Oklahoma Bankruptcy Information

Before filing your case its great to gather as much Oklahoma bankruptcy information as possible. Both chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy have lots of different provisions that work in your favor. Oklahoma bankruptcy information helps you to appreciate all the benefits that filing a bankruptcy offers you. The list below is a short list of some common questions people have. This list is followed by a brief explanation of each question.

You Can Keep Your House:

If you file chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy your house is exempt. This means that you can keep your home while forgiving most other unsecured debts. Even if you don’t owe any money on your home you can keep it. In most cases there isn’t a maximum amount of equity that’s available for protection in bankruptcy. If over the years you pay off your house off or the house was a gift it’s free from creditor claims.

Reaffirm The Debt on Your House:

To reaffirm the debt in a chapter 7 you must be current on your payments. To reaffirm the debt in a chapter 13 its not required that you’re current on your payments. In a chapter 13 bankruptcy the past due amount is paid back to the creditor over the term of you chapter 13. In both instances the reaffirmation agreement contains the conditions of the loan. The conditions are same as the original loan. This includes the interest rate and other loan provisions that are in your original loan. When you reaffirm a debt you’re essentially saying that you are not going to surrender the home in bankruptcy. You’re saying that after the bankruptcy closes you will continue making payments on the debt.

You Can Surrender the House in Bankruptcy:

Regardless of which Bankruptcy chapter you file, you can return the house to the creditor. Like most other debts, a Chapter Seven (7) will discharge any debt remaining after the foreclosure. This means that if you return the house to the mortgage holder you’re no longer responsible for the debt.  As to a Chapter Thirteen (13), that part of the debt remaining after the house is foreclosed on is considered a deficiency. Late payments in a chapter 13 pay out through the repayment plan.

Keeping Your Automobile in Bankruptcy:

If you own a vehicle and don’t owe money on it  you can keep it. The law is clear, each debtor filing for bankruptcy is entitled to a motor vehicle exemption for a value up to $8,000.00. This means that if a married couple, filling jointly, files under Chapter Seven (7), each party may have one vehicle, so long as each vehicle’s value does not exceed $8,000.00. Th value of the car is generally what its wholesale value is.

Reaffirm Your Vehicle Debt:

If you own a vehicle and are current on your payments, the debtor can opt to reaffirm the debt and continue making payments. Generally the amount owed on the vehicle has no limits.  So long as there is a statement of undue hardship filed with the Bankruptcy Court at the time the reaffirmation agreement is filed.

Surrender the Vehicle and Forgive the Debt:

In a chapter seven or fresh start bankruptcy the debtor can choose to return the vehicle to the creditor. In this case, the debt is discharged in your chapter seven bankruptcy and you owe nothing.

What is a Credit Report:

A credit report is a history of your credit and your ability to repay your debts. Under federal law, you have rights to an accurate credit history, free of blatant inaccuracies. This credit history can legally include delinquencies as well as satisfied debtor accounts. A discharge after Bankruptcy will not erase discharged creditors whose credit discharges due to the Bankruptcy filing. After a bankruptcy is final, the debt discharges.  The amount outstanding for each account discharging should show zero.

Your credit report does not always include all the creditors that you owe money to. For it to show on your credit report the creditor must report the debt together with its repayment history to the reporting credit bureau. Charged off debt does not mean that collection of this debt it is not legally enforceable. Rather, the term charge off simply means that the creditor does not expect to be able to collect the debt. In any event a charge off is a notation on your report which significantly impairs you credit score and thus your ability to secure low cost credit in the future.

Credit Reports After Bankruptcy:

Oklahoma bankruptcy information helps you understand the impact of bankruptcy on your credit report.  A Bankruptcy filing will appear on your credit report for 10 years from the date the case files. Some creditors may argue, and so would I, that your credit worthiness is greater the day after you file then it was the days leading up to the actual filing. This is true because all the debt the person had prior to filing now discharges.  Thereby lowering the debtors debt to income ratio.

Additionally, once a person files a chapter 7 that same person may not file another chapter seven for 8 years from the date the earlier filing was done thus eliminating the risk of another filing for that period of time. Notwithstanding this fact, and depending on the creditor together with their particular credit requirements, the applicant must be liquid and be able to show both their willingness and ability to pay the post petition Bankruptcy credit if granted by the creditor.