Home

Chapter 7

Chapter 13

About the Office

"We think that honest but unfortunate debtors are entitled to a fresh start, but we also believe that debtors should repay their creditors if they can. This tension, and others like it, has projected bankruptcy onto center stage in every generation of the nation's history."  
                                
                                                                     - from Debts Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America 
                                                        by David A. Skeel Jr.

A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy provides people a means to adjust and reduce obligations. It can be an effective tool for individuals overwhelmed by debt, especially homeowners looking for a way to stop foreclosures and catch up on past due mortgage payments through a structured repayment plan. A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy saves assets.

When a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is commenced, an individual must file a Chapter 13 plan which adjusts and reorganizes an individual’s debt into a repayment plan. In most cases, a Chapter 13 Plan lasts three or five years and may include for repayment of, among other obligations, home mortgages and arrearages, car loans, unpaid income taxes, back child support, and unsecured debt, such as credit cards and personal loans. Upon successful completion of the confirmed Chapter 13 plan, an individual will become current on their secured loans and then resume making regular payments on such loans directly to the creditor post bankruptcy. Further, a person may also receive a discharge of any remaining unsecured debt that did not require full repayment under the Chapter 13 plan.