St. Louis Bankruptcy Lawyers Blog

The answer to this question is completely dependent upon your particular set of circumstances. There are several common scenarios under which someone would file a St. Louis bankruptcy (and there are a great many facts common to each bankruptcy petition that is filed). But in the end, it comes down to what you believe is best for you and your family.

Since at least 2008, the United States economy has undergone drastic changes. These changes have resulted in a level of upheaval that many Americans have never experienced before. One the consequences of this change has been widespread job loss (or severe cutbacks in hours and days worked). As household income drops, the necessity to take out lines of credit increases. The choice to create new debt (especially of the unsecured variety, like credit cards) is not something that people put at the top of their wish list. But sometimes, it is necessary in order to put food on the table.

Eventually, it can become apparent that living in such a way is not sustainable. The lines of credit dry up, monthly payments get missed, and the creditors start calling. At this point, the amount of stress that you had felt because of the job loss is now compounded by harassing calls and threatening letters. Families have been torn apart by this cycle, and many a marriage has split as a direct result.

The main way in which someone stops a home foreclosure is by filing a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Filing such a petition before the foreclosure date will stop the sale, and give you an opportunity to repay the arrearage (what you have fallen behind on) over a period of time.

When you stop making your regular monthly mortgage payments (for whatever reason), the bank or mortgage lender will eventually initiate foreclosure proceedings. This is the main remedy they have for non-payment on the loan. Because the debt is considered to secured, they may foreclose on loan, and take back the underlying asset (the real property itself).

But before a lender may foreclose on your home, it must first provide you with adequate notice. This notice is usually mailed to you (almost always by way of a certified mailing). The notice will state when the foreclosure sale date is set for, who to contact if you have any questions, and usually some disclosures about what you legal rights are.

Yes, it is possible to keep all of your rental properties when you file a St. Louis bankruptcy. But there are several things you need to know about this before you do anything.

When you file a Missouri bankruptcy, you have duty to disclose to the court all of your assets (real and personal). This obviously would include any rental properties that you own. But the main question is this: what is the fair market value of the real estate? Because if there is a good deal of equity in the property, then it can have implications for the type of bankruptcy you end up filing.

So let’s say for instance that you have two rental properties. One of them has a mortgage loan against it, and balance is $100,000. But the value of this property is closer to $75,000. In this scenario, the house is described as “upside-down,” or “under water”. In other words, there is no equity in the home at all (if you tried to sell the property, you would lose money). Assuming these numbers are correct, then there is nothing that the Bankruptcy Trustee can do about the property. If you filed a St. Louis Chapter 7, you could simply reaffirm the mortgage, and continue making regular monthly payments to the bank.

The simple and easy answer is that you file a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy. This is the safest legal mechanism that you have at your disposal. So long as your case is filed before the foreclosure sale goes through, then you can save your home.

The economy that we live in has produced a lot of financial hardship for people. No matter what your status was prior to the economy meltdown in 2008, it is likely that you have experienced a fair amount of difficulty in trying to stay afloat. Job loss, cut hours, entire companies closing down. The list of casualties is long (and still growing).

One of the biggest knocks that people have had to deal with is the collapse of the mortgage industry. This particular sector of the economy has taken a tremendous hit. As a result, the value in people’s homes has shrunk to unbelievably low levels. This has prevented people from doing things like refinancing their loans, negotiating a new monthly payment, or even modifying the existing structure of the mortgage itself.

In most instances, yes, you do have the choice. A St. Louis bankruptcy is a voluntary act, and therefore filed only if you believe that is would serve your best interests. But there are only a couple of situations in which decision is limited.

To begin with, the bankruptcy rules state very clearly that you are only entitled to file a St. Louis Chapter 7 once every eight (8) years. So if you filed a Missouri Chapter 7 in 2009, you would have to wait until at least 2017 before filing another one. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is described as a straight discharge of unsecured debt (things like credit cards, medical bills, paydays loans, etc). In addition, such a filing will stop a wage garnishment, bank levy, and end any lawsuits against you.

There are other occasions in which your choice of bankruptcy is limited. This is usually because of the amount of income your household brings in. So for example, let’s assume you are a household of two (you and your child). According to the government, the average (or median) income for a household of two is approximately $52,000. If your household income is below this level (or not too far above it), then you can probably do a Chapter 7 (assuming you have not filed a 7 within the last eight years). But if you are substantially above this median income level, then you will most likely have to file a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

The simplest answer is that you have to because the Bankruptcy Code requires it. But there is actually a very good reason for this requirement (and it more often than not helps your situation).

When you file a St. Louis bankruptcy, the court demands that you disclose a great deal of information. For instance, you must tell the court about all of your assets, whether it is real or personal property (because your Bankruptcy Trustee has a right to know if you own anything that he might want to liquidate); a full list of all your debts (because your creditors have a right to know that the debt you owe them is subject to discharge); and an accounting of your household income, regardless of the source (this would include things like wages from you and your spouse’s job, but would also entail things like Social Security Income, Social Security Disability, unemployment benefits, retirement income, contributions from other family members, or even income from rental property).

Once all the household income is calculated, you can then determine if you are considered to be above or below the median income level for your particular household size. So for instance, let’s say you are a household of two (you and your spouse). According to the government, the median (average) income for a household of two is approximately $52,000. If the combined sources of income between you and your spouse is less than 52K, then you most likely will quality for a St. Louis Chapter 7. This type of Missouri bankruptcy is thought of as a straight discharge of unsecured debt (things like credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc). A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will also put an end to things like wage garnishments, bank levies, and lawsuits directed against you.

Yes, there is. In fact, there is a great deal you can do about collection agency harassment.

When you file a St. Louis bankruptcy, the court requires that you list all of your creditors. This list would include things like credit card companies, medical and doctor’s offices, payday loan companies, and any debt collectors that have been hired to collect on the past due debt. In a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy, these unsecured debts and obligations are discharged within a three to four month period. In a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy, some of your unsecured creditors are paid back over a three to five year period of time (but the goal would be to get the majority of such debt discharged).

But very often, collection agencies are overly aggressive in their tactics. And some will flat out break the law in their collection activities. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal statute that tightly regulates what a debt collector can and cannot do in its attempts to collect on a debt. For instance, the FDCPA makes it clear that if you are a collection agency, and you wish to call a person who owes on a debt, the collector has to identify itself as a debt collector in an attempt to collect on a debt. They have to inform you of that every time they contact you on the phone (or if they leave you a voice message).

No, it does not look worse. Regardless of which chapter of bankruptcy you file for, it will still stay on your credit report for ten years. But the real question is what kind of a long term effect will the filing of a bankruptcy have you? This is the much more pertinent question, and I want to answer that right now.

Filing a St. Louis bankruptcy can be a difficult decision to face. Even under the best of circumstances, your stress level can be through the roof. This in turn can have a tremendous impact on your family life, your job situation, and even personal relationships. Hard economic times affect all aspects of your life.

But a St. Louis Chapter 7 is designed to eliminate this pressure, and put you back on the path towards financial wellbeing. Such a filing will discharge all of your unsecured debt (like credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc), stop wage garnishments, unfreeze a levied bank account, and put an end to any lawsuits filed against you. Keeping your assets, like a car or house, is also possible (along with all your other personal property, like clothes, appliances, jewelry, etc).