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How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (Kits)
All States
By Attorneys Stephen R. Elias, Albin Renauer & Robin Leonard,
Nolo Press
List Price: $39.99
Our Price: $25.99
The Personal Bankruptcy Toolkit - The Ultimate Guide to filing
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Kit
With Forms on CD-ROM
All States
By Attorney Daniel Sitarz, Nova Publishing, Business & Consumer
Legal Books & Software
List Price: $29.95
Our Price:$21.95
Did You Know?
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy gives the debtor a "fresh start."
by Bankruptcy Basics
Did You Know?
“A
chapter 13 bankruptcy is also called a wage earner's plan.
It enables individuals with regular income to develop a plan
to repay all or part of their debts.”
by Bankruptcy Basics
Did You Know?
Filing Fees:
Chapter 7: $299
Chapter 13: $274
The courts only except cashier checks or money orders made payable
to "The United States Bankruptcy Court".
by Bankruptcy Basics
Did You Know?
Average Cost for an Attorney:
Chapter 7: $950.00 - $1,400.00
Chapter 13: $1,800.00 - $2,400.00
by Consumer Affairs
Did You Know?
“Las Vegas posted the nation’s highest metro
foreclosure rate, with 5.13 percent (one in 20) of its housing
units receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter — nearly
seven times the national average. A total of 40,408 Las Vegas
properties received a foreclosure filing during the quarter,
an increase of nearly 9 percent from the previous quarter and
an increase of nearly 54 percent from the third quarter of 2008.”
by RealtyTrac
Did You Know?
“Nevada, Arizona, California & Florida post
highest foreclosure rates”
by RealtyTrac
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Attention: All 94-bankruptcy districts
charge the same filing fees.
Chapter 7: $299
Chapter 13: $274 |
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Emergency Bankruptcy - free
This page is geared towards helping homeowners save their
home
from foreclosure allowing them to catch up on arrears!
Time Period Changes to the
National Bankruptcy Rules Effective 12/1/2009
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Important Notice Regarding Time
Period Changes to the National Bankruptcy Rules
Effective December 1, 2009 Including 14-Day Deadlines
for Filing Schedules, Statements, Chapter 13 Plans,
and Bankruptcy Appellate Briefs
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Among the time-computation amendments
to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that
will take effect on December 1, 2009, are changes
to 12 rules that will result in a reduction by one
day (15 to 14 days) of the time to take action.
The affected rules are Bankruptcy Rules 1007, 1019,
1020, 2015, 2015.1, 2016, 3015, 4001, 4002, 6004,
6007, and 8009. Please take note of these changes
and particularly of the new 14-day deadline for
filing schedules, statements, and other documents
under Rule 1007(c); for filing a chapter 13 plan
under Rule 3015(b); and for filing appellate briefs
under Rule 8009(a).
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| This is not a complete
bankruptcy. This is a partial filing used to stop
a wage garnishment or scheduled foreclosure allowing
you 14-days to complete and file the remainder of
your petition. If you do not have a foreclosure
or wage garnishment scheduled you should use one
of the following options or see an attorney or an
independent paralegal in your area: |
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5 Steps to completing the
emergency petition on your own
Hundreds of homeowners stop foreclosures
each month if not weekly by following these steps.
Following these samples take the average person
45 minutes to complete their emergency bankruptcy
petition.
Prior to starting these steps you
should download a sample for your district along
with the instructions explaining how the sample
was completed.
NEW!
View a sample emergency bankruptcy filing for
your district bankruptcy court. Instructions explaining
the
sample emergency bankruptcy petition.
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If you submit the following
eight (8) forms completed entirely from the website
listed below, along with a pre-bankruptcy
counseling certificate from an approved credit-counseling
agency, prior to the foreclosure sale time you will
stop the foreclosure. However, some district bankruptcy
courts have additional rules for pro se filers,
such as Northern Texas, which requires the filer
to show a valid Texas driver's license or State
ID, along with their social security card. Therefore,
always research your court's website prior to filing.
It is not possible for us to list each district
bankruptcy court's rules here. You will find links
to all the
bankruptcy courts at the bottom of this page.
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When you file your documents with the bankruptcy
court clerk in your district in most instances the
court clerk will give you a computer-generated list
of forms that you are missing, otherwise known as
a deficiency notice. You have officially stopped
all foreclosure proceedings, and the deficiency
notice lists all of the forms you must file with
the court within 14-days (calendar days, not business
days) of the filing date, if you do not want your
bankruptcy to be dismissed. See our section:
After you file your Emergency Petition.
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The only guarantee we make
with this free version is that each court
uses B1 - Voluntary Petition without variance. There
are presently 94 district courts and 59 of them
vary on at least one form with their own specific
form, Central California District being the worst
with over half of their forms being proprietary.
View a sample emergency bankruptcy filing for
your district bankruptcy court.
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To help speed up your process
we now list all bankruptcy district courts that
use the same standard forms with no variances for
this emergency filing, see:
District Bankruptcy Courts.
