Friday, June 23, 2017

Guide To Hiring A Bankruptcy Attorney Oakland CA

By Margaret Gray


Nobody ever thinks they can go bankrupt at one time or another in their life. However, frequent charging of credit cards, borrowing of personal loans, taking out car loans and buying an expensive vehicle can quickly lead to financial problems. That is why consumers are always advised to spend less than they earn and to live within their means. If you find yourself in a serious financial situation, where you are unable to pay your debts, you should hire the best bankruptcy attorney Oakland, CA, has to offer.

It is recommended you hire a legal professional to advise you accordingly before choosing to become bankrupt. This is because legal avenues for resolving debt usually come with legal consequences that can change your life. Therefore, you should get competent counsel.

Under the Federal Bankruptcy Act, there are many chapters that provide for debt resolution. The most basic, however, is chapter 13, which provides for debt resolution through liquidation of assets to offset debts. This is the most common chapter as both corporates and individuals can qualify.

A chapter 11 is a form of debt reorganization for businesses and corporate debtors. The debt of the entity seeking to become bankrupt is added up and a suitable monthly payment determined. The payments are based on the earning ability of the business and not the total debt owed by the applicant. The repayments are usually made over a fixed period of time, after which all unpaid debts are written off.

There is very little difference between chapters 11 and 13. In fact, what differs is who can apply for these chapters. With the 13th chapter, only individual consumers can qualify. It basically provides for restructuring of personal debts, which are repaid with convenient monthly payments that are determined by the monthly income of the debtor.

Each bankruptcy chapter has a number of rights and privileges that you will enjoy once you have been declared bankrupt. To ensure the trustee does not infringe on any of your legal rights, you should hire a competent lawyer. The ideal lawyer must have handled many similar cases in the city of Oakland CA. They should also have a great reputation with the public and industry stakeholders.

Experience is the first thing you should consider when shortlisting attorneys to help you with the case. Ideally, you should give priority consideration to attorneys who have handled many similar cases in the last couple of months. The success rate of the attorney must also be taken into consideration.

Hiring a lawyer is important when seeking bankruptcy because there are serious consequences that come with becoming bankrupt. For instance, you will not be able to access affordable loans or rent a decent home because landlords and banks usually run credit checks. Furthermore, some of your debts will not be written off. These include student loan debt, alimony and child support among other things. In addition to that, your credit report will be tainted for many years, which means that anyone who runs a credit check on you will have a poor impression of you.




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