Can I File Bankruptcy Even If I Have A Job?
Of course! The court does not expect everyone who files bankruptcy to be down, out, and unemployed. That’s just not how life works; our clients are good hard working people who have simply fallen on hard times. You may have a job and file a bankruptcy and in most cases unless you have signed something stating that the employer must be notified if you file a bankruptcy, your employer wouldn’t have a clue you even filed.
In your petition you are required to report your income in several different areas. You will have to show your earnings for the past two years, where you work now and what your expected income going forward as well as what you have earned in the past 6 months prior to filing the bankruptcy. In bankruptcy, your income is calculated based upon a “Means Test”; although there are many other types of income besides employment that are also a factor in the means test. This tells the court whether or not you qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or if you will need to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy based upon your income.
In the event that you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy your debts are a factor, but your plan payments will be based also largely upon your past 6 months of income. For example, let’s say that based upon your arrears and debt in the plan, you’re looking at plan payments of $500 per month, BUT based upon your prior 6 months, your income shows that you have an extra $1,000 left over each month. You would make a payment closer to the $1,000 mark because your prior income states that you can afford it.
Also, in the occurrence that you file a bankruptcy and you have any secured items in which you may wish to keep (such as a house, car, jewelry, furniture, or electronics) you must be able to show that you can afford to make the contractual monthly payments. The court will not allow you to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy unemployed and still keep your home unless you can show you are getting income from another source (like family support) to show you can afford the monthly payment. Bankruptcy court has been enacted to help consumers. Whether you have a job or not does have an impact on your bankruptcy options but you can certainly still file a bankruptcy even if you do not have a job.
Is It Common For a Loan Modification To Be Delayed?
When you are having trouble making your house payments, there are options that might work well for you. One of these options is a loan modification. This is when the bank changes your loan so that you have a lower, more affordable monthly payment. Many people who try to obtain a loan modification have been facing delays of all types.
When trying to get a loan modification, there is a lot of paperwork that the lender will need to determine whether you will qualify. Once the documents are submitted to the lender, some people will then get notification from the bank that either they are missing paperwork or that additional paperwork is needed. Another thing that seems to be common lately in the process is the lender telling the homeowner that they have missed a deadline. If that happens, they may even go back to the beginning of the process and start everything over. Typically, that means the homeowner has new deadlines, and has to submit all or some the paperwork over again.
It seems common lately for banks to say that they will not even consider a loan modification if you are current on the payments. They encourage people to stop making the payments so that they will have a better chance of getting a loan modification. Then, after the homeowner is several months behind in payments, the bank denies them the modification and the foreclosure process begins.
Typically, after applying for a loan modification, the lender will put the homeowner on a trial period for a few months at the lower payment amount. Make sure you keep all information pertaining to these payments. It has not been uncommon lately for the lender to either say they did not receive the payment on time or at all, or they do not credit the payment to your account correctly.
So if you are looking into the possibility of modifying your loan, be sure you are prepared for the possibility of long delays and a lot of paperwork. There could be more than one person handling your account, so make sure you write down and keep track of the entire process, including who you talk to, what papers you receive in the mail, what payments you send in, etc. Also, be sure you are persistent and follow up with the bank so you don’t slip through the cracks.
How is the Household Size Determined for the Means Test?
The basic purpose of the Means Test is to determine whether a Debtor is eligible to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Along with other supporting requirements, the Means Test plays a major role in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Means Test also tells us whether a Debtor would need to pay back some of their debts in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy if they do not “pass.” Simply put, the Means Test determines the Debtor’s monthly income by taking the Debtor’s household’s gross income and subtracting qualified deductions. By doing this, we can decide whether the Debtor would need to be looking into filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
