Maryville Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyers

Maryville Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer

Helping homeowners through the Tennessee bankruptcy process

You worked hard to have enough money for the down payment for your home. You need your home to provide shelter and ensure your family keeps their ties to their neighborhood. If you’re falling behind on your mortgage payments. LaFevor & Slaughter can explain how filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition can help you save your home. We’ll review how you can stop any foreclosure actions immediately and given time to catch up on your arrears. Our Maryville Chapter 13 lawyer has helped many residents keep their homes and secure their futures.

Practice Areas

How can our Maryville family law attorneys help?

How does a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Maryville help save my home and car?

Homeowners and car owners often use Chapter 13 because Chapter 13 bankruptcy is designed for people who have secured debts. Most Maryville residents obtain a home loan that is secured by a mortgage. If you fail to pay your home loan, the lender can repossess your home and sell your home to pay the balance due. The same idea applies when you buy a car and agree that if you can’t pay off your car loan, the car loan company can sell your car.

Chapter 13 prevents your home, car, or any other secured assets from being sold, provided you comply with certain requirements. Our Maryville bankruptcy lawyer will explain how the filing of your Chapter 13 bankruptcy immediately stops any foreclosure actions or repossession actions. We’ll help you identify all your assets, including which ones are secured. We’ll also help you identify all your unsecured assets, your income, and all your debts. We’ll then help you prepare a plan to manage your finances and save your assets. The bankruptcy trustee must approve your Chapter 13 plan.

How does a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Maryville work?

Our Maryville Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer will guide you through the Chapter 13 requirements. These requirements include:

  • A pre-bankruptcy course. You’ll need to attend a credit counseling course online or in person. There’s a small fee of about $20 to $100.
  • The Chapter 13 petition. We’ll help you complete all the forms that identify all your assets, income sources, and debts (secured, unsecured, and priority debts).
  • The automatic stay. Once you file your Chapter 13 petition, all credit collection and legal action must cease immediately, including foreclosure actions.
  • The Chapter 13 plan. The Chapter 13 plan is the main way for you to save your secured possessions, including your home. The plan must propose that you make payments to the trustee over a three-to-five-year period as follows:
    • You pay the arrears during the plan period.
    • You pay the future monthly mortgage payments and other secured payments (such as secured car loans) during the plan period.
    • You pay a portion (some but not all) of the unsecured debts during the plan period. The amount you pay is based on your disposable income (income minus your daily living costs).
    • You pay any priority payments, such as child support, as the amounts become due and you pay the arrears over the duration of the plan. This way you have some time to catch up while you pay the current obligations.

The bankruptcy trustee must approve your Chapter 13 plan. To obtain the trustee’s approval you must:

  • Attend a trustee’s creditors’ meeting (called a 341 meeting). The trustee will ask you questions about your finances. Creditors have the right to question you too – though they rarely attend a 341 meeting.
  • Show the math (we’ll help) to verify you can pay the arrears during the plan period.

Agree to make the monthly plan payments to the trustee. The trustee will then pay the secured and unsecured creditors and any priority creditors.

What non-secured property can I protect using Chapter 13 in Maryville?

If you just have secured creditors, then generally you don’t have to worry about your other possessions if you meet the terms of the Chapter 13 plan. If you have unsecured debt, then you can protect/exempt many of your possessions. Tennessee exempts many of your assets including clothing, furniture, jewelry, Social Security benefits, and other assets and sources of income up to certain dollar limits. Our Maryville Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer will help you identify and place a value on the assets you can protect.

What are my financial concerns after Chapter 13 is completed?

After you comply with the terms of your plan, the bankruptcy judge should discharge the balance of your unsecured debts. You’ll be able to reside in your home, drive your car, and use your other secured assets. You will need to continue making timely payments on the balance of your mortgage and other secured loans.

Do you have an example of a Chapter 13 plan?

Suppose your home is worth $250,000. Your home equity is $100,000 and you still owe $150,000. Your monthly mortgage is $1,600/month. You are $18,000 in arrears. Your plan will propose the following:

  • You’ll pay the future $1,600 monthly mortgage payments as they become due.
  • If you want five years (60 months) to pay out the arrears, you’ll offer to pay $300 a month towards the arrears. $300 times 60 months is $18,000.
  • Your total payment to the trustee will be $1600 plus $300 = $1900. You’ll pay a little extra for the trustee’s commission.

After 60 months, you’ll continue to pay $1,600 a month to the mortgage holder until your mortgage is fully paid off.

Do you have a Maryville bankruptcy lawyer near me?

LaFevor & Slaughter is located at 317 Ellis Ave. Suite 317, in Maryville. We have an additional office in Knoxville. We also discuss bankruptcy options with clients by phone and through video conferences.

We’ll help you understand your financial situation and your financial options.

Talk with a respected Maryville Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer about saving your home and possessions

Everyone wants to keep their home. At LaFevor & Slaughter, we help homeowners use the Chapter 13 bankruptcy process to stop creditors from seizing their property. If you have enough income to pay something towards the arrears and continue the monthly mortgage payments, you should be able to stay in your home, keep your kids in the same school, and enjoy your local community. Call us or fill out our contact form to schedule a consultation. We can stop any foreclosure actions immediately.