Our DuPage County bankruptcy attorneys are here to help you understand your debt relief options and have written the following articles to help you understand your options under Illinois law.

Individuals dealing with significant debt generally have three options:

1. Retaining an attorney to negotiate a reduction of the debt and a payment plan;
2. Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy to wipe out your debt; or 
3. Filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to establish a 3-5 year payment plan for your debt. 

Debt Negotiation

‍Debt negotiation may be your best option if you have less than $15,000.00 in debt, if most of your debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy, or if you have property, like your home or vehicles that our DuPage bankruptcy attorneys do not think you will be likely to keep in the bankruptcy.  (Read an article by our DuPage bankruptcy lawyers about the types of property you can keep in a bankruptcy). Debt negotiation is a good option for anyone who has too much debt to comfortably pay off through normal budgeting, but not enough debt to have bankruptcy make sense. 

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Our DuPage bankruptcy attorneys usually recommend Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for clients who have more than $15,000.00 in debt, who are not ineligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy due to high income; and who do not have a concern about losing their home or vehicles in the bankruptcy (Read an article by our DuPage bankruptcy lawyers about property that is exempt from collection in bankruptcy).  In a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, all of your dischargeable debt will be completely wiped out.  Student loans and tax debt are generally not dischargeable.  

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Our DuPage bankruptcy attorneys tend to recommend Chapter 13 bankruptcy for individuals who would be a good candidate for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but are not eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy due to income levels or have significant assets that they would be likely to lose in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  In a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, the court will approve a plan whereby your debt will be repaid over the course of 3 to 5 years.  Unlike a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your debt will not be discharged, but will ultimately be repaid.  Unlike a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the debtor's property is not collected to satisfy the debt.  Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a good solution to buy individuals with higher incomes or asset levels time to pay off their debts. 

Read more about your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy options in this article by our DuPage County bankruptcy attorneys.

Our DuPage County bankruptcy team has written the following article to clarify the Chapter 7 bankruptcy process.

The first step in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy occurs when our friendly DuPage bankruptcy lawyers to file your bankruptcy petition and schedules with the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  Your bankruptcy schedules provide the court with a detailed description of your assets, liabilities, income and assets.  

After filing, the court will automatically schedule a meeting known as the "First Meeting of the Creditors."  The First Meeting of Creditors is a meeting between you, your attorney, and the bankruptcy trustee.  Despite the title of the meeting, creditors almost never attend.   

‍The bankruptcy trustee is an attorney appointed by the court to review your bankruptcy filings to protect the interests of your creditors and prevent fraud.  At the First Meeting of the Creditors, the trustee will briefly review your bankruptcy schedules and ask you some basic questions.  At the end of the meeting the trustee will determine whether you have any non-exempt assets that can be collected to pay your debts and whether your debts should be discharged. 

‍​If all goes as planned, the case will remain open for a few weeks, during which creditors can object to discharge.  After the meeting, you will be required to take a brief online course regarding financial management and file a certificate of completion with the court.  Once the period for creditors to object to discharge has passed, your case will be closed and your debts will be discharged.  Creditors almost never object to discharge.  

Read the full article by our DuPage County bankruptcy attorneys about Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

In this article, our DuPage County bankruptcy attorneys explain how you can keep your most important assets when filing for bankruptcy.

When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in DuPage County, Illinois, you can typically have your debt discharged while keeping your home and vehicles.  Certain assets are exempt from collection by the bankruptcy trustee, meaning that if you have less value in an asset type than the exemption amounts, the trustee will not be able to collect that asset to pay your creditors.

The exemption amounts in DuPage County are a follows:   

• ​$15,000.00 of equity in your primary residence ($30,000.00 for a married couple filing jointly); 
• $2,400.00 of equity in vehicles ($4,800.00 for a married couple fling jointly); and
• a $4,000.00 wildcard exemption that can be applied to any type of asset.  

Many of these exemptions depend on how much equity you have in the property in question. If your equity in an asset is less than the exemption amount, you will be able to keep the asset in the bankruptcy.   

However, if the asset is secured by a loan (such as a mortgage), you will have to sign and file a "reaffirmation agreement" with the bankruptcy court.  A reaffirmation agreement is an agreement between a bankruptcy debtor and the holder of a loan that the loan will not be discharged in the bankruptcy, and that the debtor will continue to make payments on the loan after the bankruptcy. If you have slightly more equity in an asset than the exemption amounts, the trustee still may not choose to collect the asset in your bankruptcy.  

If it appears likely that an asset you value, such as your home, will be in jeopardy in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, our DuPage bankruptcy lawyers will explore other options with you, such as Chapter 13 bankruptcy and debt negotiations outside of bankruptcy. 

Read more from our DuPage bankruptcy attorneys about bankruptcy exemptions.