ARIZONA EMERGENCY BANKRUPTCY FILINGS

How to Activate the Protections of Bankruptcy When You Need to be Filed Yesterday. 

Are you facing a vehicle repossession, home foreclosure, or wage garnishment? The Automatic Stay, which goes into effect once a bankruptcy petition is filed, will immediately stop these.  The Automatic Stay will also stop other creditor collection methods. However,  bankruptcy petitions are lengthy legal documents that can take a significant amount of time to prepare.  They take much longer without an attorney. That’s why there is the option of using a skeleton petition, or an emergency filing, to address an immediate debt emergency. If you’d like to learn more about utilizing an emergency bankruptcy filing to protect your income and assets, schedule your free consultation with one of our Arizona bankruptcy attorneys. 

Emergency Bankruptcy Filing in Arizona.

Filing an emergency bankruptcy in Arizona

Emergency bankruptcy filings are sometimes a necessity.  For this reason, our Chapter Bankruptcy Services provide  Emergency Bankruptcy Services in Arizona.  In any case, no one wants to file for bankruptcy.  However, sometimes it is the best move for your particular financial situation.  Occasionally, emergent situations arise that require that you file bankruptcy right away!  If you are facing such a situation, contact our Arizona debt relief firm right away.  Keep in mind, both chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy provide you with protection from creditors as the Automatic Stay comes into play immediately and all collection action must cease.

What Do I Need to File a Bankruptcy Petition?

While there are separate requirements for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, they also share several in common. Therefore, you will need to complete credit counseling before and after your bankruptcy petition has been filed.  Also, you need to attend a hearing called a 341 Meeting of Creditors. Additionally, you will have a trustee assigned to your case.  The bankruptcy trustee will review your petition and may make additional requests for supporting documentation. Furthermore, you will also need to complete a creditor mailing matrix so that all of your creditors can be notified when your petition is filed, and the automatic stay is activated. 

How to Pay for an Emergency Bankruptcy?

If you are facing a financial crisis like a vehicle repossession or wage garnishment, it’s unlikely that you have significant funds available to hire an attorney and pay your filing fees. Thankfully, the nature of a skeleton filing allows for attorneys to offer creative payment solutions besides the entire cost up front. 

Typically, bankruptcy attorneys can’t offer post-filing payment options because your fees to them would be discharged in your bankruptcy. However, when you file an emergency bankruptcy, debts accrued between your skeleton petition filing and your full petition filing will not be discharged. Because the case has been “bifurcated,” your attorney may offer a post-filing payment plan if they have adequate financing. Your attorney may even be able to include your court filing fees in your payment plan!

After your skeleton petition is filed, you will need several additional documents for your full petition. You will need tax returns, divorce and child support documents, the registrations to your vehicles, investment and retirement account statements, and more. The documents you will need can vary based on your marital status, the chapter you file, and other specific circumstances in your life. Your bankruptcy attorney should provide you with the list of documents you will need for your bankruptcy petition. 

Exceptions to the Automatic Stay

While the automatic stay is powerful, it can’t stop creditors in every situation. Domestic obligations, i.e., child support and alimony, are nondischargeable in bankruptcy. While you can use a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to catch up on your back child or spousal support, filing Chapter 7 will do almost nothing to help your domestic obligations balance in arrears- besides clearing away other debt to leave more disposable monthly income to make your support payments. Wage garnishments for these obligations generally do not stop for the automatic stay. Only a Chapter 13 bankruptcy with a payment plan that arranges for full repayment of the balance will stop a garnishment for domestic arrears. 

Another exception to the automatic stay applies for habitual bankruptcy filers. The automatic stay will last as long as the case for your first filing in a one-year period. If you need to re-file for some reason, your automatic stay will only last 30 days. Should you need to file a third time within a one-year period, you will receive no automatic stay protection during your bankruptcy. This is sometimes referred to as an “exploding stay,” and you can petition the court to extend your stay for good cause. If you are re-filing your bankruptcy petition after one or more filings in the past year, it’s vital that you seek the guidance of an experienced Mesa bankruptcy attorney. 

In some situations, the court will give one or more of your creditors special permission to proceed with collection despite the automatic stay being in place. They will do so by filing a Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay. Usuallu, these are most often granted when it is infeasible or impossible for the debtor to catch up on payments. 

Bankruptcy and the Automatic Stay

Most people file either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, with the former being more common. Chapter 7 liquidates and discharges debts, while Chapter 13 reorganizes debts into a 3-5 year payment plan. Having too much income and property is usually what disqualifies people from Chapter 7, leaving Chapter 13 available as an option to address debt. However, Chapter 13 also offers several unique benefits that aren’t offered by Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

 When either of them are filed, the debtor is instantly protected from creditors by the automatic stay. Along with foreclosures, garnishments, and repossessions, the automatic stay stops bank levies, utility shutoffs, evictions, and more. This comprehensive protection lasts, in most cases, until the case is discharged or dismissed. In most cases, the debt for which the creditor was seeking collection is either discharged or caught up to current in the bankruptcy, and there is no reason to proceed with collection after the case has been discharged. However, if the debtor doesn’t catch up payments on nondischargeable debts, or falls behind after the case has been discharged, the creditor can proceed with collection as usual. 

Chapter Bankruptcy’s Zero Down Emergency Bankruptcy Filings for Arizona

The experienced Arizona bankruptcy attorneys at Chapter Bankruptcy Law know just how stressful an impending collection like a wage garnishment or foreclosure can be.  That’s why we offer several services to make the bankruptcy process less stressful for our clients. To start off, we offer free consultations that can be held over the phone. Also, many of our clients feel safer and more comfortable discussing their debt situations in their own homes. Our dedicated staff and attorneys work flexible hours that will fit with your schedule. From the moment you retain, you can direct all of your creditors’ calls to our office. Best of all, we offer affordable rates and payment plans for eligible clients. 

If you’re in an emergency situation and need a ZERO DOWN BANKRUPTCY, call today for your free consultation to see if you qualify. Our payment plans include a $0 Money Down bankruptcy option.  Also, we report your timely payments to help increase your credit score after filing bankruptcy.  To learn more, call or use our online form to schedule your free consultation today.  Let us get you on the road to a “Fresh Start” through our $0 Down Emergency bankruptcy filings.

We are a debt relief agency. We also help people in Arizona file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.

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