Chapter 13 bankruptcy is the most misunderstood, and probably underutilized bankruptcy chapter. Mainly because many people mistakenly think that they will be required to pay back ALL their debts. This has never been true, and the fact is that most Chapter 13 plans pay only pennies on the dollar to most of the bills you have

In a Chapter 13 you will pay back only a portion of your debts, as a rule. Many people mistakenly think that a Chapter 13 bankruptcy requires you to pay back all of your debt.

This is not the case, and never has been.

In fact, most of our clients in Chapter 13 bankruptcy pay back only a small percentage of the unsecured debt that they have. Sometimes as little as 1%.

Chapter 13 is most frequently filed for people who want to save their homes but, due to a medical condition or layoff or other interruption in income, they have fallen behind in their payments, and the creditor now refuses to work with them.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy gives you up to 60 months, five years, to pay back the amount of the missed payments. It is also possible to catch up missed payments on automobiles as well.

In some cases, Chapter 13 permits you to pay only the value of the automobile, and not the entire contract price. In the right situation, this can result in a savings of thousands of dollars and you get to keep your car!

Our bankruptcy attorneys will review chapter 13 options with you if it appears that a Chapter 13 bankruptcy might benefit you more than a Chapter 7, or, if you are not eligible for Chapter 7. Chapter 13 bankruptcy 13 might solve all of your debt problems.

2 Responses to “Chapter 13 Bankruptcy”

1. debbie trent says:

   March 11, 2011 at 10:50 pm

   how soon after a chapter 7 can i file a chapter 13? filed in 2004
2. Rick West says:

   March 14, 2011 at 4:25 pm

   Generally its 8 years. But if your chapter 7 paid out over 70%, then you may be able to file in 6 years.