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| 1. What can bankruptcy do for me? | Bankruptcy may make it possible for you to:
 Eliminate the legal obligation to pay all or most of your debts. This is called a "discharge" of debts. It is
designed to give you a fresh financial start.
Stop foreclosure on your house or mobile home and allow you an opportunity to catch up on missed payments. (Bankruptcy
does not, however, automatically eliminate mortgages and other liens on your property without payment).
Prevent repossession of
a car or other property.
Stop wage garnishment, debt collection harassment, and similar creditor actions to collect debt.
Allow you to challenge
the claims of creditors who have committed fraud or who are otherwise trying to collect more than you really owe.
Obtain your
driver's license by setting up a plan in Chapter 13 to repay court fines.
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| 2. What doesn't bankruptcy do? | Bankruptcy
cannot, however, cure every financial problem. In bankruptcy, it is usually not possible to:
Eliminate certain rights of "secured" creditors. A "secured" creditor has taken a mortgage or other
lien on property as collateral for the loan. Common examples are car loans and home mortgages. You can force secured creditors
to take payments over time in the bankruptcy process and bankruptcy can eliminate your obligation to pay any additional money
if your property is taken. Nevertheless, you generally cannot keep the collateral unless you continue to pay the debt.
Discharge
types of debts singled out by the bankruptcy law for special treatment, such as child support, alimony, certain other debts
related to divorce, student loans, court restitution orders, criminal fines, and some taxes.
Protect cosigners on your debts. When a relative or friend has cosigned a loan, and the consumer discharges the loan in
bankruptcy, the cosigner may still have to repay all or part of the loan.
Discharge debts that arise after bankruptcy has been filed.
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| 3. Can I keep my home? | A home loan
is a secured loan with the house itself serving as collateral. In Washington you are entitled to a homestead exemption in
your residence. The exemption entitles an individual or husband and wife $125,000 in equity in their home. Therefore,
if your mortgage payments are current and you continue to make those payments, your home is protected, up to $125,000
equity. If you are behind on your mortgage payments, but still desire to keep your home, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can save
your home by permitting you to catch up on your house payments over time.
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| 4. Can I keep my vehicles and other assets? | Usually, yes. Washington law allows you to protect equity of $2,500.00 per person per vehicle. This means that
in a Chapter 7 case, you can keep your vehicle as long as your equity in your vehicle is less than this amount. Of course,
if you have a loan on your vehicle, you must continue to make your car payments even if you file bankruptcy. Additionally,
under federal bankruptcy exemptions you can protect more equity in vehicles with the unused homestead exemption.
If your equity is more than that protected by law or if you have fallen behind on your car payments, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy
can permit your to restructure your loan and keep your car.
Most household goods, furnishings and other personal
property are exempt under either federal or state exemptions.
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| 5. Do I have to go to court? | Everyone
who files for bankruptcy has to attend a brief meeting held in a hearing room. Your attorney from the Law Offices of Kent
& Wittner P.S. will attend this meeting with you. Meetings are run by the bankruptcy Trustee. They are brief, usually
lasting only five to ten minutes. Creditors may attend the hearing and ask questions, but rarely do. In Chapter 7 Bankruptcy,
the trustee must determine whether you have any nonexempt assets to be surrendered and sold to pay your creditors. The Trustee's
questions relate to your assets and not to personal issues such as why you filed bankruptcy. In most cases, the questions
supplement the information you have already provided in the written documents filed with the court. In a Chapter 13, you file
a plan through which you pay your debts based on your ability to pay and the value of your assets. The questions asked generally
relate to those issues. There is a secondary hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge that is usually handled by your attorney
and does not require your attendance.
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| 6. How do I get started? | We offer
a FREE CONSULTATION in our Seattle or Tacoma office where you will meet with an experienced attorney to review
your financial situation and answer your questions. You can then sign up and we will open a file for you with payment arrangements
available for fees and courts costs. You can start referring your creditors to us immediately while we prepare your case.
WHEN YOU RETAIN THE LAW OFFICES OF KENT and WITTNER P.S. YOU WILL FEEL MUCH BETTER IMMEDIATELY!
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