Orlando Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer
What to Expect When Filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Getting Started
You will first begin by meeting with Michael or Victoria for your free consultation and reviewing your financial position and your goals. We will run means test calculations to determine whether you qualify for a chapter 7 or if another options is best suited for you. if a chapter 13 is right for you we will advise you of what the filing entails and what we will need to obtain the best result for you.
Preparing the Bankrutpcy Petition
Once you decide to hire the firm we will provide you with a detailed list of information that we will need to prepare multiple page bankruptcy petition that will be filed with the court. We will guide you through the process and once we have the information that we need we will begin to prepare your chapter 13 bankruptcy petition. Once your petition is completed attorneys Michael Ferrin and Victoria Anderson will draft a detail repayment plan that meets the requirements of the bankruptcy code and provides you with the lowest possible payment over the 3 to 5 years that you will be in the case. the proper preparation of your chapter 13 bankruptcy is essential to your success in the case. You need skilled and experienced Orlando chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyers, such as Anderson & Ferrin Attorneys at Law, P.A. to prepare the chapter 13 plan and guide you through the process.
Remember, chapter 13 bankruptcy is a reorganization bankruptcy and you will be required to pay some (and in very rare circumstances all) of your debts over the life of the case. Most individuals pay little to nothing towards unsecured debts while keeping a good deal of their personal assets. Once your plan is drafted and your petition is complete you will be invited to sit down with the attorneys for a final review of your petition before you sign the final draft and it is filed with the court. Your first chapter 13 plan payment will be due within approximately 30 days from the date your case is filed.
Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses
- Credit Counseling Course
Before filing your chapter 7 bankruptcy you are required to take a credit counseling course. This course must be taken within the 180 days prior to filing. if you fail to take this course your case will be dismissed. at Anderson & Ferrin we provide you the information that you need to find a court approved course provider and have the course completed prior to filing. for anyone that has difficulty getting to a live class because of scheduling issues or medical issues many credit counseling agencies offer online courses that can be completed in as little as an hour.
2) Debtor Education Course
After your case is filed your must take another course called a Debtor Education Course. the Debtor Education Course must be completed within the within the 60 days after the 341 meeting of creditors following the filing of your case. if you fail to take this course the court will not grant you a discharge of your debts even though you may have completed everything else required by the bankruptcy code.
The Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filing
Once your chapter 13 petition is completed and your have review and signed the petition it will be electronically filed with the court. Once filed the Automatic Stay will kick in and allow you protection from your creditors. the Automatic Stay will delay foreclosures, foreclosure sale dates, repossessions, and stop creditors from calling you and harassing you at work and all hours of the day and night.
Approximately 45 Days After the Bankruptcy Filing
You will be required to attend the 341 Meeting of Creditors. This is a hearing where creditors are afforded the opportunity to briefly ask you questions about your finances but mostly it is for the chapter 13 trustee assigned to your case to review your petition for accuracy. More often than not these hearings only last a few minutes and creditors often times do not attend. for the most part it will be you, your attorney, the trustee, and everyone else that is present waiting for their turn in front of the trustee.
After the Chapter 13 341 Meeting of Creditors
Once the chapter 13 meeting of creditors has been concluded you will continue to make your scheduled chapter 13 plan payments. Within a few months the court will set a hearing called Confirmation. This hearing is where the chapter 13 plan that was specifically drafted for you by bankruptcy attorneys Michael Ferrin and Victoria Anderson will be authorized or “confirmed” by the bankruptcy court judge assigned to your case. in most cases only your attorney will need to be present at this hearing.
Stop Home Foreclosure Attorney Orlando Florida
There are several reasons why people file bankruptcy but one of the most common reasons is because of a foreclosure. Although both chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy will stop a foreclosure or foreclosure sale, a chapter 7 will only postpone one whereas a chapter 13 bankruptcy provides individuals the ability to catch up on their payments.
How Chapter 13 Works to Stop Foreclosure
Once the chapter 13 bankruptcy is filed the automatic stay will be in place protecting you from your creditors and in this scenario stopping the foreclosure or foreclosure sale. When central florida bankruptcy attorneys Michael Ferrin and Victoria Anderson draft your detailed chapter 13 plan they will include your normal mortgage payments as well as any payment that you are behind. in the chapter 13 plan you will begin with paying your normal mortgage payment again regardless of whether the bank stopped accepting payments before your case was filed or if the home was on the eve of being sold at foreclosure auction. in addition to your normal mortgage payment you will then pay a portion of what you are behind so that at the end of the 3 to 5 years that you are in the chapter 13 you will be current on your mortgage.
When you make your chapter 13 plan payments your payments will be made directly to the chapter 13 trustee. the trustee oversees all chapter 13 filings in the Orlando division of the middle district of florida bankruptcy court and they are the ones that administer your payments and make sure that your creditors receive the proper payments provided for in your chapter 13 plan.
If you are facing foreclosure be sure to contact the law office of Anderson and Ferrin attorneys at Law P.A. in Orlando Florida. Our experienced bankruptcy attorneys will guide you and your family to obtain the best result possible and hopefully save your home from being foreclosure on. We at Anderson and Ferrin have helped countless individuals save their homes from foreclosure and you can trust that they will do everything possible for you and your family.
