Take Credit Counseling Course
You have to take two mandatory credit counseling courses to complete your Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Chapter 7 trustee may request the certificate of completion in the meeting of creditors. The first course is a pre-bankruptcy course, and the second is the pre-discharge course.
If you are filing with an attorney, your attorney may have suggestions for both the credit counseling and debt education course. If not, you can see the list of approved credit counseling courses in Mississippi.
The Two Kinds Of Bankruptcy Most Consumers Use
This website focuses on the two most common types of bankruptcy filed by individuals: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. But heres a quick summary of the six types of bankruptcy most commonly filed under the bankruptcy code they get their names from the chapters where they appear in the code.
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
- Chapter 7 lets individuals wipe out most kinds of debt in just a few months.
- You get to keep certain kinds of propertyfor example, at least some of the equity in your home, your car, clothing, personal items, and property that is essential to your profession. This type of property is called exempt property, and many Chapter 7 filers find that exemptions cover most of what they own.
- If you have nonexempt property, the bankruptcy trustee will sell it to repay your creditors as much as possible.
- To qualify for Chapter 7, you must pass the means test, showing that your income is less than the state median income for your family size.
- Most bankruptcies filed in the U.S. are Chapter 7 bankruptcies.
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Which One Should I Choose
Chapter 7 is, by far, the more popular form because its cheaper, quicker and effective at relieving responsibility for debt if you qualify! And thats a big if. You must pass a means test, meaning your disposable income is under the median income in your state. If you dont qualify for Chapter 7, you can always fall back on Chapter 13.
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Mississippi Legal Aid Organizations
Mississippi legal aid organizations provide free legal assistance to folks who need a lawyer for their civil matter but cannot afford to hire one. If you are looking for free legal assistance with your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Mississippi, you should start by looking at the Mississippi Bar . Their website includes information regarding organizations providing legal aid in Mississippi.
Most Repos Occur After Two+ Months Of No Payment But There Is No Law Dictating A Set Time Frame In Ms
Many Americans are asking lately What if I cant pay my car loan? First of all, youre not alone in the struggle. If youve missed car payment or two recently or worry you might miss one soon you have options. Typically, missing a car payment will damage your credit score or even lead to your lender repossessing your vehicle. However, most lenders have some type of financial hardship program if you ask for help. You do have to ask though. And ask ahead of missing a payment, if at all possible. The worst thing you can do is to ignore the situation and hope itll work out on its own in time. Heres a look at some options & resources that might help you deal with your car payment.
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File Motions Objections Or Responses
You may never need to worry about this, but theres a chance that you will want to file additional paperwork after you submit your bankruptcy petition. For example, you may want to file a request to remove creditors claims against your property. Or, if a creditor says that you owe more than you think you do, you may want to file an objection with the court.
Depending on the complexity of the situation, this is another place that you might want the advice and assistance of a bankrupcy lawyer. If youre handling your own case and you want to learn more about the situations that may arise after you file, you can turn to a detailed guidebook like How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy or Chapter 13: Keep Your Property and Repay Your Debts Over Time.
Southern District Of Mississippi Requirements
The Southern District has four locations where hearings take place, but as with the Northern District, not all of them have bankruptcy clerks on staff at all times. Depending on which county you live in, you will have to head either to either Jackson or Gulfport to file your Mississippi bankruptcy case.
The Southern District has a standing order telling filers not to send their payment advices to the court along with the bankruptcy forms. Instead, you’ll need to send the paycheck stubs you received in the 60 days before filing your case to your case trustee. Once you’ve sent out your paycheck stubs, make sure you submit a certificate of service to the court to let them know that you’ve complied with this requirement.
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What Are The Downsides Of Filing For Bankruptcy In Mississippi
Debtors filing bankruptcy may experience the following downsides during and after a bankruptcy petition:
- A bankruptcy petition affects a debtor’s credit score – it leaves a negative remark that stays on the credit report for seven to ten years. Therefore, debtors are unable to procure loans with favorable interest rates. In addition, debtors may experience discrimination when renting or leasing a new property
- Under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, co-signers to a debtor’s loan are liable to repay part of the loan
- Debtors filing for a chapter 7 bankruptcy must prepare for the possibility of losing certain properties and assets to liquidation. In some cases, debtors with much equity in their homes might lose their homes
- Bankruptcy does not discharge all debts – debtors cannot discharge unsecured debts like student loans and alimony. Furthermore, debtors must continue to make payments on secured debts, such as car loans and mortgages
- Filing for bankruptcy is mentally-tasking and it might lead to anxiety and depression in most debtors
- Filing a chapter 13 bankruptcy leaves debtors with minimal disposable income during the repayment period.
