NATIONAL
DIVORCE & BANKRUPTCY CENTER
Now In Our 14th Year!
Debtors get much needed 'breathing room' and discharge or reorganize
(chapter 13):
The
American economy is based on consumer debt. We
are constantly being urged
to 'buy-buy-buy'. The 1980's & 1990's were decades of readily available credit and
seductive pressures urging us to 'buy' goods and services at an unparalleled
rate. Many Americans have been 'led' into an almost
bottomless pit of insurmountable debt overload.
Others
suddenly face the reality that due to no fault of their own, they've been the
victim of the dramatic 'downsizing' of their wallett. For whatever the reason, countless Americans
face the daily reality that their debts far exceed their income
and there's no help on the
horizon. It's little wonder that economists predict the number of consumers
filing bankruptcy to continue to climb each year for at least the next decade.
Individual Consumers are not the only ones who
have fallen victim to the lure of credit. We live in an age
where the very financial institutions granting consumers credit required $500
billion tax-payer dollar bailouts to save them from themselves. Even
governing bodies, Orange County California, among them, have been forced to file
for the protection of federal bankruptcy to get the 'breathing room ' they
needed to 'regroup'.
The average credit card
balance is reported to be in excess of $2,500, with most households having at least three cards. The typical cardholder, in 1994, used about 10 different cards
for gas, groceries, retail and other credit items, including catalog orders and
has an average credit card debt of $25,000 .
It is not
unusual for a debtor's home to have multiple liens, for example (1).a
mortgage, (2). a home equity loan, and perhaps (3). a home improvement loan,
that add up to be more than the property's value leaving the debtor with no
equity interest in the property. (See Home
Loans for detailed information)
Because cars depreciate at a
rate usually faster than their payoff; the payoff on a
vehicle is often as much or more than the vehicle is worth in the market place based on the standard 'Blue
Book' value. (Exemptions generally allow debtors to keep their home, car,
personal property (i.e. furnishings, etc.) as a means to a fresh start). (See State By State
Exemptions
)
It is not surprising that many debtors find themselves in a position
of "...being
relegated to a lifetime of destitution or the functional equivalent of financial
indentured servitude from which they can never hope to recover."(House Report No.
103-835)
It is little wonder that
burdened with insurmountable debt, many debtors often feel angry with
themselves, their spouses, and even their creditors. Many
are embarrassed and feel like a failure. Facing and dealing with debt
problems and taking control takes courage and can be a turning point at which
the debtor is taking positive action to improve their life, learning from
past mistakes.
*Note: The following "Process" information was made available on an
internet news group bulletin board in 1995. [the pictures were added
as 'window dressing'.]
The Process of Chapter 7
The process is typically completed
in 3-6 months, depending on the court's schedule in your district and
requires you to mail in your paperwork, pay the filing fee,
and attend a brief 'hearing' or 'meeting' in your local area . The meeting is usually held at your local federal
court house or in towns without a federal court house, the meeting of
creditors is often held in the local post office.
-
File for Chapter 7 by simply mailing
your paperwork to the clerk's office in your district with the filing fee
of $200.
- Filing the initial petition for
bankruptcy automatically puts the tremendous power and protection of the
federal bankruptcy code in to effect to protect you and your property and
stop creditor's actions to collect from you - no phone calls, no threats, no
harassment.
-
Within 7-10 days The clerk will
notify your creditors
that you have filed, send you a Notice of Commencement of Case,
the appointment of the trustee, and notifies you of the date, time, and
place for the meeting.
- Within 40 days, you attend the
creditor's meeting
(approx.30 min)
-
Despite the name, very few (if
any) creditors actually attend the meeting which generally takes less than 30 minutes. The meeting's purpose is
to allow any creditors that do attend, as well as the Bankruptcy Trustee if
he chooses, an opportunity to ask any questions they may have about the
debtor's finances; for example; your income, expenses, number of dependents,
etc..
- The Court Grants your Discharge
of Debts.
