04/23/2021
CAN CHAPTER 7 CHANGE YOUR LIFE?
The following objectives can usually be accomplished by successfully completing Chapter 7:
(1) Completely wipe out your credit card debt. Chapter 7 is an excellent way to wipe out all of your credit card debt and stop those bill collectors and collection agencies from constantly calling and harassing you. We have found that many clients have no idea how much their interest rate is on their credit card debt. I have seen credit card debt as high as 29.99%. Isn't that outrageous when you consider what kind of interest rate you earn when you put your money into a bank account? Haven't they made enough money from you over the years?
Do you want to stop those plastic poison pushers from ruining your life? Chapter 7 just might provide the antidote that you need.
(2) Medical bills, dental bills, doctor bills, hospital bills. You can wipe out all sorts of medical bills that are not covered by insurance, and you can be released of all responsibility for those bills.
(3) Utility bills such as gas, electric, telephone, cable, and cell phone bills. You can wipe out your utility bills. A public utility such as Atlantic City Electric, Verizon, and South Jersey Gas must continue to provide you with service in the future.
Cell phone bills are a little bit different. Cell phone bills can be wiped out, but your cell phone company is not legally required to continue to provide cell phone service to you in the future. But when you think about it, wouldn't it be sort of stupid for them not to provide you with future service? I mean think of how much money they would lose over the years if they didn't continue to give you cell phone service.
And if your present cell phone company that you owe money to doesn't want you to have additional cell phone time in the future, what's the big deal? There are so many other providers that would be happy to give you service, and of course you can keep your same phone number.
You can usually save a lot of money when you wipe out your utility bills and your cell phone bills.
Has your gas or electric been turned off? Here's how you can quickly get warm, start cooking again, and see the light.
Are you ready for a special bankruptcy bonus? If your gas or electric service has been turned off by a public utility for failure to pay your bill, they are almost always required to turn it back on for you. There is a pretty good chance that you can get your service restored on the same day that you file your bankruptcy case.
We have had clients with electric bills well over $1000 have their service immediately turned right back on, once they have filed for bankruptcy.
The utility company will usually have the right to ask you to make a reasonable security deposit within about 20 days after your case is filed. If you need more time to do that, or if you think the amount of money they are asking for is too high based on what your normal monthly bill is, just let us know, and we can probably negotiate a deal for you with the electric or gas company.
(4) Wipe Out Income Taxes that are more than 3 years old and that were filed more than 2 years ago. Chapter 7, believe it or not, can often help you wipe out certain income tax bills owed to either the IRS, or to the State of New Jersey. We need to specifically review each situation before we can advise our clients whether or not their income taxes can legally be wiped out in a chapter 7.
If you owe money to Uncle Sam let us know, and we'll see if there is a way to get those debts wiped out in Chapter 7.
(5) Wipe Out personal unsecured loans and Pay Day loans . If you have an unsecured loan from a place such as a credit union, One Main Financial, Mariner, Prosper, Avant or other similar loans, you can usually wipe them out in Chapter 7.
(6) Wipe Out Surcharges on your driver's license, and get your license back. New Jersey Motor Vehicle surcharges can usually be discharged in Chapter 7. Many people don't have a legal driver's license simply because they can't afford to pay their surcharges. By filing Chapter 7, you can become eligible to get your license back, provided that failure to pay surcharges is the only reason keeping you from getting your license.
You might even be lucky enough to get your license back on the very same day that you file your case.
(7) Discharge Legal Fees. You can usually even wipe out legal fees that you owe to an attorney for services performed.
(8) Discharge debts on bail bonds. If you cosigned for someone's bail, you can wipe that out.
(9) Stop people from suing you. Filing for bankruptcy will usually stop all lawsuits against you.
(10) Stop wage garnishments on your salary. Chapter 7 automatically prohibits and stops most wage executions. Here's a Special Bonus: If a creditor has taken $600 or more out of your salary during the 90 days immediately prior to your Chapter 7 filing date, many times we can get all of that money back for you. Please make sure to let us know if this applies to you.
(11) Release liens on Frozen bank accounts. A lot of times creditors freeze your bank account and you start bouncing checks because you never saw it coming. If that money has not yet been turned over to the creditor as the result of a Court order ordering turnover of funds, in many cases we can get the frozen funds released back to you fairly quickly.
(12) Stop Sheriff's Sales on homes and personal property. If the Sheriff has scheduled a sale of your home or other real estate, or a sale of personal assets such as a car, household items, or other personal property, the Sheriff's Sale can usually be stopped by filing Chapter 7.
(13) Stop Evictions. Chapter 7 will usually help you stop and delay efforts by a landlord to evict you, if you have had trouble keeping up to date with your rent.
(14) The primary purposes of Chapter 7 are to (a) get you totally out of debt in about 4 months (b) let you keep everything you already own including your home, your car, your money, your personal assets and personal belongings, and even the money you have in your IRA and qualified retirement accounts, and (c) help you get a fresh financial start and reestablish your credit so you can soon get credit cards again, finance vehicles, and purchase homes and get mortgages on homes you buy in the future, and (d) get stress relief, sleep better at night, feel better about yourself and face the world with a positive attitude about your future.
GET A FRESH START. GET DEBT RELIEF AND STRESS RELIEF AT THE SAME TIME
