[...]... A “secured debt is one that gives a creditor the right to take a specific item of property (such as your house or car) if you don’t pay the debt An “unsecured debt doesn’t give the creditor this right Common examples of unsecured debts are credit card and medical bills 1/10 Bankruptcy: Is It the Right Solution to Your Debt Problems? a How a Chapter 13 Case Begins To begin a Chapter 13 bankruptcy,. .. make all regular payments on your secured debts D The Meeting of Creditors A key event in the early phases of any bankruptcy case is what’s called the meeting of creditors This is a coming together of the debtor, all the creditors interested enough to show up, and the trustee, who presides The creditors and trustee are allowed to ask you questions about issues in your case In the typical Chapter 7 case,... case proceeds in accord with the rules governing bankruptcy, the trustee’s primary duty is to see that your unsecured creditors are paid as much as possible on the debts you owe them 1/18 Bankruptcy: Is It the Right Solution to Your Debt Problems? OVERSIGHT BY THE U.S TRUSTEE’S OFFICE The U.S Trustee’s Office is a part of the United States Department of Justice It manages the bankruptcy trustees that... turn to the checklist to answer the questions there that were raised by that chapter’s discussion Once you‘ve read the entire book and have completed the checklist, you will have before you a summary of the major issues to consider when deciding whether or not to file 1/6 Bankruptcy: Is It the Right Solution to Your Debt Problems? LOOK FOR THESE ICONS, WHICH ALERT YOU TO CERTAIN KINDS OF INFORMATION The. .. modify your plan or give you a hardship discharge, you can: • convert your Chapter 13 bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, unless you received a Chapter 7 discharge within the previous six years (this is explained in Chapter 2), or • dismiss your Chapter 13 case This means you’ll owe your creditors the balances on your debts from before you filed your Chapter 13 1/12 Bankruptcy: Is It the Right Solution. .. seize and sell to pay your unsecured creditors If there is no such property, then there is no commission The first time you are likely to encounter the trustee in a Chapter 7 case is when you appear at your creditors’ meeting, which you must attend if you don’t want your bankruptcy dismissed (We provide more detail about the creditors’ meeting in Section D, below.) At this meeting, the trustee may... Bankruptcy Stops Your Creditors One of the most powerful features of bankruptcy is that it stops most debt collectors dead in their tracks and keeps them at bay for the rest of your case Once you file, all collection activity must go through the bankruptcy court—and no creditor can take any further action against you directly Below, we describe how it works You don’t need bankruptcy to stop your creditors... 1 Chapter 7 Meeting of Creditors 1/21 2 Chapter 13 Meeting of Creditors 1/23 1/2 Bankruptcy: Is It the Right Solution to Your Debt Problems? Jonathan and Hilda are married with two young children Hilda is a stay-at-home mother They had always managed their money wisely until disaster struck: Jonathan’s employer, a large corporation, merged with its competitor, and Jonathan was downsized... move to dismiss your case for “abuse” (or allow you to convert it to Chapter 13) if your income and expenses show the possibility that you could pay a significant portion of your unsecured debts If your papers indicate that all your property is exempt, your case will initially be considered a “no-asset” case—in other words, on the face of it you’ve got nothing that can be sold to pay creditors This means... benefits, such as welfare or food stamps record liens against your property, or seize your property or income, such as money in a bank account or your paycheck If a creditor tries to collect a debt in violation of the automatic stay, you can ask the bankruptcy court to hold the creditor in contempt of court and to fine the creditor 2 Exceptions to the Automatic Stay There are some notable exceptions to . licensed to practice in your state. 2nd edition Bankruptcy Is It the Right Solution to Your Debt Problems? by Attorney Robin Leonard edited by Stephen Elias and Ilona Bray Second Edition February. Trustee 1/20 D. The Meeting of Creditors 1/21 1. Chapter 7 Meeting of Creditors 1/21 2. Chapter 13 Meeting of Creditors 1/23 1 1/2 Bankruptcy: Is It the Right Solution to Your Debt Problems? Jonathan. Bankruptcy: Is It the Right Solution to Your Debt Problems? Even if your situation isn’t identical to Jonathan and Hilda’s, David’s, Carly’s, or Larry’s, you probably can see some similarities between their stories