Bankruptcy file late too

I Have Been Sued. What Do I Do Now? Should I Worry? Justin Harelik January 23, am. About the Author. Justin Harelik Justin has a singular goal: to get people out of financial distress and move them to financial stability and prosperity. He does this by combining 15 years of in-depth experience in bankruptcy, credit management, debt negotiation and student loan modifications, and he does it with both English and Spanish-speaking clients. South Carolina, where I practice, is a full judicial foreclosure state, meaning that a lawsuit must be filed and a hearing held prior to a foreclosure sale.

As a practical matter, it may take months to complete a foreclosure in South Carolina. It is important that you know how much time you have, in order to make informed decisions about all kinds of issues. Whatever the process in your state, once your rights in the property have been terminated, a Chapter 13 will no longer stop the foreclosure process. When I see a prospective client with a foreclosure pending, I will usually give that person a deadline to return the paperwork and fees necessary for me to start a bankruptcy filing.

Filing a Chapter 13 requires a certain amount of lead time. The burden of preparing the necessary paperwork is significant. Finally, last minute filings just annoy people, and they may be people with whom you need to have a decent working relationship.

In most counties in South Carolina, foreclosure sales are scheduled for the first Monday in the month. Every other bankruptcy attorney I know gets the same phone calls, and turns those same people away. The debt may then be excluded from the discharge.

How much change is possible depends on the exemptions available when you file bankruptcy. One of the basic principles of bankruptcy is that the bankruptcy discharge eliminates your personal liability, but liens survive the bankruptcy attached to the assets you had when you filed.

If it prevents you from getting the benefit of an exemption, you can avoid it. Avoiding a lien requires filing a motion in your bankruptcy case. And if you forget to do it in your bankruptcy, you can reopen the bankruptcy case in the future to file the motion.

By the time your wages are threatened with garnishment, your creditor has a judgment. That judgment brings with it the power allowed by state law to collect that judgment. Your creditor may be entitled to what ever wages you have earned between the time the garnishment was served on your employer and the day you file bankruptcy.

But gong forward, your wages are yours.