A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is commonly referred to as a debt consolidation. What it can actually do is help you get a better night’s sleep. It can help you relieve some of the stress. It can stop harassing creditors from calling you. It can stop a repossession of your vehicle. It can stop the foreclosure of your home. A Chapter 13 is one of the best tools that we can use to help you get back into some type of better financial shape.
Every case is unique. People call me and they say, “Brandon, can you tell me whether I’d qualify for a Chapter 13?” They call me on the phone and give me about 5 or 10 minutes. The problem is, every case is unique. I have done thousands of these. The best way for me to tell you if you’re going to work out in a Chapter 13 is to come in, sit down and talk to us.
But let me tell you a little bit about what a Chapter 13 can do. It can eliminate unsecured debt. Credit card bills, medical bills, collection account, payday loans, we usually make all of that debt just disappear. And then let’s say you’ve got a car and you’re behind on that car payment. We’re going to put it into that debt consolidation plan and you’re going to pay it off over a period of three to five years. If you’re behind on the payments it doesn’t matter. If your interest rate is 23% or something really high, it doesn’t matter because we’re going to reduce it down to 4.5%. Now let’s also think that maybe you’ve got a foreclosure pending and the mortgage company’s calling you, saying they’re about to take your house. We’re going to stop that foreclosure. We’re going to take the arrearage, the back money you owe on that house and put it over into that bankruptcy plan, you don’t have to pay any interest on it, and we’re going to pay it off over a period of three to five years. We’re going to save your house.
We can even stop a garnishment. Let’s say someone’s taking 25% of your paycheck because they have a judgment against you. As soon as I file that Chapter 13 plan, they have to stop that garnishment. And this is what happens. A Chapter 13 gives you a court order. That’s why it’s so different from these debt consolidation companies you see on TV. They don’t have the benefit of having a federal bankruptcy court order which says, “Creditors, you have to stop a garnishment, stop a foreclosure, stop a repossession, stop trying to collect money on these bills.” That’s what that court order does in a bankruptcy case, or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. And it’s a wonderful tool that we can use.
If you’re behind on your taxes, we can generally add those into the plan. There are things called priority debts, such as alimony and child support, and we generally can’t do a lot with that because the law says you have to keep paying alimony and you have to keep paying child support. Now we’ve talked about secured debt, we’ve talked about unsecured debt and we’ve talked about priority debt, and those are pretty much the majority of what 99% of the people have. 85 to 90% of the bankruptcies filed in Alabama are Chapter 13s. That’s because all the bankruptcy lawyers know that this is the best tool that we can use. 85 to 90% of the bankruptcies that we file out of my office are Chapter 13s. It gives us a lot of flexibility on how we can help you. And that’s what we are here for, we are honestly here to help you.
Now all consultations at the Sellers Law Firm are free. I don’t care if you meet with us one time, two times, three times, four times. I just want you to get to know us. We’re going to be your lawyers if you decide to let us do your Chapter 13, and we’re going to be your lawyers for a period of three to five years. So I want you to get to know us. I want you to feel comfortable with us. On the other hand, I want to get to know you. I need to know all about your assets. I need to know all about your debts. I need to know about your income. The reason I need to know these things is so that we can come up with a financial plan that works best for you. And if you finish this bankruptcy, and I know you will, at the end you get a discharge which means none of these creditors can collect any of these debts from you anymore. It’s attended to. And we’re not leaving you at the end of that discharge. We’re going to give you a financial education course which will teach you how to raise your credit score, how to better deal with creditors regarding interest rates when you’re taking out a loan. It teaches you basically how to better manage money in the economy that we’re in right now.
So if you would, give me a call. Better yet, set up an appointment, come see us, meet with my team. We’re going to talk about your financial situation and try to come up with a plan that’s best for you. And I’m going to tell you this, I’m never going to pressure anybody into filing a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If there is a better option for you, I’m going to try and find that option and tell you what it is. And I’m going to try to help you get to where that better option exists. I tell people, “I’m the last house on the block. I want you to try every other door other than a bankruptcy until you get to me.” A bankruptcy is a remedy of last relief. But if we have to use it, we will because we can save your car, save your house and save your money. I’m Brandon Sellers, thank you for watching.