Chapter 13 debt limits are one of the eligibility requirements to file for this form of bankruptcy reorganization. The test has two prongs: unsecured debt and secured debt. Come in under each prong and you meet the debt limits test. For cases filed on April 1, 2025 and afterwards, the Chapter 13 debt limits are: […]
What You Think About Chapter 13 Is Dead Wrong
The difference between bankruptcy’s Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 is often expressed this way: Chapter 7 is a liquidation proceeding Chapter 13 is a repayment plan And therein lies the biggest misconception about Chapter 13: 13 does not necessarily repay everything you owe. It’s a repayment plan alright, but not necessarily a 100% repayment . […]
How 13 Works To Save Your House From Foreclosure
Saving a house from foreclosure is the single reason most people file bankruptcy. Bankruptcy stops foreclosure- that’s a given. But then what? How can bankruptcy save the house from foreclosure, rather than just putting off the inevitable loss? After all, the mortgage lender has a lien on the house, and liens aren’t discharged in bankruptcy. […]
7 Keys To Keeping Your House: Chapter 13 After You File
You filed filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy to keep your house and stop the foreclosure. You’ve protected your home, for the moment. Bankruptcy gets you a sheltered legal environment to address the problems with your mortgage. You heave a sigh of relief. But the fight to keep your house isn’t over, just because there’s a stay. […]
Save The House Even AFTER The Foreclosure Sale
The fall of the hammer at the foreclosure sale threatened to leave my widowed client homeless and poorer by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead, we recovered her house from the foreclosure sale under new California law which delays the finality of the change of title. She had rights after foreclosure. The prompt filing of […]
How Chapter 13 Cuts Car Loan Down To Size
Car lenders who make new car loans with an underwater trade-in will face the music in Chapter 13. The Supreme Court declined to review a 9th Circuit decision that stripped car loans of their protected specially protected status in bankruptcy; as a result, Californians will continue to benefit from the debtor-friendly decision in Penrod, rising out of […]
Chapter 13 Dismissed After All Payments Are Made: Self Inflicted Wounds
There’s been a rash of bullet-ridden feet lately in Chapter 13 cases. Debtors seem to whip out their pistols and shoot themselves in the foot with increasing regularity. Just when their goal of keeping the house was within reach, had they paid attention, they lose it all. It happens when debtors don’t hold up their […]