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Chapter 7 Information

Everything about Chapter 7 on Todd Murphy Law

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Don’t Save Your Home From Foreclosure: Prepare For A Bright Future With A Fresh Start

foreclosure: prepare for a bright future chapter 7 bankruptcy foreclosure lawyer new jerseyIf You Can’t Save Your Home From Foreclosure: Prepare For A Bright Future Using A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.

You may have entered the foreclosure process with the mindset of wanting to save your home, but you discovered that you can’t save your home from foreclosure.  Try this strategy – benefit from the lengthy process of foreclosure: prepare for a bright future.

Sometimes saving your home from foreclosure is just not the most realistic path to take, we know how hard it can be. Loan modifications are difficult. Not everyone qualifies for them, and many struggle working with their bank to get approved for one. Often times, you get denied time after time.

And, a chapter 13 bankruptcy is often used to save homes from foreclosure, but they are very hard to manage and require you to make huge monthly payments for 60 months to try and pay back missed mortgage payments. Depending on your situation, it can be a leap to try and make one work for you.

So, as hard as it may be to overcome, you’ve determined that saving your home is not a good strategy for you. You’ve come very far and made a huge decision. Now that you know you will be moving in the near future, you are wondering how you will get back on your feet again after the sheriff sale.

A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Can Help You Get Back On Your Feet Again

There are two points in time when a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can be helpful to you if you’ve determined that you can’t, or don’t want to save your home from foreclosure.

Scenario 1: There is no impending sheriff sale, and you are fairly early on in the foreclosure process.

You are going through the foreclosure process and have done a lot of your research, or maybe spoke to a foreclosure lawyer about your options for saving your home, but decided that saving your home is not in your cards.

Filing a chapter 7 eliminates all of your personal obligations to pay any and all debts. This then allows you to start rebuilding your credit right away since you do not have any debts.

At the same time, since the foreclosure process is just getting started, you can live rent-free for months before a sheriff sale can be scheduled which means you can save money that you would otherwise use to pay your mortgage or rent.

It is even possible to rebuild your credit from what may be 580 or 590, to 680 or 690 within 12 months. This score is good enough to buy a car at the best rate. After 24 months, you can be as high as 750. If you put the $2000 a month you might be paying rent with in the bank for 12 months you would have $24,000 and after 24 months, $48,000 and coupled with a 750 credit score, you could be in pretty good shape after 12 or 24 months.

Using the very lengthy amount of time that it takes to foreclose on a home to your advantage, you can eliminate all of your debts now, live rent-free during that time, rebuild your credit, and even save some money for the future.

 

 

Scenario 2: You have an upcoming sheriff sale.

If it is just inevitable for whatever reason that your house will be sold at a sheriff sale, you can delay the sale by up to 120 days by getting a 30 day adjournment from the sheriff’s office and then filing for a chapter 7 bankruptcy. With his additional time, you can better prepare for moving and also enjoy the other benefits of chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Assuming you postponed the sale by 30 days with a 30 day adjournment,  (Read More About That Here), filing a chapter 7 will delay the sale by another 90 days and will discharge all of your debts.

Further, it can also help you avoid enormous tax liabilities. Here’s how:

If you don’t file for a chapter 7 bankruptcy, the bank has the right to seek to recover the difference between what the house is sold for and the amount that is owed, this is known as a deficiency amount. However, what is more common is the deficiency amount is forgiven  by the lender and it is then required to be reported to the IRS as income in a 1099 statement and you may have to pay tax on that amount. A chapter 7 bankruptcy protects you against both of these very negative possibilities.

For example, if there is a deficiency amount of $100,000, you could owe up to $50,000 in income tax and you didn’t even get the money! Chapter 7 bankruptcy avoids this issue, provided it is filed BEFORE the sheriff sale. And of course, you get the added benefit of up to another 90 days in the house since the chapter 7 delays the sale by up to 90 days.

A chapter 7 bankruptcy before the sheriff sale will eliminate your debts and buy you extra time in your home so you are well-positioned for the future.

 

 

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When Is A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Useful?

Chapter 7 bankruptcy new jersey foreclosure lawyerThere are 3 scenarios when a chapter 7 bankruptcy can be a great tool:

1. You mean I can still save my home, EVEN if I don’t qualify for a loan modification or a chapter 13 bankruptcy??

It is still possible to save your home from foreclosure even if you don’t qualify for a loan modification or a chapter 13 bankruptcy. It is possible that consumer debts were holding you back from qualifying for these strategies, but a chapter 7 bankruptcy can solve that problem.

A chapter 7 bankruptcy can eliminate burdensome debts, like credit card debts, medical debts, motor vehicle surcharges, loans, certain tax debts and personal loan debts.

