SAVE THE DATE

Here is a timetable of all the important dates you will have to remember if you plan on filing for bankruptcy.
For more useful tips, check out our website at www.jafarlaw.com

6-8 Years Prior to Filing a Chapter 7
• You must wait at least 6 years after receiving a Chapter 13 or Chapter 12 discharge before you can file for protection under Chapter 7. In addition to the time limit, you must have paid at least 70% of your allowed unsecured claims and your plan must have been proposed in good faith.
• You must wait 8 full years before filing a second Chapter 7 bankruptcy. There are no exceptions.
4-2 Years Prior to Filing a Chapter 13
• You must wait 4 years after receiving a Chapter 7, 11, or 12 discharge before you are eligible for a discharge under Chapter 13.
• You must wait 2 years after receiving a Chapter 13 discharge before you can file another Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.
1 Year Prior to Filing a Chapter 7
• Any repayments to “insiders”, family members or business associates, may be deemed unlawful and recovered by the Bankruptcy Court. The trustee will then distribute that payment to creditors.
• Any attempts to delay or defraud your creditors by transferring property for less than fair market value could result in delays to the administration of your bankruptcy estate. The Court may recover and distribute that property to creditors, if it sees fit.
• If you were dismissed from a Chapter 7 within one year prior to filing, the Automatic Stay will only be in effect for 30 days unless it is demonstrated that the case was filed in good faith.
180 Days Prior to Filing (6 months prior to filing)
• You cannot file for bankruptcy within 180 days of being dismissed from a bankruptcy for failure to obey court orders. This includes dismissal from a Chapter 13 for failure to make plan payments.
• You must take a credit counseling course from an approved agency within 180 days of filing for bankruptcy.
90 Days Prior to Filing
• You must be a resident of the state in which you intend to file for at least 90 days prior to filing. If you cannot meet this requirement, you may file in the state in which you lived the majority of the previous 180 days.
• Any payments to creditors within 90 Days of filing are subject to scrutiny and must be reported on your petition. If the Court deems it necessary, these payments may be considered unlawful preferences and may be recovered and distributed to other creditors as the Trustee sees fit.
• Any charges worth $500.00 or more worth of “luxury items” made within this period are presumed non-dischargeable. Any cash advances of $750.00 made within 70 days of Filing are also presumed non-dischargeable. Non-dischargeable debt survives the bankruptcy and cannot be discharged in a later bankruptcy filing.
Filing Date
• Once your case is filed you will receive a case number and assigned a trustee to oversee your case.
• The automatic stay will be in effect instantly and you should no longer receive any calls from creditors or any bills. They might not receive notice for up to two weeks, so if they do call during this period, you can give them your case number and they will not call again. If you are worried about your car being repossessed, it is best to have your attorney call the creditor immediately with a case number so that they will not wrongfully take possession of your vehicle.
• After you have been filed, you must take a Financial Management Course with an accredited non-profit agency approved by the US Trustee. It is your responsibility to make sure your attorney receives proof that you completed the course so that she may file it with the Bankruptcy Court.
• For a Chapter 13 you must begin making payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee immediately. Even though you have not yet been confirmed, you are still responsible for the payments until your confirmation hearing. Your first payment must be received within 30 days of filing.
15 Days After Filing
• There is a 15 day window of time in which each debtor must file all schedules with the Bankruptcy Court. It is customary to file everything at once on the date of filing along with the Petition; however, there are certain circumstances that might warrant separate filing, such as an emergency filing.
• In this time, the Court will send a Notice of Bankruptcy Filing to all the creditors you have listed in your paperwork.
30 Days After Filing a Chapter 7
• Within 30 Days of filing your Petition, you must submit a Statement of Intent with the Court. In this document you will specify your intentions with regard to all collateral. You will discuss your options and what they mean in greater detail with your attorney.
• Once you file your Statement of Intent, you have 45 days to act on that intent.
Approximately 6 Weeks After Filing
• Soon after filing you will receive notice of the Section 341(a) Hearing also referred to as “the first meeting of creditors”. At this hearing a Trustee will swear you in and will question you regarding the accuracy of the information in the petition. Additionally, you will be required to provide the Trustee with documents at least 7 days prior to the hearing. The documents are:
o Pay Stubs
o Tax Return
o Appraisal or valuation of your home and car, if you own either
o Mortgage statement, if you have a mortgage
o Proof of homeowners and car insurance
o Proof of Child Support or Alimony payments, if applicable
• Everyone MUST attend this hearing, otherwise your case will be dismissed. It is not a formal hearing and generally does not take longer than 10 minutes for each debtor.
30 Days After the Hearing
• Your creditors and the Trustee have 30 days from the conclusion of the hearing to object to your exemptions.
45 Days After your Chapter 13 First Meeting of Creditors
• A confirmation hearing will be held to determine the feasibility of your Plan. It is not always necessary to attend this hearing and it is sometimes continued, or postponed, until a later date. Generally, the Trustee appointed to oversee the distribution of your assets and payments in your case will recommend confirmation or dismissal prior to the hearing. It is not unusual to amend the Plan prior to this hearing so that it will conform to the requirements set out in the Bankruptcy Code.
60 Days After the Hearing
• Your creditors have 60 days from the date first set for the meeting to object to the discharge of any of your debts. Creditors can object to the discharge of a specific debt or even all of your debt for a myriad of reasons, most of them based on fraudulent behavior.
• If the Trustee does not move to dismiss your case within this time, then you will receive your discharge and your case will be closed once the 60 days expire. Upon expiration you must have already turned over any non-exempt property
90 Days After the Hearing
• Your creditors, except all governmental entities, must submit their Proofs of Claim within 90 Days of the date first set for the hearing in order to receive any payments from any assets that might become liquidated.
180 Days After the Hearing
• All government entities must file their proofs of claim within 180 Days of the date first set for the hearing in order to receive any payments from any assets that might become liquidated.
3-5 Years After Filing a Chapter 13
• You will receive a formal discharge from the Bankruptcy Court upon completion of your Plan.





For more information visit us on the web at www.jafarlaw.com


Email questions to [email protected]