Dallas Bankruptcy Blog

As of 2005, when the new bankruptcy laws were established, everyone who files a bankruptcy petition must attend a credit counseling program no longer than 6 months before they file their petition. This program will go over all of your options with you and seeks to provide you with alternatives to bankruptcy. You can also consult a bankruptcy lawyer during this time, if you’d like.

A listing of all approved credit counseling agencies for all districts of Texas can be found here.

If bankruptcy is still your preferred choice, you can file your petition at anytime after completing the program. Once you attend this program, you need to make sure you file your bankruptcy petition within 6 months, in order to avoid the inconvenience of going through the program again.

If you are considering bankruptcy, contact the offices of Allmand and Lee at (214) 265-0123 to discuss your options. They have helped other good people through bad times and they can do the same for you, too.

One downfall in your bankruptcy claim can be if you wait too long to stop using your credit cards or continue to use them after you have consulted with a bankruptcy lawyer. It is critical that you stop using your credit cards months before you seek help from a bankruptcy attorney, and that you don’t use them again unless you decide not to file for bankruptcy.

Although this can be hard since many who consider bankruptcy are strapped for cash, many judges look unfavorably upon those who continue to use credit even though they know that they will likely file bankruptcy and may use that has a reason to deny your discharge. The last thing you need at this time in your life is to have your valid bankruptcy denied because you had no money and didn’t know the rules.

If you are considering bankruptcy, contact the offices of Allmand and Lee at (214) 265-0123 to discuss your options. They have helped other good people through bad times and they can do the same for you, too.

Priority claims are a way for the court to organize your unsecured debt and decide which debt takes ‘priority’ over the rest. These debts are usually not dischargeable in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and usually cannot be reduced either. There is a set priority list that determines which debts fall into this category. Priority claims that involve individual debtors (i.e. bankruptcy resulting from individual debt rather than business debt) include:

• Child Support and spousal support
• Fees and administrative costs for filing bankruptcy
• Recent income taxes

When paying off your debts, this is the order in which the money in your bankruptcy estate will be spent. A claim that is higher on the list will need to be completely paid off before lower claims are paid. Additionally, if you have more than one debt in a single category, the recipients within that category will split the funds based on the size of their individual claim, until the debt owed to them is paid off.

If you are considering bankruptcy, contact the offices of Allmand and Lee at (214) 265-0123 to discuss your options. They have helped other good people through bad times and they can do the same for you, too.

Keeping up with the latest bankruptcy news and happenings in your area of Texas is important, especially if you are considering bankruptcy yourself. Sometimes laws can change quickly and you want to be as prepared as possible when you file your papers.

Each Bankruptcy Court in Texas has their own website, which they use to keep consumers informed of news or any other happenings regarding bankruptcy in Texas. This is a great place to find important information on policy changes that affect bankruptcy rules and regulations in Texas. It is also a great way to discover where and when any bankruptcy related classes or seminars might be held near your area.

Links to Texas Bankruptcy Court websites:

If you are a homeowner who is facing foreclosure and considering bankruptcy in order to keep your home, more relief may be on the way. Right now, you can include your mortgage arrears in your Chapter 13 bankruptcy and pay it off, but your payment and terms will remain the same. A judge has little to no authority to modify the particulars of your mortgage, like he can with other debt included in a Chapter 13 filing.

But, legislation is on the table to change all of that. We have all heard about the thousands of “subprime” mortgages that are now being foreclosed on and many are turning to Chapter 13 bankruptcy in order to keep their homes. Congress now wants to help by proposing a bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of a mortgage debt, just as he could any other debt.

These changes would allow a bankruptcy judge to help debtors through their Chapter 13 bankruptcy by reducing financial strain. This means a bankruptcy judge could eliminate part of your mortgage debt, reduce your interest rate, or extend the life of your mortgage so that you have more money to put towards your debts each month.

If you are a distressed homeowner considering Chapter 13 bankruptcy, contact the offices of Allmand and Lee at (214) 265-0123 to discuss your options. They have helped other good people through bad times and they can do the same for you, too.

If you are one of the thousands of Americans who received a “subprime” mortgage last year and are now facing a foreclosure, filing for bankruptcy may help you. Studies suggest that over 40% of new bankruptcy filings are for Chapter 13 in the wake of the “subprime crisis”.

Filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy will halt the foreclosure proceedings immediately, but the earlier you file, the better off you will be. You can then work out a 3 to 5 year payment plan with all of your creditors, including your mortgage lender. Remember though, there are some qualification guidelines to file for Chapter 13: