San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorney Blog

A San Francisco bankruptcy attorney address the Automatic Stay

What is an automatic stay? When you file a bankruptcy petition an automatic stay goes into effect. The purpose of the automatic stay is to immediately halt any action against the debtor. The automatic stay stops lawsuits, collection calls, wage garnishment, home foreclosures, and other adverse proceedings.

Is judicial action needed in order to make the stay official?No. The filing of the bankruptcy petition automatically brings the stay into effect. There is no additional judicial action needed.

Can a creditor apply to have relief from the automatic stay?Yes. Creditors can apply to the court for a relief from the automatic stay. This generally occurs when the debtor is behind on payments and the property is not essential to the debtor’s reorganization. If the debtor wishes to negotiate with a creditor about the future of collateral, such as a home, the debtor can allow the creditor to engage directly in discussions.

If my debts are discharged can creditors still collect from me?If you receive a discharge from the bankruptcy court all of your previous debts and liabilities will be forgiven. There is no future obligation to pay those debts and creditors cannot try and collect on them. You are free to still pay whatever debts you previously owed but there is no legal requirement that you do so and creditors have no cause of action against you to collect the old debts.

If you have questions regarding bankruptcy in San Francisco or bankruptcy in the greater Bay Area please contact our San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys at (415) 946-8882 for a free consultation or visit www.bkanswers.com and we can connect you with one of our experienced San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys. After you have spoken with one of our Bay Area bankruptcy attorneys, we can schedule you for a free face to face appointment in an office location nearest you. Our team of Bankruptcy Lawyers, Bankruptcy Customer Care Specialists and Bankuptcy staff supporting San Francisco and Bay Area consumers in debt can assist you with all aspects of your bankruptcy or bankruptcy litigation case. If you have questions about filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or would like to learn more about bankruptcy litigation, legal debt settlement, mortgage modification, lien stripping, cram down, stopping a foreclosure, wage garnishment, asset protection, discharging a debt, etc. we can help! We have bankruptcy attorneys located throughout California and Oregon who can assist you with all of your debt resolution questions. Please feel free to complete our free online bankruptcy evaluation and we can quickly determine if you are a qualified candidate for bankruptcy. We look forward to hearing from you, San Francisco Bay Area!

A San Francisco bankruptcy attorney lets you know this: What is a bankruptcy exemption?

The bankruptcy code allows for a certain amount of personal property to be excluded from the bankruptcy proceeding. This usually means that those filing for bankruptcy can keep their car, clothes, and other necessities. The bankruptcy exemption is important for those who do not want to lose their car or other personal goods. California has opted out of the federal exemption list and developed its own set of exemptions and related exemption values.

What if I have a lot of equity in my home?
The bankruptcy code allows for a certain amount of home equity to be exempted. In California, that amount is $75,000 for an individual filing for bankruptcy and $100,000 for married couples. The homestead bankruptcy exemption allows those with equity to not worry about whether the home might be sold. If there is a lot of equity then proceeding under a chapter 13 might be the best option instead of a chapter 7 liquidation.

What happens if the bankruptcy exemption does not cover all of my property?If you own more than the exemption limit in California the bankruptcy trustee overseeing your bankruptcy case has the power to sell the property to raise cash to repay creditors. This is generally only a concern in chapter 7 proceedings. Often if the bankruptcy exemption will not cover the entire amount, and the unprotected balance is insignificant, it is safe from liquidation as there are costs associated with the sale of property and those costs are paid out from the sale.

Are there alternatives to liquidation?Yes. If you do not want to risk having your property sold at an auction you can file under chapter 13. You retain control over everything you own and, depending on your income, only pay a certain percentage of what you owe to unsecured creditors. A chapter 13 bankruptcy does not look to liquidation for repayment but rather develops a repayment plan based on future income.

If you have questions regarding bankruptcy in San Francisco or bankruptcy in the greater Bay Area please contact our San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys at (415) 946-8882 for a free consultation or visit www.bkanswers.com and we can connect you with one of our experienced San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys. After you have spoken with one of our Bay Area bankruptcy attorneys, we can schedule you for a free face to face appointment in an office location nearest you. Our team of Bankruptcy Lawyers, Bankruptcy Customer Care Specialists and Bankuptcy staff supporting San Francisco and Bay Area consumers in debt can assist you with all aspects of your bankruptcy or bankruptcy litigation case. If you have questions about filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or would like to learn more about bankruptcy litigation, legal debt settlement, mortgage modification, lien stripping, cram down, stopping a foreclosure, wage garnishment, asset protection, discharging a debt, etc. we can help! We have bankruptcy attorneys located throughout California and Oregon who can assist you with all of your debt resolution questions. Please feel free to complete our free online bankruptcy evaluation and we can quickly determine if you are a qualified candidate for bankruptcy. We look forward to hearing from you, San Francisco Bay Area!

