Statewide bankruptcy numbers are affected by availability of work, projects of urban renewal, and state solvency. Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counselingpresident David Jones expects that in 2011, bankruptcy filings across the nation will reach at least 1.5 million—a high not seen since before the passage of theBankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Recent regulations regarding the decrease in credit card limits and numbers showing a recent increase in personal savings are expected to help decrease the rate of bankruptcy. Indicative of this, total filings between 2009 and 2010 increased by 8.1 percent, compared with an increase of 31.9 percent between 2008 and 2009, the first year for which data was affected by a national recession.

If you or someone you know has questions regarding bankruptcy, state regulations, or median household income levels affecting whether or not you qualify to file, contact the bankruptcy lawyers at our experienced firm.

In Arizona, a mortgage lender generally begins the foreclosure process once the borrower has become at least 90 days past due on the mortgage payment. Once the foreclosure process begins, a trustee takes over the delinquent mortgage. The trustee will then send the homeowner a “Notice of Trustee Sale” which states that the property will be sold in 90 days from the date the Notice was filed and recorded. If the property is sold at the Trustee Sale, the homeowner is then required to vacate the premises in as few as 5 days.

Only after you’ve researched your other options such as better budgeting, speaking directly with your creditors, debt consolidation, and the like should you even consider filing for bankruptcy. If you do end up deciding that bankruptcy is for you, do be aware that this is a long and sometimes arduous process. However, as long as you do it correctly, it can also be rewarding in its own way. Your first step is to decide which type of bankruptcy you wish to file.

If you decide to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, also known as liquidation, your income will need to be at or below the average monthly income for a family of the same size as yours. If it is not, you will need to either look into Chapter 13 Bankruptcy or seek another alternative. If you do end up filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, you should know and understand that your applicable assets will be seized in order to pay off your debts.

Those who file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy often find it a more involved process. However,  there are some benefits to Chapter 13 Bankruptcy that do not exist with Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. For example, it will only remain on your credit for a period of seven years. To qualify for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, you must create a bankruptcy plan detailing how you plan to pay back your creditors and in what time frame. Since this plan will have to be approved by a bankruptcy court, it is in your best interest to have a lawyer or other financial advisor help you to compile it. The plan must prove that you are fully capable of meeting the requirements of the plan using your disposable income and that your creditors will receive the same amount of money or more money than they would have if you had filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.

These are the most basic qualifications for filing for bankruptcy in the Chandler area. Depending on certain factors, such as whether or not you have filed for bankruptcy in the past or how much money you owe, your own eligibility may be contingent on certain other factors. Fortunately, there are many attorneys and debt counseling institutions in the Chandler area that can help you to understand the process and to go about it correctly.

You must pass the bankruptcy means test. The bankruptcy means test compares your monthly income of the state’s median family income for a family of your size. If your monthly income exceeds the state’s median income, you may not be able to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The means test is required if more than half your debt comes from consumer purchases rather than business, tax, or tort debts. Tort debts are debts for injuries or damages you caused to someone else.

You are an individual, married couple, or small business owner.

You can’t file consumer Chapter 7 bankruptcy on behalf of a corporation, LLC, or partnership. Instead, you must file a business Chapter 7 bankruptcy which has a different process than what’s discussed here.

You can Chapter 7 bankruptcy for consumers if; you are an individual, you are married and filing jointly with your spouse, you are a sole proprietor and have personal liability on some business debts, you are half of a business partnership with someone other than your spouse and which to file bankruptcy on those business debts that you have personal liability, you have not had a recent bankruptcy discharge, you aren’t legally able to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy if you had a previous Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge within the past 8 years, or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy discharge within the past 6 years. The filing period starts from the date your previous bankruptcy was filed rather than when the bankruptcy was discharged, and you have not had a recent bankruptcy dismissal.

Keep in mind that you must also receive credit counseling. To file any type of bankruptcy, you must receive credit counseling from a government-approved credit counseling agency. You don’t have to get counseling before filing bankruptcy, but you must complete it no more than 180 days prior to your bankruptcy discharge. Part of the credit counseling must include a two-hour financial management course. Agencies that offer this course aren’t always non-profit, but they should be able to offer free or lower cost services to you if you can’t afford the full price. The Office of the U.S. Trustee has a state-by-state list of approved agencies.

If you don’t receive your credit counseling within the specified time frame, your bankruptcy case will be dismissed.

Get an attorney’s advice. This isn’t legal advice. If you’re considering bankruptcy and aren’t completely sure whether you qualify, seek professional advice from a bankruptcy attorney.

However, maybe you will be one of the few that do not get any offer from anyone. How to get a car loan after bankruptcy then? The first thing to do is to repair your credit. Start by making your own concise budget, making sure you account for every expense. This will ensure that your expenses are not greater than your income. This is the first step towards a good repayment track. Secondly, you will have to go over your credit report and check it for accuracy. Some companies offer a “Post Discharge Dispute of Consumer Liability Report”. This is a very good tool to help you check your credit report for accuracy after a bankruptcy.

