I lost my job after filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy now what do I do?
If there is anything that can throw a monkey-wrench into a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan, it’s the loss of a job.
The person is in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is already having difficulty meeting their obligations and most likely needed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to keep from losing their home to foreclosure.
The temporary loss of income can be a major blow to your case.
The sad reality is there is a potential that your Chapter 13 bankruptcy will fail because of a job loss, but you should get in touch with your attorney and let them know right away that you’ve lost your job. The first reason is because the schedule I which includes your income on your Chapter 13 documents must be amended as soon as possible. The information on the schedule I, which is the schedule with your income information, is used to determine the feasibility of your plan. Depending on the reason why you lost your job you may be entitled to unemployment, and this unemployment should be added to the schedule I. You also might be entitled to a severance and that information must be disclosed the Chapter 13 trustee as well.
Once you’ve contacted your attorney and notify them of your unemployment, your job is to find a job. Fortunately, in the United States, unemployment averages about four weeks, but in this economy longer stretches of unemployment are much more common.
Unfortunately, there are many situations where the attorney cannot save your Chapter 13 plan, and therefore your home. Even if you can’t save your home, you want to control the process of leaving your home. You don’t want the sheriff coming to your home and telling you you have five days to get out. You don’t want to come home and find your furniture out on the sidewalk.
Most people don’t expect to become unemployed, but in this economy it’s become a sad reality, and when you’re interviewing a potential bankruptcy attorney you need to find out if they do anything other than bankruptcy. The last thing that you want to do is have to shell out additional money to another attorney because your bankruptcy attorney can’t handle a deed in lieu of foreclosure or other options for you. Your bankruptcy attorney will not do these services for free, but in my practice I offer a steep discount because the client and trusted me with their bankruptcy case, and because I know the client is at the end of their financial rope.
A discounted fee is not the only reason that you want to hire bankruptcy attorney who can do other things related to foreclosure, your bankruptcy attorney will take much less time to get up to speed your situation and because of this they will be a more effective advocate for your situation.
If you think you need bankruptcy or some other solution to help you get out of your financial math please call 484-661-2891 or e-mail me at Jim@padebt 911.com to schedule a free no obligation consultation.
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