Omaha Bankruptcy Questions

You can either file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy or try to settle your debts out of court. If your creditors refuse to work with you on payments you can afford, you can use a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to enter into a repayment plan which your unsecured creditors (like credit cards and medical bills) can't refuse. You make monthly bankruptcy payments for 36 to 60 months depending on your income, and then any unsecured debt you haven't paid off will discharge.

In Nebraska, you can use a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing to get back a repossessed car which has not yet been sold at auction. The car should be returned to you as soon as you file your bankruptcy case. You will then make monthly payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee, and these payments will in part be used to pay off your car so you get the title.

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy case cannot help you get a repossessed car back.

Yes - all of your debts which exist (or even might exist) on the day you file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy must be included in your list of debts. Payday loans are no different, although sometimes these lenders try to tell you they are. You must stop taking any type of loan once you think you are going to file bankruptcy, including payday loans. These unsecured payday loans will discharge in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy and should not get any special treatment or payments from you before you file bankruptcy.

If you pledged your car title or other property for a payday loan, advise Omaha bankruptcy attorney Ms. Owen immediately of this fact so the lender is properly dealt with as a secured creditor.

No. It is unclear where this term arose, but a "medical bankruptcy" does not exist under United States federal bankruptcy law. Medical debts must be listed in your bankruptcy schedules like any other debts which exist on the day you file bankruptcy. As unsecured, non-priority debt, medical debt will discharge in a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 even if it has been sent to collections before you file your bankruptcy.

If you have a joint debt with someone else, he or she will be personally responsible for any debt which you discharge in bankruptcy. If you discharge a joint credit card debt, for example, the credit card company may pursue the person on your account for the full debt. This is true whether the other person was the signor, co-signor, or guarantor. If you reaffirm a secured co-signed debt like a car loan, the creditor will not pursue the other person on the account as long as full and timely payments are made. However, if you surrender the car, the creditor can sue your co-signor for any money still owed after the car is auctioned.

In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee takes any non-exempt (unprotected) property you have and gives it to your creditors. All of your dischargeable debt goes away when the Court enters your discharge order. Your attorney can tell you before you file a Chapter 7 if you have any non-exempt property; if all your property is exempt, the Trustee will not take anything from you and you will still receive a bankruptcy discharge.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy includes a plan in which you make monthly payments to the Trustee, who distributes this money to your creditors. People file a Chapter 13 when they make too much money to file a Chapter 7, or if they are late on payments on secured debt (like a car or house) but want to keep the property, or have a type of debt which will discharge in a Chapter 13 but not a Chapter 7. You must have a regular monthly income, with some money left at the end of the month to make your plan payments, to be a Chapter 13 debtor. You must make monthly plan payments for at least three years, up to five.

Any individual who has completed an approved credit counseling class within the last six months the day before filing bankruptcy, and in whose case the presumption of abuse of the bankruptcy system does not arise based on the debtor’s current monthly income and the median income in the debtor’s state. A debtor can only receive a Chapter 7 discharge if he or she has not filed another discharged Chapter 7 case in the last eight years.

If your income is below the median income for the State of Nebraska, and you are otherwise eligible, you can file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. As of April 1, 2010, the median gross income for a one person household in Nebraska is $40,208 a year.

If your income is above the median income, you may still be able to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but only in cases in which you have expenses which significantly reduce the disposable income potentially available to your creditors in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

There was widespread confusion in the media after Bankruptcy law changes in 2005 about who could file bankruptcy; many people got the mistaken impression that they could no longer file a Chapter 7. You should consult with an attorney to see if you are eligible to file bankruptcy.

It depends on which Chapter bankruptcy you file. In a Chapter 7, unsecured debts like medical bills and credit card charges discharge. There are a few types of debt which you cannot discharge in a Chapter 7, like: secured debt (like a car loan or mortgage), child support or other domestic support obligations, most delinquent taxes, or debt your creditors prove to the Bankruptcy court you obtained due to fraud. These are just a few examples of non-dischargeable debt.

In a Chapter 13, any debt which remains to unsecured creditors after you complete your plan payments will discharge, along with some types of tax debt, and a property settlement debt ordered in a divorce decree.

You should make sure you understand what debt will discharge, and what will not, before filing any type of bankruptcy.

The filing fees are $299 for Chapter 7 and $274 for Chapter 13. The filing fee in your case is the same whether you file individually or with your spouse. You must also complete a credit counseling class before you file bankruptcy and a personal financial management course after you file bankruptcy. Both of these usually cost the debtor, although some agencies will waive their normal fees in some circumstances. Attorney’s fees depend on the complexity of your case.

The typical Chapter 7 bankruptcy takes about 4 months from filing to receive your discharge order, which is what gets rid of your dischargeable debt.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy lasts from three to five years from filing.

It is reported by the credit reporting agencies for up to 10 years. You may have to report it yourself for longer when you honestly and fully respond to any subsequent applications which ask if you have ever filed bankruptcy.

Some people have been able to purchase homes and cars within several years of doing a bankruptcy. Others have been denied credit, for many years because of the bankruptcy. It is fair to say that a bankruptcy will have a dramatic negative effect on your credit rating and your ability to get credit for a long time. How creditors will view the bankruptcy on your record will depend on the creditor, and how you handle your credit after your bankruptcy filing. The Law Office of Katherine Owen does not offer credit repair services after your bankruptcy case closes.

You can't file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and expect to keep your car if: you are behind on your car payments OR you can't afford the car when the Court looks at your basic living expenses and monthly income, and sees that the car payment doesn't fit in your budget. You may not want to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy if you have equity in your car which you can't protect from your creditors. But, if you are current on your car payments and you don't have too much equity in your car (which most people with a car loan don't) then you should be able to keep your car if you want to reaffirm the debt.

NO! You must list all debts you owe and all property you own when you file bankruptcy. But that doesn't mean you have no choice over what happens after bankruptcy. If you have a debt that you really want to pay for whatever reason, you can do so after your bankruptcy discharge. Do NOT make a payment to a creditor right before bankruptcy though without talking to your bankruptcy lawyer first - you may be making a preferential payment which the Trustee will want to reclaim for the benefit of your other creditors.

Yes, you'll have a Meeting of Creditors at the federal courthouse. For bankruptcy cases filed in Omaha, Nebraska, you'll go to the federal courthouse located downtown at 18^th and Douglas Streets. Some bankruptcy cases will involve other hearings, but most do not.