- You will be mailed notice of a
Discharge of Debts
which 'officially' relieves you of any obligation to pay your discharged
debts. They are wiped out! You truly have a financial fresh start.
A few districts require you to attend a final discharge
hearing where there may be as many as several hundred debtors just like you who
all appear at one time to have their debts officially discharged. The discharge
proceeding often resembles that of a naturalization hearing where hundreds
of immigrants are sworn in as American citizens all at the same time as a
'group'. The discharge hearing (if you are required to attend) usually takes no
more than 30 minutes - 1 hour.
*End of Bulletin Board Posting.
Filing Fee in Chapter 7
The filing fee of $200 is the same
in every state because Bankruptcy is federal law.
Debtors processing their own bankruptcy without a lawyer pay the same filing fee that lawyers pay
. The fee is payable at the time you file (mail in) your paperwork.
The National Divorce & Bankruptcy Center is a
division of Pro Se Publications, Self-Help Center, which began in May of 1994
and provides the public with easy and inexpensive access to the courts without
the expense of hiring a lawyer. We help you better inform yourself about the
subject matters and procedures so that you can make your own informed decisions
- about the actions that affect your life.
We provide petition preparer services at low cost because
we are not lawyers and
do not provide 'legal advice'. Instead, our service
is limited to providing you with self-help information and providing quality
document preparation at your direction.
IN SHORT - We Help Our Customers Solve Their Own Problems;
Without Hiring a Lawyer
Petition Preparers:
"Using
a bankruptcy petition preparer, rather than a lawyer can be a relatively
inexpensive way to get your forms prepared for filing in court
. Bankruptcy petition preparers may not,
however, give legal advice, answer legal questions or represent you
in court - only lawyers may do those things."5
Document Preparation; The Paperwork
Once you have made the decision to file for bankruptcy, the next
step is to 'list' your financial information, (income, expenses, assets,
debts) into the worksheet and return it to our office with the $200 document
processing fee.
Your information will then
be processed, generating all of the required forms listed above
required to file and complete your bankruptcy and will be return mailed to
you ready for you to sign and mail in to the court clerk's office for
filing.
We have provided a printable Work-Sheet
Just point - click - print! to help you gather information and to ensure (as much as possible) that
you don't overlook any debts or property that could affect the accuracy of your
paperwork.
The provided Work-Sheet can be used by 'clicking'
on the Work-Sheet and then simply clicking on your
browser's print icon and printing out the work-sheet/form, or saving the
work-sheet and completing it using your own word processing program.
Paperwork & Fees: Know What You Are Paying For:
All of
the following paperwork is required to file and complete a chapter 7
bankruptcy and is included
in
the paperwork we return to you - ready to be filed:
-
Petition
- >
Schedules A-J
-
Summary of Schedules
- >
Declaration Concerning Debtor's Schedules
-
Statement of Financial Affairs
- >
Statement of Assistance By Non-Attorney in Regard to Filing
-
Mailing Matrix
- >
Verification of Mailing Matrix
-
Individual Debtor's Statement of Intention
[*Note: in a chapter 13, a blank plan form for proposing a
repayment plan is also provided in addition to the above forms listed.]
All of the above listed paperwork necessary
to process a bankruptcy, complete with your information will be return mailed
by 1st class USPS to you within 5 business days of receipt of your worksheet
and payment of the $200.00 document processing fee (most within
72 hours).
Work-Sheet
Just point - click - print!
1.How To File For Bankruptcy; Nolo Press Berkeley; 10th
Edition; 1998; Elias, Renauer, Leonard.
2. Personal Bankruptcy; Nolo Press Berkeley; 1st Edition; 1997; Elias, Renauer,
Leonard
3. ibid.
>
4. ibid.
5. ibid.
FILING BANKRUPTCY IMMEDIATELY STOPS: 
Alternate order form
e-mail a physical address
and a form will be rushed to you via U.S. Postal; OR