Tracy is a dedicated local Phoenix attorney with years of experience and the right credentials. More importantly, Tracy treats every client with compassion and makes them a top priority. She takes the time to fully understand your unique situation before charting the best course for debt freedom and financial independence.
Understanding all the details involved in both Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be daunting, but Charted Course Law is here to make the process as painless and transparent as possible. We know that making an informed decision is critical in any legal situation, and we’re here to help.
It's easy to stay calm as we guide you through the following steps:
Struggling with overwhelming debt is like sailing through rough waters where there’s always another wave looming. Calls from debt collectors are humiliating, and embarrassing when answered by family members or your employer. Getting served with a lawsuit is often frightening, and the legal jargon in the documents difficult to understand. If your wages or bank account are garnished by a judgment creditor, you may fear falling behind on rent/mortgage/car payments, or not having enough money to put food on the table. If your home is in foreclosure, you may be worrying about not only where you will live, but also possibly losing the equity that you’ve worked so hard to build.
In most cases, the very minute your bankruptcy petition is filed you are protected by the automatic stay. In other words, creditors must obey the Bankruptcy Court’s authority and immediately cease all prohibited collection activity. This means the phone calls stop, pending lawsuits are frozen, wage garnishments are quashed, and trustee’s sales are put on hold. Finally there is calm and a peaceful blue horizon in sight.
Bankruptcy Court protection means that you can stop “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. If you were current on credit card payments prior to filing bankruptcy, you’re finally out of the cycle of making a minimum monthly payment only to max out the credit limit again buying groceries a few days later. You may have been relying on money from family members and friends, and now you don’t need to ask them for assistance. If there was a pre-filing wage garnishment, you’re not trying to survive on 75% of your normal paycheck. A trustee’s sale halted by a Chapter 13 filing means that you can remain in your home.
What regaining control over your finances means depends on the challenges you were facing prior to filing bankruptcy and is different for everyone. It may be as simple as no longer having an overdrawn bank account, a well-stocked refrigerator and pantry, getting current on utility bills, or completely filling up your gas tank instead of putting in $10 at a time. The important thing is that your financial well-being has improved and that translates into a better quality of life for you.
In a Chapter 7 case, the Bankruptcy Court usually enters a discharge order about four months after the petition is filed. In a Chapter 13 proceeding, the discharge occurs after completing the repayment terms of the plan, which typically takes three to five years. Even a Chapter 13 with a “100% plan”, which originally provides for payment in full to all unsecured creditors, often results in a discharge of some unsecured debt because creditors don’t always file proofs of claim with the Bankruptcy Court.
The discharge gives you a clean financial slate as to the vast majority of debt, and it is the beginning of your fresh start. There are just a few types of debt excluded from discharge (such as child support obligations), discharged only if certain requirements are met (such as income tax debts), or rarely discharged (such as student loans for undue hardship). Although the dischargeable debt is not erased from existence, there is now an injunction (court order) that makes it illegal for creditors to collect. Should any of your creditors violate the discharge injunction, as your counsel we will ask the Bankruptcy Court to order them to pay damages, including attorney fees. Now that you’ve got your fresh start, it’s smooth sailing from here!
The long term goal of bankruptcy is to re-establish your credit worthiness, and that can lead to a better life for you and your loved ones. It would be great to never have to borrow money, but most of us need credit to reach our goals. The key is to use credit conservatively and responsibly. So, what does it mean to rebuild credit? You’ll find that some people use the term “credit repair” when speaking about rebuilding credit, but they are actually two different things. Credit repair essentially means to remove inaccurate reporting by the credit bureaus, which is accomplished by disputing errors on your credit report, and is not directly related to bankruptcy.
Alternatively, rebuilding your credit means exactly what it sounds like—growing your credit score from the ground up again. The bankruptcy discharge hits the reset button by resolving bad debt, but your credit score won’t improve unless you “get back on the horse that bucked you” and apply for new credit. Tracy's article on rebuilding your credit after bankruptcy explains the basic steps to follow and she's happy to discuss it with you further. The “horizon” is not the same for everyone—for some it is buying a house while for others it is realizing the dream of starting a new business—whatever it means to you, it is our privilege to help you achieve better days!
If none of the locations below are convenient for you, please call 480-878-9541 for other options. Phone and video consultations are available. We offer Saturday and evening appointments.