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Have us complete your
Chapter 7 Emergency Bankruptcy
and receive a $50.00 credit when you have us complete your documents.
Step 1:Retrieve the following 4 forms(the first
two have two parts)from this website and complete
them:
NEW!
View a sample emergency bankruptcy filing for
your district bankruptcy court. Instructions explaining
the
sample emergency bankruptcy petition.
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Start Here |
From the
Court's website retrieve forms
we list on this page highlighted in yellow!
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Court's
website:
http://www.uscourts.gov/bkforms/bankruptcy_forms.html#official
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IMPORTANT - READ:
If you go to Step 2
first and find your district bankruptcy court's
website, you may find that they have these same
forms listed in a fillable pdf format allowing you
to fill them out on your computer prior to printing.
In addition, some courts have a section "Local Forms"
which may have a specific format for one or more
of the following eight forms needed - usually forms
2 (Application and Order), 5 (Verification of Credit
Matrix), & 6 (Matrix).
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How to proceed if married
with both names on the mortgage. You should
seek advice from an attorney to help you with your
individual situation whether to file together or
just one person. However, if you do the emergency
petition with just one name and later decide to
continue with the bankruptcy by completing the remainder
of the forms you cannot add the other spouse’s name
to the documents. The other spouse would then have
to file his/her own petition and pay another filing
fee at which point the court would join the two
petitions together.
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- B1 - Voluntary Petition
- (Consists of Form & Exhibit "D"
Form - Voluntary Petition
Exhibit "D"
- B3A - Application
and Order to Pay Filing Fee in Installments
-(Consists of Application & Order) If
you intend to pay the filing fee when you file
you will not need these forms.
Application to Pay Filing Fee in Installments
& Order
- B6D - Schedule D -
Creditors Holding Secured Claims -If
you are stopping a foreclosure
B6D - Schedule D - Creditors Holding Secured
Claims
- B21 - Statement of
Social Security Number
B21 - Statement of Social Security Number
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[back
to top]
[back
to top]
Have us complete your
Chapter 7 Emergency Bankruptcy
and receive a $50.00 credit when you have us complete your documents.
Step 3: Retrieve this form and complete:
NEW!
View a sample emergency bankruptcy filing for
your district bankruptcy court. Instructions explaining
the
sample emergency bankruptcy petition.
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Step 3 |
You will also have to provide a "matrix" which
there may not be a specific form for, but which
your specific district court will give instructions
as to the format. The matrix is just a list of creditors
on a blank page, see
samples.
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6. Matrix
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You will find that many of these forms come with
instructions and for the ones that do not, you can
search other court websites located at the bottom
of this page for help.
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Many courts give written instruction on how to
fill in these forms, e.g.
A Guide for the Pro Se Filer, thanks to the
United States Bankruptcy Court District of Massachusetts.
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[back
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Step 4:Credit Counseling :
NEW!
View a sample emergency bankruptcy filing for
your district bankruptcy court. Instructions explaining
the
sample emergency bankruptcy petition.
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Step 4 |
IMPORTANT - READ:
As per the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005
you are required to complete a pre-bankruptcy counseling
session with an approved credit counseling agency
prior to filing.
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This is mandatory whether you file a Chapter
7 Bankruptcy or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Scroll down
the page or click on this link to learn more:
Credit Counseling
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[back
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Step 5:Filing your Emergency Bankruptcy Petition
- Must be filed prior to foreclosure sale time:
NEW!
View a sample emergency bankruptcy filing for
your district bankruptcy court. Instructions explaining
the
sample emergency bankruptcy petition.
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| Step 5 |
You will need to file your
petition along with your pre-bankruptcy counseling
certificate with the court clerk at the bankruptcy
court for your district, which you found in Step
2.
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Many districts have more
than one court, therefore you will need to
research your district to see which court you are
required to file in - they divide the courts by
counties in your district and if you are unsure
just call the court clerk and ask. Again, this needs
to be done prior to the scheduled foreclosure sale
time. Therefore, if the sale time is scheduled for
09:30 in the morning, you file, and the court stamps
the file time at 09:31 in many states you have lost
your home. Even if there is not a buyer the house
will be surrendered to the lender and in many states
with no recourse to get it back.
Credit Counseling
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[back
to top]
| As per the Bankruptcy Reform
Act of 2005 you are required to complete a pre-bankruptcy
counseling session with an approved credit counseling
agency prior to filing. This is mandatory whether
you file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.
You may use any approved credit counseling agency.