Once your debts are wiped out, you can then apply for a loan modification or file for a chapter 13 bankruptcy, with much better odds of being approved. Using a chapter 7 to make yourself qualify for a chapter 13 bankruptcy is referred to as a “chapter 20 bankruptcy” and can be a useful tool if you want to save your home from foreclosure.

To find out more about whether or not a chapter 7 bankruptcy could be right for you, and whether or not you will qualify, read our post: About Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.

 

2. I don’t want to save my home, but I want to buy time, eliminate debts, live for free, avoid tax liabilities and rebuild my credit (Yes, it’s really possible!!!)

If it’s still early on in the foreclosure process and there is no impending sheriff sale, you may have already decided that you don’t want to save your home for a number of reasons; maybe it’s just not feasible to get a loan modification or enter into a chapter 13 bankruptcy, maybe you don’t want to be locked into your home for a number of years and it makes more sense to move out, whatever the reason, there are still benefits to a chapter 7 bankruptcy.

If you have racked up a large amount of debt over the years, a chapter 7 bankruptcy can eliminate these debts, while also buying you time in your home. Filing for a chapter 7 bankruptcy can buy you months in your home that you otherwise wouldn’t have had.

During the time that you are living in your home for free, you can also be saving money that would otherwise be spent on your mortgage or rent.

Also, during your prolonged stay in your home while living for free, you can rebuild your credit before you must move out. This can help you qualify again to buy another home in the future or secure an apartment to rent.

It can also help you avoid huge tax liabilities; if you allow your home to be sold at a sheriff sale, the difference in the amount of what the house is sold for and what you owe on the home is treated by the IRS as taxable income. If you don’t file for a chapter 7 bankruptcy prior to the sheriff sale, you could face owing the IRS thousands of dollars in taxes on that “income” that you never saw a dime of.

Moreover, if your financial situation changes for the better, and you change your mind and decide that you want to save your home, you can still apply for a loan modification, or chapter 13 bankruptcy, even after filing for a chapter 7 bankruptcy.

 

3. My sheriff sale is tomorrow but I’m not prepared and still need more time…

If your sheriff sale is scheduled, a chapter 7 bankruptcy can still help you eliminate debts and buy you time you otherwise wouldn’t have had in your home. Once you get your adjournment (postponement) of your sheriff sale, giving you 30 more days,  filing for a chapter 7 bankruptcy next can buy you an additional 90 days in your home. This can be highly valuable if you are still ironing out details of your move. Also, like in the previous scenario, it can assist you in avoiding tax liabilities.

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How Much Does It Cost To File Bankruptcy?

How much does it cost to file bankruptcy? That’s an important question I get every day.

 Our Fees Are Very Affordable.

Click Here For Our Current Pricing for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

 What Do We Charge For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?

We charge a fixed fee for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy which includes all Court costs and expenses. We include the cost of taking the on-line counseling courses and the costs to run a credit report. The fee has to be paid (or all of your payments must be made) before filing your case.  Click Here For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cost.

What Do We Charge For Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is quite a bit more work which can go on for months or even years.  But, the good news is—you don’t have to pay the fee in advance. Click Here For Chapter 13  Bankruptcy Cost.

Do you Offer Payment Plans?

Yes we do.  That’s the most common question we get when we are talking to someone about filing bankruptcy.  We understand finding the money to file is one of the biggest problems for most people.  We help by offering payment plans starting for as little as $100.

Where Do I Find The Money?

Most people simply don’t have the money when they need it.  Many times people are still making credit card payments or other payments to accounts that are going to be discharged in bankruptcy.  Once you decide you are going to file, any further money you pay a creditor is wasted money.  You are better off paying that amount toward your payment plan for our fees and put yourself in a position to file as soon as possible.  If you are already not making any payments,  a common approach is to borrow from friends and family at least some of the money to file.

 Recent Changes to the Bankruptcy Laws Made it More Expensive.

Since the Bankruptcy laws were amended in 2005, it has become more expensive to file bankruptcy.  The laws were designed (through extensive lobbying by credit card companies) to make it harder for many to discharge their debts through bankruptcy.

What’s the Average Cost To File Bankruptcy Nationwide?

The average cost to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, the most common form of consumer bankruptcy, is more than $1,500, according to recent research submitted to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

 How Do I Come Up With The Money To Pay For Bankruptcy?

Many people can stop paying their credit cards once they have made the decision to file bankruptcy.  This often frees up enough money to make payments for the attorney fee and Court costs.  Other people have to rely on friends or family to give them the money.  Still others wait until they receive their tax refund as a way to fund the cost.

The research submitted to the National Bureau of Economic Research, conducted by a group of professors from Columbia University, the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis, examined how bankruptcy filings spiked after people received their tax rebates from previous years.They estimate that another 200,000 consumers, who would otherwise not have enough money to file, will use their tax refunds to pay for bankruptcy this year.

 Too Broke To File Bankruptcy?

