Tim Kirkpatrick's blog

Early 70s male has a home that has a pending Foreclosure/Sheriff Sale in New Orleans, Louisiana came in to the Gretna, Louisiana office to look at bankruptcy options.. He has tried to modify the loan several times but the mortgage company has refused to qualify him. Accordingly, today is approximately 3 years behind with the mortgage. He has limited income, retirement and Social Security benefits.  He also has approximately $30,000 of unsecured debt and a vehicle loan that is up-to-date.

Mid 30s divorced mother of two from Houma, Louisiana came in to discuss bankruptcy options. She and her children live in a home with a single mortgage. She is six months behind on the mortgage and the property is in foreclosure. She does not have any other significant debt. She fell behind on the house note due to being unemployed for approximately 3 months. She is now reemployed and can afford to resume her house note but does not have sufficient funds to bring the note current.

In Louisiana real estate foreclosures are conducted by the local sheriff. Under most circumstances, the filing of a bankruptcy, either chapter 7 or chapter 13, will stop the state court foreclosure proceeding. The case must be filed before the auction actually takes place. The New Orleans bankruptcy attorneys at Kirkpatrick and Associates, on a regular basis, stop Sheriff sales for clients living in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, St. Tammany Parish, Washington Parish, Terrebonne Parish, St. James Parish, St. John the Baptist Parish, Assumption Parish, and Lafourche Parish.

Many people assume that once a garnishment has started, there is nothing they can do to stop it. Using bankruptcy law (chapter 13 and chapter 7), we can stop just about any type of garnishment, except current domestic support obligations. We recently met with a young lady from Gretna, Louisiana whose, paycheck had been garnished by a credit card collection agency for the last three months.

I recently met with a lady who owns a home in New Orleans that was set to go through sheriff sale the following day. Within the same day, we were able to file a chapter 13 reorganization bankruptcy that forced the mortgage company to stop the sheriff sale. This allowed our client to resume making regular monthly mortgage payments and make a small bankruptcy court payment to catch up her mortgage arrearages over a five-year period.

During these uncertain times, many hard-working Americans find themselves overwhelmed by financial problems. It can happen to the best of people, no matter what tax bracket they qualify for. If you or anyone you know find yourself in these circumstances, it is crucial that all options of relief are considered. However, most people find that filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy is the best alternative for financial relief.