Willows, CA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

Bankruptcy may or may not be right for you. You can find out by making an appointment with a local bankruptcy attorney and taking with you whatever documents he or she requests. Many attorneys give a free consultation. If you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, you will in effect be asking the court to declare that your debts (or most of them) are discharged, meaning you won't have to pay them back. (You can pay them back if you want to and can afford to, but you won't be obligated to.) The bankruptcy will stay on your credit report a long time, but your credit score might actually improve, because the debts will drop to zero. In any event, credit card companies will start seeking your business, because you won't be able to file for bankruptcy again for years, so you will be a good risk. You'll need to be careful with your finances, and in fact will have to take two courses on managing your finances before you can get your discharge, so pay attention to what they teach you. Hope this helps. Good luck.

In California there is generally no foreclosure judgment necessary because foreclosures of mortgages (deeds of trust to be more precise) are non-judicial and the property is sold by an appointed "trustee" selected by the creditor. Homeowners' Associations may foreclosure judicially. You need to give more information and background, including what you mean by "protection". Bankruptcy will halt all further legal action but you cannot retain property subject to a lien unless you pay either the amount owed or the value of the property (in some cases).

I assume you mean ordinary Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You can get the petition and all necessary papers from the nearest Bankruptcy Court right away, by visiting the court or its web site, and you can file it just as soon as you get it prepared and take the first required course in credit counseling. That can be done in a day or so. As soon as you file, you'll be given a date for the meeting of creditors, about two months after the filing date, depending on the court and the trustee.? If everything goes smoothly there and that's the usual case and after you take your second debt management course, you'll receive a notice of discharge soon thereafter, and that's it. The filing fee is something over $300, and an attorney will charge you between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars. It's worth it to consult one even if you don't end up hiring an attorney to handle your case.