Despite the above-listed downsides of bankruptcy, debtors filing bankruptcy in Mississippi may enjoy the following benefits:
Some Benefits Of Bankruptcy
Beginning in the 2010s, the Supreme Court and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began eliminating some key consumer debt protections. As a result, credit card companies and other banks are more aggressive than ever. They do not care about the reasons you racked up credit card debt or fell behind on your mortgage payments. They just want their money.
Bankruptcy’s automatic stay is critical in this environment. Because of these legal and regulatory rollbacks, Section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code is usually the only way to stop:
- Eviction
- Signature loans
- SBA loan guarantees
âDischarge” means a judge eliminates the legal obligation to repay a debt. But the judge does not have the power to erase the collateral consequences. Here’s an example:
Assume Alan has some tax problems with the IRS, which files a lien. Alan files bankruptcy, and with the help of his bankruptcy lawyer, he gets the tax debt discharged. But the lien would remain. Alan’s lawyer must address it separately.
In the above example, Alan could discharge his tax debt. That is not always the case. Past due income taxes are priority unsecured debts that are only dischargeable in some situations. Some other unsecured obligations, like past-due alimony and child support, are not dischargeable at all.
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Fill Out Bankruptcy Paperwork
Filing for bankruptcy requires you to fill in dozens of pages of forms detailing your current debts, assets, income, and expenses, as well as your intentions regarding loans that are secured by collateral, such as a mortgage or vehicle loans.
To get ready, youll want to be sure you have complete information about:
- your creditors, including the type of debt and how much you owe
- your income, including sources, amount, and frequency
- your property, including its current value and whether it is classified as exempt under the bankruptcy code, and
- your living expenses, including type, amount, and frequency.
If youre the diligent, organized type, you can prepare your own bankruptcy forms, but this is one place where you will probably appreciate professional help or at least the guidance of a good step-by-step instruction manual for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13.
To find the forms for your local court, see our bankruptcy forms page for Mississippi County, AR.
What Are The Benefits Of Filing A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy In Mississippi
Under a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, debtors may retain all assets, including those not protected by the bankruptcy exemption law. Furthermore, the court issues bankruptcy protection during a bankruptcy case – this prevents debtors from harassing creditors during bankruptcy. A chapter 13 bankruptcy also prevents co-signers from bearing liabilities for the debtor’s debts.
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Estimate Whether You Will Lose Any Property
As you can imagine, many people want to keep their home, car, cash, etc. when filing bankruptcy.
You need to understand the bankruptcy exemptions in Mississippi. The bankruptcy exemptions are complex because some states allow you to choose between state and federal exemptions when filing bankruptcy. For example, check out the Mississippi homestead exemption.
As such, we created this Mississippi bankruptcy exemptions calculator to simplify the information. This free calculator helps you estimate whether your belongings are at risk when filing bankruptcy in Mississippi.
Find Out If You Qualify For Bankruptcy
To qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you must show that you dont have enough income to repay your creditors a reasonable amount. You can do this by:
- proving that your income is below the Arkansas median income for your household size, or
- comparing your income to expenses under a complex formula called the bankruptcy means test to show that you cant pay.
If your income is above the median income for your state and family size and the means test shows you have enough disposable income to make reasonable payments to your creditors, you may still qualify to file under Chapter 13. To qualify for chapter 13, your debt must be under the limit set by the bankruptcy code and you must be current on your tax filings for the last four years.
To take the means test, you can use our free means test calculator.
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Determine Whether You Need Help To File Bankruptcy In Mississippi
Did you know that some people file for bankruptcy without an attorney? Many people prefer using a bankruptcy lawyer given the complexity of filing bankruptcy, but it is possible to often file Chapter 7 bankruptcy without an attorney. Filing Chapter 13 without an attorney may be much more challenging.
United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District Of Mississippi
In the Southern District of Mississippi, you also may appear at one of three locations. Hattiesburg is only for hearings.
