Yes, you do. As part of the bankruptcy law changes handed down in 2005, Congress now requires each debtor in bankruptcy to have to go through a US Trustee qualified credit counseling and obtain a certificate (which gets filed with the bankruptcy court) prior to filing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. If you fail to complete this course and file a certificate with the bankruptcy court, your bankruptcy case will get dismissed. Crazy stuff right?

Once the decision to file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy has been made, there are documents that you should gather to make the process of filing bankruptcy easier. We already know that credit reports and asset reports should be pulled as part of the process. But, there is more information that is needed by your attorney. If you would like to be your attorney’s hero, starting gathering these documents now.

When you invoke the power of the bankruptcy court, seeking protection from your creditors, you also have duties as well. Section 521 of the Bankruptcy Code outlines many of these duties. Chapter 13 debtors must file a host of schedules with the bankruptcy court and these schedules are verified under penalty of perjury. As such, these schedules must be complete and accurate. Filing inaccurate or incomplete schedules with the bankruptcy court may result in debtor being denied confirmation of the Chapter 13 plan, and worse, a denial of discharge or being charged with bankruptcy fraud.

The first step in filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is to find a competent and local bankruptcy attorney who can represent you in your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy case. There are two major pitfalls to avoid in searching for competent instate licensed and local bankruptcy attorney.

If you were to file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and you had transferred an asset to anyone within two years prior to the time you filed the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, you are going to run into Section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code and you will not like it.

Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code covers preferences. Think of a preference like this- on the eve of filing bankruptcy, you preferred one creditor over another by paying one creditor and not the others. There are, generally speaking, two types of preferences.

So, you are thinking about filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and you say to yourself, I don’t want to lose my Harley Davidson Some folks are a lot like me, they have high anxiety and want to know who exactly is involved in this process and what do they do?

So, you are thinking about filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and you say to yourself, I don’t want to lose my Harley Davidson worth 8k and no liens against it right? So, what do you do? You transfer the title to the Harley to your brother for nothing. Problem solved right? Wrong!

To understand what a reaffirmation agreement is in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, you first must understand what the goal of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is. The goal of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is to obtain a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy discharge. A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy discharge absolves you of your personal liability for the underlying debt. Creditor must write the debt off and is not able to pursue debtor for the debt again.

I think one of the most anxiety producing events for a client is the meeting of creditors or 341 meeting. This is the meeting where the Chapter 7 trustee has debtor verify that the information on the schedules is true and correct and complete.

Section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code requires Chapter 7 trustees to conduct and for Chapter 7 debtors to attend a meeting of creditors. The code requires that a meeting of creditors must be conducted within a reasonable time from filing the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. The purpose of the meeting of creditors is two-fold. First, it is to give the Chapter 7 trustee a chance to verify that the information contained in debtor’s schedules is true, correct, and complete. Second, the purpose of the meeting is to give creditors a chance to appear and ask debtors questions about debtor’s assets and debts and financial circumstances.

Section 704 of the Bankruptcy Code outlines the duties of a Chapter 7 trustee. A chapter 7 trustee’s primary role is to administer the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case. This means that once assigned a Chapter 7 case by the US Trustee’s Office, a Chapter 7 trustee must review the schedules, question the debtor at a 341 meeting, and generally make sure debtor’s schedules are verified by debtor themselves.

We have discussed what reaffirmation agreements are in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy but what is a redemption agreement in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? The best way to illustrate a redemption agreement is to give you an example. Say you own a vehicle worth 5k but you owe 12k on the underlying loan.

While Section 109(a) describes who can file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, we want to know now where can the bankruptcy be filed?

It is not possible to move from one state to another and file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy the next day. 28 U.S. Code Section 1408 states that debtor may file a bankruptcy in the bankruptcy court of the federal judicial district in which the person filing bankruptcy has his/her principal residence, place of business, or principal assets. The domicile has to be where you were domiciled the greater part of the last 6 months and so, where you have been domiciled the last 91 days.

What is the goal of filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? Getting a Chapter 7 discharge. Getting a Chapter 7 discharge means the debt is wiped out, tax free, forever. Are there situations where creditors can object to you discharging a debt? You bet there is. Section 523 of the Bankruptcy Code outlines several reasons a creditor could object to you discharging a debt made with the creditor.

Minnesotans are always amazed to find out that there really is a government sponsored debt consolidation plan. Most Minnesotans are not aware of this. If you live in St Paul, Minnesota and you are suffering from overwhelming debt and you are currently in a traditional debt consolidation plan, you are wasting your time. You read this right, you are wasting your time. Why? Because the government sponsored debt consolidation plan is much better for you and your family.