Bankruptcy Information





Avoiding liens in bankruptcy In bankruptcy secured creditors are much better off than unsecured creditors To oversimplify for the moment a creditor with a lien will be entitled in or after the bankruptcy proceeding to receive value equivalent to at least the amount of the debt or the value of the collateral whichever is smaller The unsecured creditor by definition a creditor without a lien has no such rights Rather in the common Chapter bankruptcy proceeding the claim of the unsecured creditor will be worthless and will be discharged and in the common Chapter or Chapter bankruptcy proceeding only a fraction of an unsecured claim may be paid Some liens held by secured creditors athough enforceable outside bankruptcy may be avoided in bankruptcy under provisions of the Bankruptcy Code thus leaving the creditor unsecured Because debtors who do not pay debts often land in bankruptcy it is therefore critical for the secured creditor to know whether its lien although enforceable under the state remedies system may nonetheless be avoided in bankruptcy and to know what steps it could take if any to minimize or eliminate the possibility of avoidance We explore here four situations in which liens may be

Bankruptcy in Brief a service of the Moran Law Group Is this debt secured? To determine whether an individual is eligible for you have to know the total of the secured debt To know what rights a creditor may have in the debtor's property in any chapter you have to know whether the creditor has a So how do you tell if a debt is secured? Some are familiar home mortgages home equity lines of credit and car loans These are all liens created by agreement between the debtor and the creditor and are embodied in some sort of recognizable legal agreement There are several other kinds of debts that are secured by liens on the consumer's property sometimes without the consumer even realizing it Purchase money security interests These security interest are lien rights that the seller retains in the goods purchased when the seller finances the purchase The lien can be created by a specific written agreement or may arise when the item is financed on the seller's revolving credit plan or store credit card This kind of lien does not have to be by the usual filing of a UCC financing statement In theory if the

Bankruptcy in Brief a service of the Moran Law Group Glossary Bankruptcy has its own language Here is a brief definition of those terms used in this site and in the Bankruptcy Code A lawsuit filed in the bankruptcy court which is related to the debtor's bankruptcy case Examples are complaints to determine the dischargeability of a debt and complaints to determine the extent and validity of liens Assets are every form of property that the debtor owns They include such intangible things as business goodwill the right to sue someone or stock options The debtor must disclose all of his assets in the bankruptcy schedules remove the exempt assets from The injunction issued automatically upon the filing of a bankruptcy case which prohibits collection actions against the debtor the debtor's property or the property of the estate See on terminating the injunction The Bankruptcy Code permits the debtor to eliminate claimed in the bankruptcy Most judgment liens that have attached to the debtor's home can be avoided if the total of the liens is greater than the value of the property in which the exemption is claimed This is sometimes called lien stripping For more see and Rights

Ask a Lawyer Research Areas of Law Related Links Ask a Lawyer Archive Lien lives On Q A lien was put on my property before I filed a Chapter I contacted the lienholder who said it was not part of the bankruptcy since the lien attached before I filed Is this true? Anonymous A The general rule is that liens survive bankruptcy as a claim against property owned when the case was filed A lien for a pre bankruptcy debt does not attach to property acquired after bankruptcy Liens may be avoided in bankruptcy if they interfere with a claim of exemption to which the debtor was entitled when the bankruptcy was filed A bankruptcy case may be reopened to allow the debtor to bring a motion to avoid a lien Your can help you with this Cathleen Cooper Moran Browse for a Lawyer LexisNexis Martindale Hubbell bankruptcy lawyers com is the most complete trusted source for identifying qualified legal counsel Disclaimer The information provided on Lawyers com is not legal advice Lawyers com is not a lawyer referral service and no attorney client or confidential relationship is or should be formed by use of the site The attorney

Ask a Lawyer Research Areas of Law Related Links Ask a Lawyer Archive Creditor Lien After Bankruptcy Q Can I sue American Express for putting a lein on my house after I declared bankruptcy American Express was included in the bankruptcy Joseph N DeConda A Your first step is to make sure that the lien was recorded after you filed the bankruptcy If it was the action violated the automatic stay that arises when you file bankruptcy The lien is void or voidable If AmEx won't agree to release the lien you can reopen the bankruptcy case have the court void the lien and perhaps recover damages and your attorneys fees for the process If the lien was recorded before the bankruptcy was filed you may be able to invalidate the lien as impairing an exemption to which you are entitled Consult with your bankruptcy lawyer about your options Cathleen Cooper Moran Browse for a Lawyer LexisNexis Martindale Hubbell bankruptcy lawyers com is the most complete trusted source for identifying qualified legal counsel Disclaimer The information provided on Lawyers com is not legal advice Lawyers com is not a lawyer referral service and no attorney client or confidential relationship



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