Before applying for a car loan then, make sure that your credit report is accurate and what payment you can afford. The best way to get a car loan after a bankruptcy is to know the how big a loan you can take and with this number in mind, choose the car that conforms to that number. In other words, get approved first, choose the car next. With this information, research the dealers and their requirements for approval. Every dealership is different. Call some of the lenders and ask what their requirements are and also ask them how they deal with a prior bankruptcy. You will be surprised how many dealers are willing to talk to you and work with you. Even those that will not work with you will be able to provide you with names of other dealers in the area that will.

Another avenue is to work with a loan broker. These are people who specialize in finding lenders for you. They charge a fee but if no one else is willing to work with you, they will be well worth it. This is also a good safeguard against scams. As a debtor just out of bankruptcy, you are vulnerable to “repair your credit fast” schemes by unscrupulous lenders that are out there to hurt you. Loan brokers usually work with legitimate lenders. In turn, check the loan brokers too. The Better Business Bureau and the Office of the Attorney General are good places to check the legitimacy of the lenders and the loan brokers.

Needless to say, because of the bankruptcy, if you are applying for a car loan right away, your credit may still not be as good as you wish and you will be charged higher interest rates. Know then that once you take the auto loan, the only way to lower the interest rate is by refinancing it which is more difficult than with a house. So, if you find yourself in a situation in which you will not be able to make the payments due to the high interest rate our advice is to wait until you repair your credit first. Once your credit score is better, then engage in trying to get a car loan approved.

The first reason is when have exhausted all your other debt relief options. If you have already tried managing or budgeting your money, speaking with creditors directly and trying to work out an informal agreement, and cutting out excess spending without experiencing results, then bankruptcy may be for you. You should have also looked into your other options, such as debt consolidation, loan modification, and debt settlement before deciding if bankruptcy is right for you. If you have done this and have not found the answer you’ve been looking for, then you should most likely file for bankruptcy.

A second reason to choose bankruptcy is if your credit is already damaged. It is a little known fact that extremely poor credit or a very low credit score can often be improved by filing for bankruptcy. The reasoning behind this is that it looks much better to have one bankruptcy proceeding that has been successfully paid off than it looks to have several mounting, unpaid debts on your credit. A bankruptcy attorney can help you to figure out if your credit will be improved or hurt by filing for bankruptcy and can also discuss the other credit ramifications of the process. A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, for example, will remain on your credit for a period of seven years, while a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy will remain for ten.

The third reason to file for bankruptcy is if you are facing foreclosure or some other type of serious legal action based on your current financial state. Depending upon the type of bankruptcy for which you file and on the time that you file it, you may be able to stop these processes from taking place. Bankruptcy is never a “quick fix” or an easy solution, but it can be a good way to either stop negative legal processes from happening or to postpone it until you are better able to deal with it.

Choosing to file for bankruptcy is a very serious decision, and it should always be treated as such. If any of these reasons are familiar to you, then it is very likely that you should file for bankruptcy. However, you should not do so without seeking the proper legal and financial advice and assistance. These things can make all the difference between a positive bankruptcy experience and  a horrible one. Fortunately for you, there are many qualified bankruptcy attorneys and other financial experts in the Chandler, Arizona area. Seeking out this help and then taking full advantage of it can enable you to have a positive experience with bankruptcy and to better your financial status.

The type of impact that will be had on your credit score depends most heavily on which type of bankruptcy you file. Individuals who file for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, also known as a liquidation bankruptcy, will continue to have the bankruptcy reported on their credit for a period of ten years. Those who opt for a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy fare better in this regard, with the bankruptcy only showing up for a period of seven years.

The good news, however, is that filing for bankruptcy, if handled correctly, can actually end up having a positive impact on your credit score. When you file for bankruptcy, you basically receive one big, black mark on your credit report. However, this one big black mark wipes out any large or outstanding debts that may have been lurking on your report and affecting your score. Overall, it looks better to have one bankruptcy proceeding and no debt than it does to have several unpaid and late debts haunting you.

Right after you file for bankruptcy, you will likely have a hard time obtaining new credit. This can make it very difficult to secure housing or to purchase a home, to open a bank account, to get a loan, or to open a credit card. However, if you are willing to start slow and be persistent, you can slowly build your credit back up. Your first step should be to make smart choices and to always pay your bills on time and, whenever possible, in full. As you gradually rebuild your credit, you will eventually be able to open bank accounts and to get loans once more. You might have to go with loans or credit cards that specialize in “high risk” clients, but by paying these bills off on time, you will further build your credit and qualify for better loans and cards in the future.

Just remember that filing for bankruptcy is not the end of the world. If you choose to look at it in a positive manner and use it as a learning and growth experience, you will very likely be quite satisfied with your decision in the long run. You can choose to use bankruptcy as a tool to rebuild your credit and your financial future. When you do this, you are much more likely to learn from your mistakes and to have a brighter future ahead of you.

