What is the dollar amount you can owe in a debt and still file under Chapter 13?

[tocuog]

I am interested to know if there is a difference between a dollar amount owed to unsecured creditors verses a dollar amount owed to a secured creditors such as the IRS who has placed a tax lien against property. Is there a division of numbers between unsecure and secured debt or not?

[justbroke]

Yes. Bankruptcy specifically differentiates secured and unsecured debt. Some unsecured debt can also be "priority" unsecured debt while even other debts can be administrative (think of the Trustee's fee or your attorney's fees).

Maximum unsecured debt: $383,175
Maximum secured debt: $1,149,525

These are listed in 11 USC 109(e) of the code. (The numbers in the bankruptcy code will not batch since these numbers are "periodically" adjusted to account for inflation.)

[tocuog]

Another question if you know... I read when the IRS places a tax lien against you the actual lien is considered to be a secured debt. Any comments on that question?

[justbroke]

A lien is a secured debt. A perfected lien is one that is recorded in the public record. If you get to the point where the IRS actually records a (federal tax) lien on your property, then the (priority) unsecured debt is transformed to a secured debt. An IRS tax lien attaches to all your property (real property and personal property).