We recommend using
In Charge Education Foundation (866) 729-0049
who will complete the entire counseling process
in two sessions over the phone or online; however,
if you find it difficult to get through to them
use the link below to find an approved credit counseling
agency in your area. If you do not plan to continue
with the bankruptcy after the filing of the emergency
petition you may opt to pay for only the first part
of the credit counseling. You will receive a certificate
of completion after your first session with In Charge
Education Foundation which must be filed with the
court when you file your emergency petition. |
| List of
Credit Counseling Agencies Approved Pursuant
to 11 U.S.C. § 111 |
| The second session is a
"test" and for completing it you will receive an
"Educational" Certificate of Completion. The first
certificate is filed at the same time as your Petition
and the second one filed anytime after you have
filed the Petition with the court and received a
case number. |
[back
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| Your Bankruptcy Petition
will be dismissed after 14-days (calendar days,
not business days) if you do not supply the court
with the remainder of your bankruptcy documents.
By law you will not be allowed to file again for
6 months thereby allowing the foreclosure to commence
again so you must either continue with your bankruptcy
or have other means at your disposal for stopping
the foreclosure from starting again. |
| How long does it take before
a foreclosure proceeding begins again? It varies
state to state and if you opt to allow your bankruptcy
to be dismissed by not filing the remainder of your
documents you should at the minimum seek advice
of an attorney for your situation. |
[back
to top]
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http://www.uscourts.gov/bkforms/bankruptcy_forms.html#official
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- California Northern District Bankruptcy
Court
- Connecticut District Bankruptcy Court
- District Of Columbia District Bankruptcy
Court
- Georgia Middle District Bankruptcy Court
- Georgia Southern District Bankruptcy Court
- Guam District Bankruptcy Court
- Idaho District Bankruptcy Court
- Illinois Central District Bankruptcy Court
- Indiana Southern District Bankruptcy Court
- Iowa Northern District Bankruptcy Court
- Kentucky Western District Bankruptcy Court
- Louisiana Eastern District Bankruptcy Court
- Maryland District Bankruptcy Court
- Massachusetts District Bankruptcy Court
- Michigan Eastern District Bankruptcy Court
- Minnesota District Bankruptcy Court
- Mississippi Northern District Bankruptcy
Court
- Nebraska District Bankruptcy Court
- New York Southern District Bankruptcy Court
- New York Western District Bankruptcy Court
- North Carolina Middle District Bankruptcy
Court
- Ohio Southern District Bankruptcy Court
- Oklahoma Western District Bankruptcy Court
- Pennsylvania Eastern District Bankruptcy
Court
- Pennsylvania Western District Bankruptcy
Court
- Puerto Rico District Bankruptcy Court
- Rhode Island District Bankruptcy Court
- South Dakota District Bankruptcy Court
- Utah District Bankruptcy Court
- Vermont District Bankruptcy Court
- Virgin Islands District Bankruptcy Court
- Virginia Western District Bankruptcy Court
- Washington Western District Bankruptcy Court
- West Virginia Northern District
Bankruptcy Court
- Wyoming District Bankruptcy
Court
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[back
to top]
Links to all
Bankruptcy Courts:
Download
free instructions to help you explain your
sample emergency bankruptcy filing. Then scroll down the page
and download a sample.
Links to U.S. Bankruptcy Courts Electronic Records
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Sunday
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“Excellent!
Thank you so much for you and your company’s efforts.
You have made this as smooth of a process as I could
possibly imagine — very appreciated.”
Jefferson B.
Seattle, WA
“Thank
you for your assistance Amy; this was a very smooth
process. I will be sure to refer others to
your business. Best wishes for the holidays.”
Lia S.
Cathlamet, WA
“It
is filed! Thanks once again for your help.
That was the best $250 I ever spent!”
Mary O.
Spokane, WA
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View more
testimonials!
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Foreclosure Survival Guide
All States
By Attorney Stephen R. Elias, Nolo Press
List Price $21.99
Our Price: $13.99
Did You Know?
Do It Yourself Documents offers
specials and discounts that change weekly!
Did You Know?
Do It Yourself
Documents carries state-specific items for all 50 states
and DC.
Did You Know?
Sixty percent of
bankruptcies
and seventy-five percent of divorces in California are done
without lawyers!
Did You Know?
Read what Consumer Affairs has to say about
legal kits.
Did You Know?
“Other metro areas in the top 10 were the California
cities of Stockton (3.53 percent), Modesto (3.39 percent), Riverside-San
Bernardino (3.37 percent), Bakersfield (2.88 percent), and Vallejo-Fairfield
(2.85 percent), along with the Reno-Sparks metro area in Nevada
(2.67 percent) and the Florida metro areas of Port St. Lucie
(2.63 percent) and Orlando-Kissimmee (2.57 percent).”
by RealtyTrac
Did You Know?
“Among the top 50 metro foreclosure rates, the
three biggest year-over-year increases were in Boise City-Nampa,
Idaho, and Provo-Orem and Salt Lake City in Utah. In several
states the largest increases were posted in cities not previously
a focal point for foreclosure activity. The Chico metro area
posted the biggest year-over-year increase in California, with
foreclosure activity up 98 percent from the third quarter of
2008. The medium-sized metro about 100 miles north of Sacramento
had a 12.8 percent unemployment rate in August, above the state
and national averages.”
by RealtyTrac
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