Perhaps the most telling advantage of hiring a bankruptcy attorney to represent your case is the peace of mind that comes from knowing that a professional is representing you and he or she knows how the process works intimately and can ensure you get all the benefits possible from the process. The peace of mind alone is frequently well worth the money, especially if you take the time to look into the bankruptcy process and come to realize how strictly bureaucratic and impatient it is for mistakes or omissions. A seasoned bankruptcy attorney will be able to advise you every step of the way (unlike the “paperwork filers” that offer bankruptcy services but are prohibited by law from advising you) and will be able to point out any options and choices that you can make to maximize the benefits.

Another primary advantage to hiring an attorney is discouraging your creditors from fighting the case. Bankruptcy is a court process and the creditors have the right to actively contest the contentions made in your filings and to otherwise fight for their interests in the court. As the system is structured, many of these contests are likely to fail against a trained attorney that is familiar with your rights as a debtor. However, when the creditors see a person filing for bankruptcy without an attorney, they know that if they contest the petition they are likely to win simply because most laypeople do not know the options available to fight off a creditor challenge. Again, more often than not the creditors will not bother if you have no assets and no income, but if you have something to lose and you choose to represent yourself it is very likely the creditors will actively contest your claims and give you fight.

Finally, while bankruptcy attorneys do cost a lot of money, more in fact than your standard “ambulance chaser” attorney, they also understand that the reason you are filing for bankruptcy is because you are financially distressed. As such, most bankruptcy attorneys offer perfectly reasonable billing options that are designed to allow you to pay them off in full but in a fashion that you can afford.

Your credit report and score is meant to tell lenders how much of a risk you represent, therefore the lower your score – and the worse your report – the higher the perceived risk you represent as a borrower. This does not, however, mean that lenders are unwilling to lend to you; instead it means that they will only lend to you under less favorable terms and the loan will cost you more than would otherwise be the case. A bankruptcy – either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 – is second worse thing you can have on your credit report after a long line of outstanding unpaid debt. As a consequence, your credit scores drops dramatically in the wake of a bankruptcy and you are deemed a risky borrower.

The lenders compensate for this by imposing higher interest rates, a shorter amortization period, and sometimes demanding a co-signer. The higher interest rate means that you will pay more for the loan that you would have otherwise by the time it is paid off. The shorter amortization period means that the life of the loan will be shorter and that your monthly payments will be much higher than a similar loan made to someone with good credit. Finally, the demand for a co-signer essentially spreads the debt to more than one borrower, so if you default you co-signer is held liable. When it comes to secured debt – or debt that has a physical thing behind it, like a car loan – lenders are generally willing to lend to anyone regardless of their credit scores since they know they have the option of repossessing the underlying asset and still pursuing the debt. Further, secured debt is not usually discharged in bankruptcy proceedings, meaning the lender has a much better chance of getting their money back sooner or later.

People just emerging from a bankruptcy are also the targets of many predatory lenders. By law, once you have filed for bankruptcy and had a case successfully concluded, you cannot file for bankruptcy again for eight years regardless of your debt. Since many people that end up in bankruptcy do so because of their own lack of financial discipline and bad spending habits, many predatory lenders deliberately attempt to trap these people into another debt cycle as soon as their bankruptcy case has concluded. The idea being that if the debtor makes the same mistakes a second time, he or she has no recourse to the courts for eight years, meaning the creditors are likely to be able to get absolutely everything the debtor owns through legal action. Most of these predatory offers are designed to be almost impossible to use without sinking back in debt, so they should probably be ignored.

In 2005 the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act passed into law. This bill was essentially written by and for the consumer lending industry and successfully pushed through via the lender’s lobbies in Washington. The entire act was designed to undermine bankruptcy in every respect and does so by (a) making it more difficult and costly to file, (b) limiting the court’s and judge’s discretion, (c) reducing the kinds of debts and amounts that can be discharged, and (d) generally taking away many of the basic benefits of bankruptcy.

One interesting aspect of this law, which has been decried by consumer advocates and an additional hurdle and expense, is that it requires anyone filing for bankruptcy to undergo comprehensive credit counselling through a government approved credit counselling service within six months of filing a bankruptcy petition. Although the consumer advocates are probably right and this policy was implements as part of the overall campaign to make bankruptcy more difficult, this particular policy also presents the debtor with a good opportunity to have their situation reviewed by a professional before going to court.

Generally speaking, the credit counsellors will review the individual’s complete financial situation and make recommendations of the best solution to the problem. In fact, in order to file for bankruptcy at all you have to receive a certificate from the credit counsellors proving that you took the counselling, so if they refuse to issue you a certificate you cannot file for bankruptcy at all. If bankruptcy is not really the best option available, the credit counsellors will help you determine an alternative course of action. If they do decide that bankruptcy makes the most sense, they can help you determine which type of bankruptcy (Chapter 7 or Chapter 13) makes the most sense and offers the most benefits.

If you are considering bankruptcy, you have to get this credit counselling before you can file anyway; therefore it makes sense to do this as soon as possible to see if perhaps there is an alternative available. If not, the credit counsellors can usually give you some good pointers on how to proceed and how to begin rebuilding your credit after the bankruptcy. If you believe bankruptcy is the right course to take, the first step is to go ahead and participate in the credit counselling to see what they recommend and how they suggest you proceed.