SURE, there are alternatives to bankruptcy. But bankruptcy is the only solution that provides viable debt relief for those who are unable to repay their debts. Some people sign up for debt settlement and find out after having paid into the pot that they have been sued by several creditors despite attempts by the debt settlement business to settle their debts over time.
If we compare debt to cancer because they do have similarities as the debt burden keeps growing and growing over time while cancer grows and spreads over time with the end game of both killing the financial or organic health of the victim resulting in the death of the victim, what is the more effective cure?
Certainly, all of us have family and friends who have fought with cancer. First, you try to kill all the cancer cells with chemotherapy and/or the latest cancer-fighting medical technology. Fortunately, there are state of the art treatments now that work where the body’s own immune system is coaxed to fight the cancer cells, or stem cells from a donor are used to replace the patients’ own unhealthy cells that become cancerous.
If the treatment works, you still have to go through the remission process. This is a five-year period where the patient is cancer-free but is being monitored to see if the cancer returns. If it returns, it comes back with a vengeance. If it doesn’t, you’re home free.
Right now, I have three clients who have fought cancer. One just died after fighting it for four years and used all the new treatments. One was in remission for four and a half years trying to reach five years. But the cancer cells have just returned. He was still working but now can’t walk without assistance because the cancer cells have returned after disappearing for four and a half years and now have just spread to his leg. The third is cancer-free and entering the five-year monitoring period.
Now, if there was a miracle drug that once taken gets rid of all cancer cells and replaces them with new healthy cells that enable the patient to be cancer-free for the rest of his life, isn’t this treatment the best and most effective way of dealing with cancer?
Bankruptcy is the best and most effective way of getting rid of accumulated debt bar none. It’s truly a miracle solution to debt problems. Bankruptcy is guaranteed by the United States Constitution to enable debtors to have a fresh start in life without the burden of accumulated debt so they can become productive again. The United States Supreme Court calls Chapter 7 as the “fresh start” law, and Chapter 13 as the financial reorganization on a personal level. Bankruptcy, indeed, is the miracle cure for accumulated debt that debilitates every debtor who suffers from this malady.
How many times have I pointed out that Walt Disney filed for Chapter 7 twice before Disneyland became successful? If it’s the right choice for Walt Disney, it’s the right choice for anyone with accumulated debt who wants a fresh start in life, just like Mr. Disney. Mr. Hershey of Hershey chocolates, possibly the world’s largest and most successful chocolate business, also filed for Chapter 7 once to get rid of accumulated debt. Several big dioceses of the Catholic Church filed for Chapter 11 reorganization to handle the molestation lawsuits. Orange County filed for bankruptcy about 20 years ago for those of you who are too young to know. Why did they file for bankruptcy? That’s because bankruptcy is the right choice and the most effective way of dealing with debt and providing the debtor with total and complete relief from debt.
Are you facing foreclosure and want to save your home? Chapter 13 will stop the foreclosure on its tracks and allow you five years to pay off the default while protecting your house from foreclosure. If you owe credit cards and other unsecured debts like medical bills, Chapter 13 may even allow you to have a zero payment plan to unsecured creditors. This means you pay nothing to get rid of credit cards while you pay only the default on your house over five years!
For example, the client owes $20,000 of default on his house because he has not paid it for six months, and he owes $50,000 of credit cards and $100,000 of medical bills. He can propose a Chapter 13 plan that pays only $350 a month for 60 months. This will pay the $20,000 default on his house over five years. He pays nothing to credit cards and medical bills. In other words, he doesn’t have to pay $150K of unsecured debt. Upon finishing his plan payments on the 60th month, he is back to his current status on the mortgage. He rescues his house from foreclosure. And the court wipes out all $50,000 of credit cards and $100,000 of medical bills without any payment on them at all.
Let’s assume the same client with the same unsecured debt but no problem with house payments. His home equity is less than $175,000 and he is at least 65. He files for Chapter 7 and gets rid of $150K of unsecured debt for a fresh start as he enters his retirement years. Or, he is 45 with home equity that is not over $100,000. He still gets to wipe out $150,000 while keeping all his assets.
If you need debt relief, please set an appointment to see me. I will analyze your case personally.
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Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in Bankruptcy, Business, Real Estate and Civil Litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 20274 Carrey Road, Walnut, CA 91789 or 1000 S. Fremont Ave., Mailstop 58, Building A-10 South Suite 10042, Alhambra, CA 91803.