Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer

If you are behind in the payment of the mortgage or with the credit card or you are struggling to make ends meet because you have lost your job, divorced or have problems with your debts, Lawyer Leanne Perez can help you find a solution today. It is not important how you got into debt, but how we can help you liquidate them. When a person files a bankruptcy case it is usually due to being unable to handle an overwhelming amount of debt.

When a person files for bankruptcy it is usually because of being unable to handle an overwhelming amount of debt. Whether you file a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13, there are specific benefits to each. One immediate benefit for either type of filing is that your creditors are required to stop contacting you at once, upon being notified of your filing.

Attorney Leanne Perez provides her clients with a personalized approach to eliminating their debt for good. She knows that no two people amass the same debt, in the same way, which means there is no “one size fits all” approach to bankruptcy. No matter what has led to your financial difficulty, her goal is to help you through this tough time by thoroughly explaining what bankruptcy means to you and your family. For years, she has helped hundreds of individuals turn their financial lives around from the moment she made contact, and she would like to help others receive that same opportunity with her help.

If you answer yes to any of the following, Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney Leanne Perez can help with the following concerns:

Is your house in foreclosure or are you behind in your mortgage payments?
Are you having a hard time paying off your debts?
Do you want your debts consolidated?
Do you want your debts discharged?
Are you wondering how you are going to feed, clothe and shelter your family?

If you need debt relief, filing for personal bankruptcy may be the answer that finally puts an end to creditor harassment, unexpected wage garnishment, repossession of your car, and home foreclosure. However, declaring bankruptcy can be a confusing and intimidating process. Having a compassionate and professional bankruptcy attorney on your side is immensely helpful. When your debts and obligations become too much to bear, it is best to consult a bankruptcy attorney who has familiarity with this complex area of the law.

With the help of Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer Leanne Perez, a comprehensive review of your financial position will be completed to help the client determine which course of action is best for you. With over 15 years experience in helping residents throughout Florida, Attorney Leanne Perez is highly skilled in providing you the best advice and solutions possible.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Chapter 7, or straight (liquidation) bankruptcy, is the most common type of bankruptcy in the U.S. This type of bankruptcy is a good option when you have too much debt or have too many creditors for debt settlement. Liquidation involves selling an individual’s assets and then using the proceeds from this sale to pay creditors; however, in practice, most individuals filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy are not required to sell any property at all. Attorney Perez can advise you about what’s involved in filing for bankruptcy and what you can do to protect your home, vehicle, and other assets from liquidation or repossession.

The vast majority of Chapter 7 cases that Attorney Perez filed are “no asset cases,” meaning all of her client’s assets are exempt and clients keep all of their assets. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a trustee is given authority to examine all financial records in order to review the bankruptcy petition. It is the trustee’s job to verify that the information provided to the court matches your financial documents, such as pay stubs and bank statements, and ensure they are accurate.

As long as you haven’t received a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge in the past eight years and depending on your income and the nature of your debts you should be able to file. While the process can take four to six months, Chapter 7 bankruptcy enables individuals to eliminate credit card debt, judgments, medical bills, and other types of debt so they can move forward with their lives without the loss of exempt assets.

Immediately upon filing your case, an automatic stay can stop all creditor collection efforts against you, and upon receiving a discharge order, you will no longer have to repay your discharged debts. It’s the ultimate fresh start however the Bankruptcy laws were changed in 2005 to make qualifying more difficult.

A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can provide for you (in most cases):

A new financial start
Permanently eliminate the debts you can’t pay
Put you on a track to improving your credit score
Allow you to keep assets including your home and car

Some of the best things about Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, however, are what it stops for you:

Bank levies
Creditor/debt collector harassment
Evictions
Foreclosures
Lawsuits
Repossessions
Tax collection (depends on type of tax)
Utility disconnections
Wage garnishments

Unsecured Debts

Most unsecured loans are dischargeable in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Unsecured debts include:

Credit Cards & Charge Cards
Personal loans
Business debt
Medical Bills
Utility bills
Pay day loans
Certain unpaid taxes
Lawsuits
Judgments
Debts following evictions and/or repossessions

Under a Chapter 7 these are debts that may not be dischargable:

Alimony
Child support obligations
Student loans
Debt obligations set forth in divorce agreements
Pre-petition fines and restitution orders
Debts from injury or death due to alcohol or drug use
Specific taxes

Remember, each case is different. Attorney Perez will go over your personal debt issues during your consultation to better inform you of what will and will not be forgiven.