Don’t panic and don’t hesitate. Contact Orlando florida bankruptcy attorneys Michael Ferrin and Victoria Anderson at 407-412-7041. Let our family help your family.
Stop Home Foreclosure in Orlando Florida
Orlando Florida Save Your Home Attorneys
There are many reasons individuals file bankruptcy but the most common reason is due to home foreclosure. There is no reason why you should go through home foreclosure alone. Contact Orlando florida foreclosure defense attorneys Michael Ferrin and Victoria Anderson at Anderson & Ferrin Attorneys at Law P.A in Downtown Orlando to help guide you through the process.
When a chapter 7 or a chapter 13 bankruptcy is filed the automatic stay provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code automatically kick in providing you protection from your creditors. This includes stopping any foreclosure action in its tracks.
Filing a chapter 7 will only post pone a foreclosure as it has no mechanism to assist you with catching up on your payments or fast tracking a loan modification. Once the bankruptcy is filed, if you are unable to bring the account current or enter into a workout on your own with the lender, the mortgage lender can file a motion for relief from stay. a motion for relief from stay is the creditors way of asking the court for permission to be released from the automatic stay in order for the lender to move forward with the foreclosure process that was initiated prior to the filing of the chapter 7 bankruptcy.
If you wish to save your home the chapter 13 bankruptcy will most likely be the route that you would need to take. the chapter 13 reorganization bankruptcy affords individuals the ability to make payments on the mortgage while at the same time paying down what was behind or in arrears over the life of the chapter 13 plan. the chapter 13 bankruptcy also has a loan modification program that if you qualify can be very helpful in attempting to obtain a loan modification. This program has had many successes and is far more efficient that the standard loan modification process that you find outside of bankruptcy.
The chapter 13 doesn’t just help you with your mortgages, it is a reorganization of all of your debts which include auto loans, credit card debts, and tax debts. Contact the law offices of Anderson and Ferrin to schedule a free home foreclosure consultation and see what options are available to you to assist with saving your home.
Stripping Second Mortages and HOA Liens
A few years ago real estate was hot in Florida and specifically Central Florida. Times were good and people were watching equity in their homes skyrocket each and every year that went by. Many individuals took advantage of this and borrowed against the equity in their homes by taking out equity lines of credit or second mortgages. it made sense to do this back then because the housing market was fantastic and the prices just kept going up. it was an easy and “safe” way to free up cash to either live better or invest in other things. Unfortunately, in 2005 the bottom of the real estate market dropped out significantly reducing the value of people’s homes and leaving most individuals with heavily leveraged real estate. This lead to a boom in foreclosures and the economic decline that we have all seen over the last several years.
If your home is worth less than the first mortgage any subsequent liens or mortgage have the possibility of being stripped or wiped from your home leaving you to only have to contend with your first mortgage lender. This means that individuals can now bring their mortgage debt more in line with the current value of their homes significantly reducing their mortgage payments and in turn saving their homes.
Home Owners Associations are secured creditors much like a mortgage is and can foreclose on your home just like a mortgage can. These types of creditors can also have their pre-bankruptcy petition arrears stripped or wiped out. the special thing about HOA’s is that you cannot wipe them completely from a home. Once the bankruptcy is filed, and the home is worth less than the first mortgage, any HOA arrears can be stripped but you must continue to make the ongoing HOA payments if your wish to keep your home.
In 2005 the requirements to file bankruptcy changed and law makers developed what is called the “Means Test”. This new test means that you can no longer just file a Chapter 7 if you need to, now you have to qualify for it. This in turn makes it difficult for some people to file Chapter 7 and therefore need to file another type of bankruptcy called Chapter 13.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy is known as a debt reorganization bankruptcy and is designed for individuals that are overwhelmed with their debts but with some restructuring could afford to pay some of their debts back over time. This type of bankruptcy is not worse or better than other types it’s just different and provides the individual filing with different tools at their disposal to handle their particular needs.
in most cases Chapter 13 allows you to take control of your debts and structure a monthly payment that you and your family can afford while in most cases discharging the majority of your debts. in some cases Chapter 13 can help you save your home by stopping foreclosure and helping you catch up on your mortgage. in some cases, if your homestead property is worth less than what you owe on your first mortgage we can use the tools available to you in Chapter 13 to strip any subsequent mortgages such as an equity line or second mortgage.
in Chapter 13 you can also attempt to modify your mortgage on your primary or homestead property if you qualify for the HAMP program or one of your lenders in-house modification programs. the bankruptcy division here in Orlando is one of very few places where modifying your mortgage in a bankruptcy is available to you. With the tools provided in Chapter 13 we can ask that the mortgage company to appear at a mediation in an attempt to negotiate the terms of your mortgage to make your home more affordable. it can often be done in a fraction of the time as a conventional modification outside of bankruptcy.
if you would like more information on how a Chapter 13 or any other bankruptcy could help you we invite you to give us a call and come in for a FREE CONSULTATION to discuss your options.
