Tacoma Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyers

Get help from a Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney in Tacoma, WA.

A Chapter 13 is a repayment plan that lasts three to five years. It can be used to accomplished many goals that a Chapter 7 cannot. It can help you catch up on a delinquent mortgage and stay out of foreclosure for good. The skilled attorneys from our firm can help you navigate through this often times complex process.

You can also remove a second mortgage from your home if its value is less than the balance of the first mortgage. You can consolidate a car loan with other debt to ease the payments. You can also include back taxes and back child support in a repayment plan. A Chapter 13 can help reinstate a driver’s license for unpaid tickets or child support when a Chapter 7 cannot.

Our Tacoma Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyers can help you stop all debt collections.

When you file a Chapter 13, all debt collection stops. You propose a debt repayment plan in which you make a monthly payment to a trustee who divides the payment up to your creditors according to the plan. Some creditors must be paid in full and some can be paid as little as 0% depending on your ability. This plan must be confirmed by a bankruptcy judge.

About a month after you file your case, you will attend one short hearing with trustee. Though this hearing is called a “meeting of creditors”, your creditors will probably not appear. The trustee examines your plan to determine whether it complies with the law and whether it will work. The trustee and any creditor can object to your plan. Many times your Tacoma Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney can negotiate a settlement to these objections but sometimes the objection is heard by a bankruptcy judge at a confirmation hearing. A bankruptcy judge must confirm your plan or it will be dismissed.

It is very difficult for a debtor to file their own plan and see it through to confirmation. An experienced Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney in Tacoma, WA knows what is required by law for a plan to be confirmed. He or she will propose a plan that complies with the law and serves your interest the best, then fight out any details up to the point of confirmation. Once a plan is confirmed, you just keep making payments for three to five years at which point you get a discharge.

If you are trying to catch up on a mortgage, you have to be able to make the current mortgage payment and pay enough in addition to that to catch up within five years. You have to be able to pay a car loan off within five years as well. You can “cram down” a car loan if you have purchased the car over two and a half years ago or the car loan was refinanced.

A “cram down” allows you to split the car loan into two portions, one is the value of the car and the other is any remaining balance. You pay the remaining balance at the same rate as your “general unsecured creditors” such as credit cards or medical bills. These creditors are paid anything from 0% to 100% depending on your best abilities.

You can also cram down loans for big ticket items like appliances or furniture if you bought them over a year ago. You have to be able to catch up on non-dischargeable taxes (usually taxes less than three years old) or back domestic support obligations or child support within five years. If you propose to pay back a mortgage, a car loan or have taxes and domestic support obligations but it appears you do not have the income to pay them within five years, your plan is “unfeasible” and will not be confirmed.

Ask about our affordable, low flat fees.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney in Tacoma, WA from our firm will help answer your questions and assist you in determining if it is the correct form of bankruptcy to file for you own unique circumstances. Call today for your FREE initial consultation! And, be sure to find out about our very affordable, low flat fees.

(253) 444-5869