Stopping the Creditor Harassment

Once you retain Esquire Law Center for your bankruptcy proceedings, we immediately put you into our database as a client. Each and every client is afforded the right at that point to funnel all calls from creditors to Esquire Law Center. When you hire us, the creditors are legally disallowed from calling you and must contact us for any questions they might have.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is what's known as "liquidation". In a Chapter 7, there is no repayment plan (as opposed to a Chapter 13). You simply walk away from your debt and receive what's known as a "fresh start". However, it is not as simple as it seems as you must qualify for a Chapter 7. To qualify one must either pass the "means" test or be under the state median income. Furthermore, depending on the assets you have or don't have, Chapter 7 may or may not be the chapter of bankruptcy you would want to file.

However, if you are granted a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you are legally discharged of all of your debts (in most cases) and are no longer liable for them. This could be advantageous for people who have high unsecured debt, have a pending sale date, have a wage garnishment, or simply see the perfect storm brewing.

Whatever the case, let us tell you the intricacies of a Chapter 7 and how you could use this to your benefit.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is what is known as "reorganization". Here, the court agrees that you need relief from your debt, but for one reason or another, you have the ability to pay back a portion of your debt over time. This chapter is typically reserved for higher income filers who do not qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or for those who want to save their home from foreclosure.

Some of the better known differences of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy as opposed to Chapter 7 are (but not limited to):

1. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy involves a repayment plan
2. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be used in many cases to STRIP 2nd mortgages or HELOCs
3. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows one to save their home from foreclosure by paying back the arrears over a period of 3 - 5 years

Due to the higher level of complexity and involvement in a Chapter 13 plan, the fees for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy are higher than a Chapter 7. However, don't let that scare you as in certain cases, some of the attorney fees can actually be put into the repayment plan.