Tampa Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney

Our law firm is an experienced Bankruptcy Attorney office in Tampa that provides legal bankruptcy services for the US Bankruptcy Courts of Florida.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy for individual debtors

Individuals can file for bankruptcy in a federal court of law under the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Rules. This is also called straight bankruptcy filing or liquidation. With Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the debtor is allowed to keep certain property that is considered exempt. Assets that are unprotected are liquidated in order to pay off the individual's creditors. The specifics vary from state to state so we strongly recommend that you seriously discuss this with an experienced Tampa Bankruptcy Lawyer like those of us at the Owens Law Firm who are experienced in handling Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filings and therefore can best represent your interests.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy rules and regulations

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Prevention Act went into effect in 2005 is the largest reform to the nation's bankruptcy laws since 1978. This legislation was intended to prevent abuses of the bankruptcy laws.

Now that it has gone into effect, we have clear cut criteria that dictates who will be allowed to stay in Chapter 7 bankruptcy and who will be forced to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy if they choose to file. Under the new regulations you first need to figure out whether you can file for Chapter 7 by measuring your "current monthly income" against the median income for a family of your size in your state.

A family's "current monthly income" is determined by averaging the income they generated over the last six months before filing. If the income generated is less than or equal to the median, a person can file for Chapter 7. If your income is more than the median, however, you must pass "the means test" - another requirement of the new regulations - in order to file for Chapter 7.

Do you possess enough disposable income to repay some of your debts? The purpose behind the means test is to determine if you have enough disposable income, after subtracting certain allowed expenses and required debt payments, to repay at least a portion of your unsecured debts over a repayment period of five-years.

What is accomplished by filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy?

Filing for bankruptcy in Tampa, Florida may immediately stop wage garnishments, foreclosure, vehicle repossession and other types of collection harassment. It may also eliminate any unsecured debt allowing you to finally be able to breathe a sigh of financial relief again.

The Owens Law Firm in Florida is an experienced debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the US Bankruptcy Code.

Call The Owens law Firm today at (813) 289-7574 for a FREE Tampa Bankrupcty and Debt Relief consultation.