Many of Attorney Perez's clients have had bad experiences with so called “debt settlement” firms before they met her. These firms that charge exorbitant fees, receive “commissions” or kickbacks from collection agencies based on how much they get the debtors to pay, and then do nothing when their clients are sued. With these firms, most of the client’s money usually go to pay the firms’ fees, and most of the clients are never able to finish paying off their debts. Through Chapter 7, Attorney Perez solves her clients' debt problems. She stops garnishments, foreclosures and bank levies, relieves her clients’ stress and ultimately helps them to rebuild their credit by first discharging their debt.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

If you have a steady income and can afford to be making payments, Chapter 13 is a restructuring of your debt through negotiating settlement or outright discharge of certain debts in order to be able to repay creditors within 3 to 5 years. Most assets can normally be kept in a Chapter 13.

A person filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy is granted certain extraordinary rights that are not granted in Chapter 7. Among the most important right is the power to force modifications of specific types of loans without the consent of financial institutions. For the person who wants to keep a particular collateral, such as a house or a vehicle, one of the first goals in any Chapter 13 case will be to modify said loans to lower the total balance of the loan to the current value of the collateral, reduce the interest rate at a slightly higher rate than the market rate, and change the extension (term of the loan payment plan) so that payments are within your reach.

In Chapter 13, an individual discloses all of their financial information including assets, debts, income, expenses and any recent transfers of property. They then propose a payment plan in which they indicate what they will do regarding their debts, including the modifications they propose for collateral-backed loans, as well as the monthly payment that they think they can pay comfortably during the period of 3 to 5 years of the plan, and that meets the minimum requirements of the law.

There are many advantages associated with filing for Chapter 13. They include:

You will get up to 60 months to get caught up on your past due mortgage payments if you are being threatened with foreclosure and the loss of your home.
You will have up to 60 months to pay off the balance due on your car loan so you can avoid repossession.
You will have the opportunity to hold on to all of your property. Although there are exemptions in bankruptcy that prevent you from losing certain assets, some of the assets you own may be nonexempt, which means you could lose them if you filed Chapter 7. Chapter 13 gives you the opportunity to keep everything that you own.
You can repay any past due property taxes, IRS taxes, and child support that you may owe over a 3-5 year period.
You can pay the amount of your attorney fees and court costs over time.

Debt Collection Troubles

If possible, the best time to seek help from a lawyer with your debt collection troubles is as soon as you know you are falling behind in your payments. An experienced debt relief attorney will analyze your financial situation and help you understand the various options available to you to deal with your debt, including:

Negotiations with your creditors for a hardship forbearance in the case of job loss or other personal difficulties.
Negotiation of a voluntary repayment plan with your creditors, in which you close your accounts and agree to make reasonable payments each month, in return for a reduction in the interest rate or the principal of the loan.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy to erase your unsecured debt such as medical bills or credit card debt.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy to reorganize all your debt payments into more manageable monthly amounts over a three to five-year period, after which your remaining unsecured debt may be erased.

Free Consultation! Call Today 904-990-3066

Attorney Leanne Perez has the extensive knowledge necessary to handle the documentation and presentation of your bankruptcy case. Facing the task of filing for bankruptcy on your own can be disastrous. It is important to contact a bankruptcy attorney you can depend on. Leanne would be happy to talk with you during a free consultation to discuss your bankruptcy options. Please call (904) 990-3066 and Attorney Perez will schedule a meeting with you.