Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

If you are planning to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy , it is important to understand that this is a liquidation bankruptcy. Accordingly, all of your non-exempt property will be liquidated in order to repay creditors, and you will receive a discharge of all eligible debts at the end of the bankruptcy process. The time from filing to discharge usually takes approximately four to six months, making the Chapter 7 bankruptcy process quite fast, especially in comparison with Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which requires a repayment plan over the course of three to five years. While many debtors want to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in order to get a fresh start, there are some situations in which a debtor might not want to give up secured property or receive a discharge because the debtor wants to keep that property and continue to make payments on it. Is this type of arrangement possible in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case? For example, if you have an auto loan and want to keep the car and continue to m...

When you are planning to file for consumer bankruptcy , you may have heard that there is a difference between how secured and unsecured debt will be handled. If you are thinking about Chapter 7 bankruptcy , it is unlikely that you have many (if any) assets that the bankruptcy trustee will be able to liquidate in order to repay creditors. At the same time, it is important to understand how secured and unsecured debts are likely to be treated in your bankruptcy case. If you have questions or concerns, an Oak Park bankruptcy lawyer can help. What is Secured Debt in a Bankruptcy Case? Secured debt is not only a term that is used in personal bankruptcy cases, but also in relation to certain types of debt outside the context of bankruptcy. A secured debt is a particular type of debt that has been secured by property, or for which the creditor has a lien. According to the Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII), a secured debt is defined as “a creditor’s claim that is secured by a lien ...