Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

Anyone in Oak Park who is considering personal bankruptcy and who also owns a small business should begin working with a lawyer as soon as possible to understand the potential implications of consumer bankruptcy for their business. If you are considering personal bankruptcy and you are wondering whether your small business will be impacted, the short answer is that it depends upon your situation. In many circumstances, a small business owner can file for personal bankruptcy without affecting the business. However, in situations where the small business and the business owner are the same legal entity, personal bankruptcy will also have to be business bankruptcy. Then, depending on the type of bankruptcy you are planning to file for, you may be able to keep your business open. Our Oak Park bankruptcy attorneys can provide you with more information. Personal Bankruptcy for Sole Proprietors If you are planning to file for personal bankruptcy and you are a sole proprietor, you should know...

If you are struggling to repay debts you owe, and creditors are contacting you, you may be worried about the types of actions that creditors or debt collectors can take against you in order to recover the money you owe. You might be wondering, specifically, if you can be forced to file for bankruptcy. Involuntary consumer bankruptcies are not common, but they can happen under some circumstances. Our Oak Park bankruptcy lawyers can provide you with more information about involuntary bankruptcy, as well as details about your rights as a consumer under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and other laws. Understanding How Involuntary Bankruptcy Works It is rare, but individuals can be forced to file for bankruptcy in limited circumstances through an involuntary bankruptcy petition. According to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code: “An involuntary case may be commenced only under Chapter 7 or 11 of this title, and only against a person, except a farmer, family farmer, or a corporation is n...

Bankruptcy trustees oversee consumer and commercial bankruptcy cases, but trustees perform different roles depending upon the type of bankruptcy filing. In reorganization bankruptcies, as a recent article in The Yale Law Journal notes, there are specific trustees that handle Chapter 13 consumer bankruptcy cases, while businesses filing for Chapter 11 typically perform the role of trustee themselves as a debtor-in-possession. In other words, trustees are different and distinct when it comes to consumer and commercial reorganization bankruptcy cases. Yet as the article points out, the same distinction does not exist in Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, and consumers who are filing for a liquidation bankruptcy ultimately could suffer the consequences. Argument for Distinction Between Consumer and Business Trustees in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cases What is the argument for a clearer distinction between consumer and business trustees in Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases? The article in The Yale Law Journa...

Making the decision to file for personal bankruptcy can be a complicated one, and it is important to reach that decision with guidance from an experienced consumer bankruptcy lawyer in Oak Park . While it is possible to file for bankruptcy without having an attorney, U.S. bankruptcy law is extremely complex, and there are many different reasons to have a lawyer on your side. The following are some of the top reasons to hire a consumer bankruptcy lawyer when you are considering Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. You Will Need Assistance Determining the Best Type of Bankruptcy for You Although it is a common misconception, you cannot simply choose the type of bankruptcy for which you will file. To be clear, you cannot choose between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy based on what you want to get out of the bankruptcy. Rather, you will need to prove that you are eligible for the particular type of bankruptcy for which you plan to file. Proving eligibility for Chapter 7 bankruptcy ...

Filing for personal bankruptcy is an extremely complex process, and it is essential for anyone considering it to speak with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer about the different types of bankruptcy and their effects. For small business owners in the Oak Park area, the prospect of filing for consumer bankruptcy can raise many questions and concerns about how a personal Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing will affect the business. If you are wondering about the risk of losing your small business if you file for personal bankruptcy, there is no simple answer to the question based on existing bankruptcy law . Rather, the answer will depend upon a few key factors, including the type of business structure you are using for your small business and the type of bankruptcy you are considering. How is Your Small Business Structured? When you are considering whether a personal bankruptcy filing could result in you losing your small business or being forced to close the doors of your small ...

If you are planning to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and you currently have a mortgage on a home, you likely have concerns about what will happen to your house. You might be considering bankruptcy in part because you have gotten behind on your mortgage payments and you are now facing foreclosure. Even if you are not facing foreclosure, you might be struggling to make mortgage payments and could be behind schedule by a couple of months. Combined with other consumer debt, you might be thinking that a liquidation bankruptcy is the best option to discharge your debts and to get a fresh start. What will happen to your home? Many people assume that anyone who owns a home and files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy will lose their home, and this is not automatically true. Indeed, the answer to that question depends on a handful of different questions and issues, and we want to give you an idea of where to get started. Is Your Home Going Into Foreclosure? One of the first questions you will want to c...

Small businesses and family-owned businesses can be great investments for many people in Oak Park. However, like individuals and other larger businesses, small businesses can struggle with debt. Small businesses and family-owned operations can have trouble making payments on business debts, and they can amass credit card debt that amounts to much more than the revenue that the business is bringing in. When a business is having a lot of financial trouble, many people assume that the business can file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that the owner (or owners) can protect their personal property and personal financial history even though the business may have to close. However, there are some situations in which a business bankruptcy is actually more like a consumer bankruptcy. More precisely, for businesses that are structured as sole proprietorships, business bankruptcy is actually consumer bankruptcy . We will say more about how this works, and why t...

If you owe less than $15,000 combined to creditors, should you be thinking about filing for consumer bankruptcy ? According to an article in Bankrate.com , personal bankruptcy can provide much-needed debt relief to many Chicagoans, but it may not be the best option for all debtors. Let us say first that the figure of $15,000 is an arbitrary one that we are using as a hypothetical example for discussing the pros and cons of filing for bankruptcy . At the same time, however, it is important to consider the amount of debt you owe when consider whether you are eligible for bankruptcy protection, and whether it is the best course of action for you. Weighing the Relief of Bankruptcy with its Credit Implications Generally speaking, if you do not owe a substantial amount of money to your creditors, filing for personal bankruptcy may not be the most suitable route for you to take. While $10,000 or $15,000 in debt can seem like a lot of money, working with your creditors to repay ...

If you are thinking about filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy or are currently making payments as part of a consumer bankruptcy repayment plan, it is extremely important that you know the timing and amount of your monthly mortgage payment. Many consumers were negatively impacted when Wells Fargo Bank did not notify them of payment changes. According to a recent article in The Washington Post , Wells Fargo Bank agreed to a payment of $81.6 million “to settle claims that it failed to notify homeowners in bankruptcy of changes in their mortgage payments.” Notice Violations Impacted Nearly 70,000 Account Holders Allegations that Wells Fargo failed to let homeowners in bankruptcy know about payment changes were not referring only to a handful of customers. To be sure, “Wells Fargo acknowledged that it failed to file more than 100,000 payment-change notices on a timely basis,” and that it “failed to meet the deadline required in more than 18,000 escrow analyses.” All in all, th...