If you find yourself in a dire financial situation and have exhausted all possible venues of credit, you may very well be in a position to officially file for bankruptcy. If you are looking for bankruptcy lawyers in Baltimore Maryland you will need to obtain counsel from an experienced lawyer with a history of dealing with Chapter 13 cases. Chapter 13 is a United States Bankruptcy Code that outlines the proceedings for an individual to state his or her claim of bankruptcy to a federal court. Officially this process is known as financial reorganization and involves the individual explaining the circumstances by which he or she wound up in their current financial situation.
The role of your Baltimore lawyer during these proceedings will be to represent you and make a professional defense on your behalf as to why you will be unable to repay your creditors. Keep in mind that bankruptcy lawyers in Baltimore Maryland are required to tell the truth and will not lie on your behalf. However, it is certainly within their power to present you in the best possible light to the judge, so as to minimize the damage to your subsequent credit rating and permanent record. When you meet with your Baltimore lawyer for the first time, make sure to bring all required documents with you, so as to facilitate an expedited bankruptcy hearing. The documents of interest will include all of your bank statements, as well as letters from creditors, collection agencies and attorneys seeking to claim from you. You will also need to present tax returns from recent years, in addition to pay slips, receipts, mortgage statements, and a full history of correspondence with your creditors and their legal representation.
Once all of these documents are on file, the Chapter 13 plan can be processed relatively quickly – usually within two working days in Baltimore. Although it may seem like adding insult to injury during a bankruptcy hearing, you will need to pay your Baltimore lawyer’s legal fees, and will have to pay for a credit report and court fees, all of which will come to approximately $1200. If you are not in a hurry to proceed with your Chapter 13 filing, make sure to obtain quotes from several lawyers, as competition between law firms in the Baltimore area is high and you may be able to secure a cheaper deal. Once your lawyer has filed a Chapter 13 on your behalf, your hearing will be scheduled in approximately six weeks time. However, this waiting period is at the discretion of the court, and may be considerably longer if they are dealing with other issues.
If you are looking to submit a Chapter 13 as a resident of Baltimore, you will need to file your petition with the United States Bankruptcy court on Lombard Street. It should be noted that some changes have taken place recently with regard to foreclosure laws in Maryland in response to the rapidly increasing number of people losing their homes due to not being able to repay the banks. The main change that has taken place is that no action can be taken on foreclosure for 150 days (as compares to 15 days prior) after the bank files a claim.