Gulfport: 2012 15th St., Suite 244, Gulfport, MS 39501
Hattiesburg: 701 Main St., Hattiesburg, MS 39401
Jackson: 501 E. Court St., Suite 2300, Jackson, MS 39201
When filing for bankruptcy protection, be sure to seek the services of an experienced Mississippi bankruptcy attorney. He or she will go over which chapter of bankruptcy is most appropriate for your financial situation and review the bankruptcy exemptions with you. Its much easier to file bankruptcy with a good lawyer at your side and these cases have a better discharge rate than people who choose to file without an attorney.
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How To File For Bankruptcy In Mississippi
It is up to you to determine which chapter for bankruptcy is best suited to your situation. Working with an attorney will help you to evaluate your case and make this decision. As an individual, it is most common for you to choose between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, as there is a federal threshold for Chapter 7 qualification. If you do not pass the means test for Chapter 7, you will have to file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.
Go To Court To File Your Forms
Let’s do a brief recap here, as you should before you leave home to go file your Mississippi bankruptcy case. By now, you should have taken credit counseling , completed and printed your forms, and purchased a money order for your court filing fee, if you are not eligible for a waiver or payment plan. Technically, you can file everything needed for your Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Mississippi by mailing it to the court. However, if it’s not a hardship to travel to the courthouse, and especially if you are cutting it close on a deadline, you should go to the court in person to hand everything in. If you are not familiar with the area of town around the courthouse, make sure you give yourself enough time to find parking when you get there. Since you’ll be entering a federal building, you will have to pass through building security on your way in. Once inside, the clerk’s office will assist you with filing bankruptcy in Mississippi. If you bring your copy of the paperwork in addition to the originals you are filing with the court, you can ask the clerk to stamp it for your records while there.
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Confirmation Of Bankruptcy Filing Qualification
After the meeting of creditors, the bankruptcy trustee will have enough information to decide whether you will qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The trustee will look for nonexempt assets and will decide whether its worth it to liquidate nonexempt assets. The trustee may do this by understanding the retail value of the asset and whether it will sell.
The secured debts such as a vehicle will need to be dealt with around this point in the process. You can often reaffirm the debt as an asset, which is very common for vehicles.
What Type Of Bankruptcy Should You File In Mississippi
Individual and non-individual debtors may select a bankruptcy chapter based on their preferred outcome. Persons may file a chapter 7 bankruptcy if they want a fast discharge from a majority of debts. Also, corporations may file a chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure debts and prevent the liquidation of assets. On the other hand, persons may opt for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy if they want to keep certain non-exempt properties from liquidation.
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How Do I Find Out If My Bankruptcy Case Is Closed In Mississippi
The clerk’s response to bankruptcy record searches with the Application for Search of Public Records form will typically contain an indication of the status of a case. Interested persons may also contact the clerk’s office, where the bankruptcy petition was filed, directly to get this information. Alternatively, searches conducted with the PACER or McVCIS services will disclose if a case has been closed or not.
Ways To File For Bankruptcy
In order to file bankruptcy in Mississippi, the individual must go to the Mississippi Bankruptcy County Court. The filing process is not hard to accomplish. Any individual that is filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 will be paying off the loans they owe to the creditors. The processes might take close to three to five years to complete, but it is well worth it. Filing bankruptcy under Chapter 7 will be the quickest way of filing for bankruptcy as it takes about 40 to 45 business days. Both methods of bankruptcy are useful under different circumstances. Filing bankruptcy is a hard decision to make, but being under a load of debt can still ruin your credit rating.
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How To Get Mississippi Bankruptcy Records
In Mississippi, it is possible to obtain records from the office of the clerk of the bankruptcy court with jurisdiction over a case and through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records or the Multi-Court Voice Case Information System
The PACER Case Locator tool allows individuals to search and view case records of the Mississippi bankruptcy courts. Newly filed cases take up to 24 hours to appear on the PACER Case Locator. An interested party must register with a username and password to use the locator. Access to case information or records costs $0.10 per page.
The Multi-Court Voice Case Information System offers easy access to basic bankruptcy information. Individuals can access the electronic system by calling 222-8029 and following the automated instructions. If the case is filed in the Northern Bankruptcy Court, a future caller can find instructions on using McVCIS to access the court’s records.
To search for a record in-person at the courthouse, interested parties may fill and submit a B1320 form to the court clerk’s office. The information that requesters must provide for a bankruptcy record search includes:
- Name of the search’s subject
- Subject’s social security number or individual taxpayer identification number
- Type of case
The Mississippi bankruptcy courts’ physical and mailing addresses to access records are as follows:
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of MississippiAberdeen Division :Thad Cochran U.S. Courthouse
