if you cannot pay the loan when it is due.

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Most states employ “equitable distribution” in dividing marital (community) property as a result of the dissolution of marriage (divorce). Instead of a strict fifty-fifty split (in which each spouse receives exactly one-half of the marital or separate property), equitable distribution looks at the financial situation that each spouse will be in after the termination of the marriage. While equitable distribution is more flexible, it is harder to predict the actual outcome, since the various factors are subjectively weighed.

Factors considered in equitable distribution include: Earning power of the spouses (one might be much greater than the other); Separate property of the spouses (one might be greater in value than the other); One spouse having done all the work to acquire the property; The value that one spouse contributed as the home-maker for the family; Economic fault of one spouse in wasting and dissipating marital property; Duration of the marriage; Age and relative health of the spouses; The responsibility for providing for children of the marriage; Spousal abuse or marital infidelity (to penalize the offending spouse)

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It depends upon what you want to do and what access you have to money to settle your debts. Debt Negotiation is not for anyone. If you have debts that you want to resolve and are willing to work with us to come up with a plan then it may be right for your situation. If you are looking for a way to string along your creditors then Debt Negotiation is not right for you.

The purpose of our Debt Negotiation service is to help you resolve your debts without filing bankruptcy. In order to work, you have to be willing and able to pay your creditors the negotiated amount we settled your debt for. If you do not think you will be able to come up with money to use to settle your debts or that you will not be able to save money to settle your debts over the next six months, Debt Negotiation is not for you. You should strongly consider bankruptcy.

Debt Negotiation can work if you are able to save money to provide funds for us to negotiate with. We cannot effectively negotiate for you if you have no money to use to settle your debts. Again, if this is the case,you should seriously evaluate bankruptcy as a way to resolve your financial difficulties.

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If you do not have all the money needed to pay all of your debts at one time, we will work with them to set up a plan for them to save enough money to start negotiating with their creditors. You need to be honest with yourself and determine if you are going to be able to save money ove the next six months to allow us to try and negotiate some of your debts. If after an honest evaluation you realize that it you will not be able to save money then you need to consider bankruptcy as an option.

If you honestly believe that you will be able to save up enough money to allow us to negotiate with your creditors, then start saving today.

We will negotiate with each of your creditors as you save sufficient money to pay the estimated payoff. We usually request that you try to save at least 60% of the balance due, just in case the creditor is difficult. Additionally, with some creditors we are able to set up payment plans on negotiated payoffs. In these cases, you will be required to make monthly payments to your creditors and if you miss any of them the settlement will be lost and you will be back at square one.

Debt Negotiation can work, if you go into it with the right expectations and a mindset that you are going to work with us over the next 6 to 18 months to settle your debts.

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Usually the best debts to settle first are the ones with higher interest rates. However, if you are behind on any payments, consider eliminating those debts first, as this will eliminate a delinquencies on your credit report.

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During the debt negotiation process we negotiate to have your accounts either deleted or corrected after payment. A deleted collection account no longer affects your credit score. A corrected collection account that reflects “paid with a zero balance”, can improve your credit score.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that your collection account will be deleted because some creditors refuse to delete. In these situations, we will request a correction be entered on the collection account, but we cannot guarantee that your creditor will enter a correction.

Some creditors may report your settlement to the major credit bureaus. However, when trying to get out of debt, and protect your credit as much as possible, debt settlement can be an economical option for you.

Debt negotiation can affect your credit rating, at least temporarily, so don’t attempt debt negotiation unless you are willing to accept this possibility.

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We do not advertise our bankruptcy fees on our website, because we do not want them to be used in a bidding war with other attorneys. That is not fair to our firm or the other attorneys. Our fees are reasonable and are disclosed during our initial consultation with individuals who are serious about retaining our firm. To find out about the specific fee we would charge to handle your case, contact us today for a free consultation.

Our fees for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy cases are on a flat fee basis, meaning you pay us one fee, up front, prior to filing your case. Payment for legal services related to Chapter 7 Bankruptcy cases must be received in full before we can file your case.

Beware of law firms that advertise payment plans for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy cases , as in our view this is misleading, because there is not one firm that will file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case without being paid in full. The reason for this is that if a law firm files a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case without being paid in full, they become an unsecured creditor on the portion of their fee that remains unpaid at the time of filing.

Also, beware of law firms that offer a small down payment to start your bankruptcy or offer payment plans to begin working on your bankruptcy petition. These law firms typically open a file on a client in their office and that is it. The client’s case has not yet actually been filed with the bankruptcy court. So while the client’s file is open in the law firm’s office and the client is making payments, the client still does not have a bankruptcy court case number nor does the client have any bankruptcy protections.

Our fees in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy cases do not include the Bankruptcy Court’s filing fees.

Additionally, our fees do not cover the cost of the mandatory credit counseling course that is required by the Bankruptcy Court. You will be required to take a credit counseling course which you can take over the internet or telephone. The fee for the credit counseling course is approximately $50.00.

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