Joseph Hadley Brown’s Answers

In a Chapter 13 case, your unsecured creditors get paid 100% of their claims, or you show you contribute 100% of your monthly disposable income to the payment plan. In this case, the only unsecured claim you state you have is the deficiency on the home. Whether Chapter 13 is an attractive option for you will depend on the amount of the deficiency, and the likelihood of the lender pursuing the deficiency against you.

Yes, you can file an individual case without having your wife join in the case. Keep in mind that most obligations arising out of a divorce are not discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The overlap between divorce law and bankruptcy law can become quite complicated, and this is certainly a matter you should review with an attorney.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be used to save the home, allowing you up to 5 years to payoff the amount of your arrearage on the debt. You can file the case to stave off the foreclosure auction if that is your desire. Whether hanging onto the home or letting it go is a decision that requires a great deal more information that you've provided, and would definitely be worth your time to sit down with someone to provide you all of the information you need to make an informed decision.

Yes, your modification has no impact whatsoever on your eligibility to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

If you are speaking specifically about the Form B22C, disposable income calculation in a Chapter 13 case, your husband's income (if live in same household) will need to be included in the calculation even though he may not necessarily be filing with you. The bankruptcy court never has "access" to any bank account for any debtor in bankruptcy. In a Chapter 13 case, you will have to list on schedule B all personal property in which you have an ownership interest, so there you will list bank...

You should send a written dispute to each credit bureau where the derogatory information is being reported. Then you should hire an attorney to reopen your bankruptcy case, and file an adversary proceeding against the creditor for violation of your discharge injunction.

There are so many different problems with what you have described. You should get a free consultation with a local bankruptcy lawyer to sort this out, as they should not be still garnishing your income for a debt from 20 years ago.

Proper venue for your bankruptcy case is where you have resided the previous 180 days (6 months) prior to filing the case. In your case, venue would be in the Florida district where you reside. Hawthorne is in the Northern District I believe. I am in Gainesville and we are in the Northern District of Florida. However, North Carolina property exemption scheme will likely apply, since that is where you have lived the majority of the last 2.5 years prior to filing the case.

The Court would not necessarily make that determination. When you file Chapter 7 you complete a form known as the "means test." If you are determined to have sufficient monthly disposable income to fund a Chapter 13 payment plan, a presumption arises and should your creditors or the trustee challenge your case as abusive, you would have the burden of proving to the court your getting a Chapter 7 discharge is not an abuse. Otherwise you would be forced into a Chapter 13 case or dismissed.