Emergency Bankruptcy Cases
Yes, filing an emergency bankruptcy case will immediately stop foreclosure, repossession, levy of bank accounts
and wage garnishments. As soon as the bankruptcy case is filed the automatic stay takes effect. Filing a chapter
13 case can also allow you to pay back missed mortgage payments or car loan payments over the life of the chapter
13 plan making it affordable to catch up and keep your home or car. Please give us a call at 510-574-7320 to
schedule a free consultation and find out if an emergency bankruptcy case is right for you.
Hopefully there will be enough time to file a complete and accurate bankruptcy petition before the scheduled
foreclosure sale, vehicle repossession, levy or start of a wage garnishment. If not then we will file what is
called a skeleton petition. This refers to filing the minimum forms to get the case started, initiate the
automatic stay, and save your house or car. We will then have 14 days to the complete the petition or the case
will be dismissed. The 14 day deadline can be extend by filing a motion to extend this deadline but it is not
preferred. You also must complete the credit counseling course prior to the emergency bankruptcy case being filed.
The credit counseling course costs as little as $8.75 and will take about two hours and is online. A certificate
of completion is issued that must be filed with the bankruptcy petition. This is probably the number one problem
with many skeleton petitions that are filed on an emergency basis. A non-attorney advises someone to file for
bankruptcy protection but fails to know or tell you to also complete the credit counseling course and file the
certificate of completion with the filing. They will also provide some form motion to try and get the court to
waive or suspend the requirement to complete the credit counseling course and this is rarely done properly or
successful. The emergency bankruptcy case is then dismissed in about 14 days and little relief if any is obtained.
Some non-attorneys charge thousands of dollars for this poor advice and providing basic forms. They also do not
tell you that you are only entitle to an unlimited automatic stay in the first bankruptcy case you file and any
other case filed in close succession will only have a 30 day automatic stay if another case is filed to actually
get you the relief the Bankruptcy Code provides. We run into this time and time again and it is very frustrating.
In the second bankruptcy case we properly file will now have to file a motion to extend the 30 day automatic stay
and there is no guarantee the automatic stay will be extended by the court. Filing the motion to extend the
automatic stay is also an additional cost.
If your house is in jeopardy of being foreclosed or car repossessed the last thing you need is added stress and
costs to save your property. Our goal is to help you save your property by filing an emergency bankruptcy case
with a little stress as possible and getting the relief the law, the Bankruptcy Code, provides you.
The emergency bankruptcy case will most often be a filing under chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code when filing an
emergency bankruptcy case in Fremont, Union City, Newark and Alameda County. The reason is chapter 13 is the
reorganization chapter available for most individuals to save a house or car when there are missed payments. The
chapter 13 plan spreads out the missed payments over the term of the plan, normally 60 months or five years, to
make paying back the missed payments affordable and reasonable. For example: if you have $60,000 in missed
mortgage payments the chapter 13 plan would allow you to pay $1,000 a month to pay them back over the 60 month
chapter 13 plan. You will also have to begin to pay the normal contractually due monthly mortgage payment each
month as well. This all starts the month after the emergency bankruptcy case under chapter 13 is filed. The next
month is when you have to start the paying the normal mortgage payment again plus the chapter 13 plan payment even
though the chapter 13 plan is not confirmed or approved yet. Yes, the chapter 13 plan has to be confirmed or
approved by the court to make it final. This is all part of the process of filing a chapter 13 bankruptcy case
though and usually if there are not significant issues to address the chapter 13 plan is confirmed or approved in
about three to four months after the case is filed. Note that no creditor can do anything more once the chapter 13
case is filed though. They must participate in the bankruptcy process whether they like it or not. That is the
entire point of filing for bankruptcy protection. You will be forcing a set of terms on your creditors according
to the law, the Bankruptcy Code, and as long as your plan meets the requirements to be confirmed or approved there
is very little your creditors can do about it. Our job is to make sure that happens and why you should count on
our experience having filed countless chapter 13 cases to save homes from foreclosure, cars from repossession,
stopping bank levies and wage garnishment from ever happening.