A San Francisco bankruptcy attorney explains what unsecured debt is...

Unsecured debt is a loan that is not backed by any underlying asset or collateral. Essentially, you are given money without having to provide anything in return or have any property tied to the loan. Examples include credit cards and personal lines of credit.

How is unsecured debt different than secured debt?
Secured debt is backed by collateral or property whereas unsecured debt is not. When you buy a car you usually take out a loan, and the loan is backed by the car, which can be repossessed in order to satisfy the loan amount. When you take out a personal line of credit or use a credit card, there is no guarantee of property that can be repossessed in order to repay the loan amount.

How is unsecured debt treated in bankruptcy?
Unsecured debt is given a very low priority in bankruptcy. Depending on which chapter you file under and you income, unsecured debt is either completely discharged or repaid at a very low percentage of the actual outstanding balance. For most people who file bankruptcy their unsecured debt is completely discharged.

Because no collateral is backing the loan, can I just stop paying my credit cards?
Unsecured creditors still have ways to collect on the amount owed. This generally involves filing a lawsuit against you, obtaining a judgment, and then garnishing your wages. If you have had an unsecured creditor obtain a judgment against you for an outstanding loan and your wages are either being garnished or are about to be garnished, it may be smart to file for bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy will stop the wage garnishment and discharge the judgment amount.

If you have questions regarding bankruptcy in San Francisco or bankruptcy in the greater Bay Area please contact our San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys at (415) 946-8882 for a free consultation or visit www.bkanswers.com and we can connect you with one of our experienced San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys. After you have spoken with one of our Bay Area bankruptcy attorneys, we can schedule you for a free face to face appointment in an office location nearest you. Our team of Bankruptcy Lawyers, Bankruptcy Customer Care Specialists and Bankuptcy staff supporting San Francisco and Bay Area consumers in debt can assist you with all aspects of your bankruptcy or bankruptcy litigation case. If you have questions about filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or would like to learn more about bankruptcy litigation, legal debt settlement, mortgage modification, lien stripping, cram down, stopping a foreclosure, wage garnishment, asset protection, discharging a debt, etc. we can help! We have bankruptcy attorneys located throughout California and Oregon who can assist you with all of your debt resolution questions. Please feel free to complete our free online bankruptcy evaluation and we can quickly determine if you are a qualified candidate for bankruptcy. We look forward to hearing from you, San Francisco Bay Area!

A San Francisco bankruptcy attorney addresses the question: What is secured debt?
Secured debt is debt which is secured by an asset. For example, your car is secured debt because the value of what you borrowed from the lender is backed up by the collateral.

How is secured debt different than unsecured debt?
Unsecured debt has no asset protecting the loan amount. Credit cards are the most common example of unsecured debt, as there is no collateral involved with the lending. Secured debt and creditors can always take back the asset for which you borrowed money to purchase, whereas unsecured creditors cannot repossess anything.

How is secured debt treated in bankruptcy?
Generally, individuals who own a home or car would like to keep them during the bankruptcy proceeding. Those filing for bankruptcy can keep their secured assets so long as payments to the creditor are still being made. Depending on the chapter of bankruptcy an individual files, the payments are made either directly to the lender or to a bankruptcy trustee who then distributes payments to the lender.

What happens if I cannot make payments on the secured debt?
If you are unable to continue to make payments on a loan secured by an asset the lender can, and usually will, repossess the asset and sell it in order to try and satisfy the outstanding loan balance. If the sale does not generate enough money to cover the loan amount some lenders will try and collect the difference, known as a deficiency. In bankruptcy, you can have a deficiency collection discharged because it is treated as unsecured debt.

If you have questions regarding bankruptcy in San Francisco or bankruptcy in the greater Bay Area please contact our San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys at (415) 946-8882 for a free consultation or visit www.bkanswers.com and we can connect you with one of our experienced San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys. After you have spoken with one of our Bay Area bankruptcy attorneys, we can schedule you for a free face to face appointment in an office location nearest you. Our team of Bankruptcy Lawyers, Bankruptcy Customer Care Specialists and Bankuptcy staff supporting San Francisco and Bay Area consumers in debt can assist you with all aspects of your bankruptcy or bankruptcy litigation case. If you have questions about filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or would like to learn more about bankruptcy litigation, legal debt settlement, mortgage modification, lien stripping, cram down, stopping a foreclosure, wage garnishment, asset protection, discharging a debt, etc. we can help! We have bankruptcy attorneys located throughout California and Oregon who can assist you with all of your debt resolution questions. Please feel free to complete our free online bankruptcy evaluation and we can quickly determine if you are a qualified candidate for bankruptcy. We look forward to hearing from you, San Francisco Bay Area!