Various parties will receive notice of your case filing, directly from the court, your attorney, a creditor, or a combination. The creditor or party’s interest in your case, will determine who receives notice you filed bankruptcy. 

     LifeBack Law Firm is pleased to announce we are now offering all Minnesotans a free analysis of whether getting their student loans discharged in bankruptcy is a possibility. We also offer representation of Minnesotans in bankruptcy with respect to student loan discharge proceedings. At LifeBack, we did not want to “rush” into accepting money from Minnesotans without first understanding the lay of the land. Now that we have more clarity on student loan discharges in bankruptcy, we are proud to start accepting clients for bankruptcy and student loan discharges. 

Occasionally, a bankruptcy case will be converted from one chapter to a different chapter. There are several reasons to convert a case. A typical conversion would be a conversion from a chapter 13 filing to a chapter 7. The reasons to convert include: loss of income, increased dependents, reduction in income, divorce, or a failed business. Debts incurred after the filing of the original bankruptcy, but prior to the date of conversion receive the same treatment as prepetition claims.  

Whether you have a prior lease you still owe on that you cannot pay or you are behind on a current lease, bankruptcy may be able to help. 

When you file either an asset Chapter 7 case or a Chapter 13 case, your creditors can file a claim. The claim will state, who the creditor is, where they can be reached, the amount owed to them, why it is owed, and proof of the debt. Creditors file claims in cases, so the trustee knows who to pay. 

When you first speak with an attorney about options for filing bankruptcy, you should know an average of your income or your hourly rate, or at least a best estimate of your income. Income is important, because it can determine which bankruptcy you will file. 

In the event of a pending foreclosure, bankruptcy can be a practical tool. The bankruptcy can stay the impending foreclosure process, but the bankruptcy filing is not the end of the process for the debtor. The bankruptcy debtor will also be tasked with specific responsibilities. 

When you file bankruptcy you must list everything you own or are entitled to. When you file, you create a bankruptcy estate. The estate owns everything you own or are entitled to until the exemption objection period passes or you buy back non-exempt assets from the estate. 

While there is no such thing as medical bankruptcy cases, you can still discharge medical debt in bankruptcy. In fact, medical debt is fairly easy to include in bankruptcy, as long as you know where your medical debt was incurred. For example, the hospital or clinic you went to. 

Ongoing domestic support obligations are unchanged in a bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy court has no authority to reduce the obligation or deny the obligation. And in a chapter 13 bankruptcy, the debtor must be current on their support obligation at the time of the discharge. 

     The perception among many is filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is the death knell to your ability to obtain future credit. In a way, I can understand this perception. For example, many of our clients report the following version of events to us: we are current on all our payments and our credit score is quite good.

     A court filing in Hennepin County, MN on September 26, 2023 (court file no. 27-CV-23-12137), claims from 2013 to 2020, Hoglund, Chwialkowski & Mrozik P.L.L.C. n/k/a Hoglund & Mrozik, P.L.L.C. engaged in massive interstate advertising and marketing fraud spanning multiple states on its website, Google map location and lawyer listings, and by its conventional advertisements. 

When filing for bankruptcy and owning a home, it is important for a debtor to understand they will still have an obligation to the mortgage lender. With Chapter 7 bankruptcies the obligation is fairly obvious, the debtor will continue to make the normal monthly mortgage payment to the lender, but in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the debtor’s obligation may be less obvious.
If you are in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the expectation is the debtor will remain current on any mortgages they have on the home. According to the bankruptcy code, specifically Federal Bankruptcy Rule 3002.1, debtors must be timely notified of any fee adjustments, and failure to comply can result in penalties. If the debtor does not remain current on the mortgage payment the mortgage lender can motion the court to lift the stay so the lender can proceed with collections measures, which usually means initiating a foreclosure proceedings..

A 341 hearing is typically the only hearing you attend in your bankruptcy case. It is about a month after filing and will take about 5-10 minutes, depending on your case. The trustee of your case conducts the hearing and will go through yes or no questions with you to verify your case information. 

    Thanks to the attorneys at LifeBack Law Firm, computers are now exempt as household items under Minnesota bankruptcy exemptions for the first time in history. The world has changed a lot in the last 30 years. Computers have become a necessary household appliance to conduct all kinds of business. Many of us conduct our finances online, make medical appointments online, access our medical records online and do many other household functions.

When you file bankruptcy you have to list all of your creditors, both secured and unsecured. This is true, even if you plan on keeping your secured assets, like houses and vehicles, and will continue paying them.