In an article on CNNMoney, Jialan Wang, co-author of the report said: “For lots of people, bankruptcy has been taken off the table as an option because of the severe fees involved.”

Among those fees is a charge of about $300 just for filing the paperwork with the federal court, while the rest typically goes to bankruptcy lawyers, said Wang.

And there are other expenses on top of that, including fees for mandatory pre-bankruptcy credit counseling and a pre-discharge debtor education course. These average about $85 altogether, according to a recent study sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute.

That means many of the Americans who have seen their debt snowball out of control due to events like job loss, foreclosure or a medical emergency during the economic downturn are now left without their last financial lifeline, she said.

Todd Murphy is a bankruptcy lawyer with offices in Bedminster, NJ.  Call now! 862-217-2361

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Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy – the total discharge.

Call Todd Murphy Today! 862-217-2361.

We are here to take your call at convenient days and time:
Mon. – Thurs. 9:00am to 8:00pm
Fri. 9:00am to 5:00pm
Saturdays 9:00 to 3:00pm

Is Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Right for You?

Todd MurphyAre you suffering from unmanageable credit card debt, medical bills, motor vehicle surcharges, loans and certain tax debts? Chapter 7 bankruptcy may be appropriate for you.

If you are seeking to eliminate burdensome debt, stop collections, garnishments, harassment calls, repossessions, liens, attachments or account freezes, contact our experienced Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyers. Get started on a better tomorrow today! Start over debt free. Everyone deserves a second chance!

Do not waste time and resources on debt reduction services.

Many people using profit and nonprofit reduction or counseling services spend years on service fees and still have to file for bankruptcy. Do not invest your time and resources in a futile endeavor. File for bankruptcy now and save time and money.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Is An Important Decision.

Bankruptcy Court NewarkFiling for personal bankruptcy is an important life decision. Whether your goal is credit card liquidation, to eliminate all of your debt or save your home from foreclosure, an experienced bankruptcy lawyer at Todd Murphy Law can assist you.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy may be right for you if:

  • You do not have a significant amount of equity in your home
  • You have unmanageable credit card debt
  • You cannot pay your medical bills
  • You do not have valuable assets that you are seeking to protect
  • Your driving privileges have been revoked based on your failure to pay motor vehicle surcharges
  • You cannot pay back personal loans

Todd MurphyYou must pass a “means test” to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You may be able to pass this income test and file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy even if you own a home. If you are a homeowner without a significant amount of equity, you may still be able to file for Chapter 7 debt liquidation.

If you have over a certain amount of equity in your home or in your assets, you may have to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy. We can help you determine which option is best for you.

We Make Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Fast and Easy

Do not be intimidated by bankruptcy. Our law firm can provide you with the bankruptcy information YOU need to make the right decision. If you feel the burden of financial stress, you can relieve yourself of debt and get on with your life.

Do not wait to contact us regarding this important financial matter.

Call 862-217-2361 to find out more and to schedule a free consultation.

Convenient Hours:
Mon. – Thurs. 9:00am to 8:00pm
Fri. 9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday 9:00am – 3:00pm

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About Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Personal Bankruptcy for individuals with limited assets

Are you suffering from unmanageable credit card debt, medical bills, motor vehicle surcharges, loans and certain tax debts? Chapter 7 bankruptcy may be appropriate for you.

If you are seeking to eliminate burdensome debt, stop collections, garnishments, harassment calls, repossessions, liens, attachments or account freezes, contact our experienced Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyers. Get started on a better tomorrow today! Start over debt free. Everyone deserves a second chance!

 

Do not waste time and resources on debt reduction services.

Many people using profit and nonprofit reduction or counseling services spend years on service fees and still have to file for bankruptcy. Do not invest your time and resources in a futile endeavor. File for bankruptcy now and save time and money.

Filing for personal bankruptcy is an important life decision. Whether your goal is credit card liquidation, to eliminate all of your debt or save your home from foreclosure, an experienced bankruptcy lawyer at Todd Murphy Law can assist you.

 

Chapter 7 bankruptcy may be right for you if:

 

  • you do not have a significant amount of equity in your home
  • you have unmanageable credit card debt
  • you cannot pay your medical bills
  • you do not have valuable assets that you are seeking to protect
  • your driving privileges have been revoked based on your failure to pay motor vehicle surcharges
  • you cannot pay back personal loans

You must pass a “means test” to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You may be able to pass this income test and file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy even if you own a home. If you are a homeowner without a significant amount of equity, you may still be able to file for Chapter 7 debt liquidation.

If you have over a certain amount of equity in your home or in your assets, you may have to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  We can help you determine which option is best for you.

Do not be intimidated by bankruptcy. Our law firm can provide you with the bankruptcy information YOU need to make the right decision. If you feel the burden of financial stress, you can relieve yourself of debt and get on with your life. Do not wait to contact us regarding this important financial matter.

call 862-217-2361 to find out more and to schedule a free consultation.