Aug
22

Who is the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee for the Salem, Oregon Metro Area?

 Fred Long is the Chapter 13 Trustee for all cases filed in the Salem, Oregon metro area. He is also the Chapter 13 Trustee for most cases filed in Southern Oregon including all cases filed in Marion, Linn, Polk and Lane Counties. Correspondence to his offices can be directed to Fred Long, Chapter 13 Trustee, POB 467, Eugene, OR 97440. 

 

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Aug
17

HOA Fees and Bankruptcy

In both Oregon and Washington, a bankruptcy filing discharges any homeowner’s fees that accrued before the bankruptcy case is filed. The discharge does not release the homeowner for fees for months after the case is filed, for so long as the debtor owns or occupies the condo. Because the homeowner is liable for post-file fees, it may make sense to file a given bankruptcy case close to an actual foreclosure sale date in order to discharge as much of the potential HOA fees as possible.portland, tigard, gresham, bankruptcy, hillsboro, vancouver, longview, chehalis, beaverton

Jul
01

Emergencies During Your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

What happens when you cannot make your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy payments to the Portland or Vancouver Trustee due to one time only expense or unanticipated bill?  What do you do when, say, a car breaks down, your heating goes out, or when you or your spouse miss work due to a temporary illness or injury?

The fact is that you have multiple options.  None of them involve keeping the unexpected loss or income or secret from your Vancouver or Portland Bankruptcy Attorney.

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May
17

The Vancouver, Washington Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Creditors Meeting


People are often nervous about the Vancouver, Washington Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Meeting of the Creditors. The real source of this anxiety is that they have no idea what to expect.

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May
13

Vancouver, Washington Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee Information Sheet

If you file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Petition in Washington and your hearing is set for Vancouver, Washington will want you to complete and submit a Trustee Information Sheet to your Bankruptcy attorney.

Failure to complete the Washington Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee Information Sheet may result in your hearing being continued to a later date. 

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May
13

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Wage Orders In Portland and Vancouver

If you file a chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in Washington or Oregon, your plan payment will be made through wage garnishment instead of a direct payment. Both the Portland and Vancouver Chapter 13 Trustees will insist on it. As much as you might be uncomfortable with this intrusion, having your Chapter 13 payment f come directly out of your check will greatly increase your success rate. Direct payment will force you to budget in order to make it through your chapter 13 bankruptcy.

People often truly believe that they can successfully budget and make the monthly payment to the chapter 13 trustee.  More often than not life gets in the way and a debtor will pay everything else first.  When something really important comes up, the Chapter 13 plan payment does not get made because there is no money left at the end of the month. At some point the Portland or Vancouver Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee will file a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to Pay.

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May
06

Your Portland Oregon Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Creditors Meeting

Many debtors are apprehensive about the first meeting of creditors and do not really understand what it is. This article will briefly explain what happens and what is expected of you. In Oregon, each bankruptcy petition signer must attend or the chapter 13 bankruptcy will be dismissed.  You will want to verify the address of where the hearing is held and understand directions before the date of your hearing.

Ideally, you should come about a half an hour early so that you can hear other cases before yours. Present at the hearing is the Portland Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee or one of his staff attorneys and an assistant.  Other individuals and their attorneys waiting for their hearings will be in the room as well. In Oregon, creditors rarely attend and if they do, your bankruptcy attorney is there to represent you.

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May
05

Will Moving Out of Washington or Oregon Harm My Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

If you are living in either the Portland or Vancouver and you decide to move out of state, there should be no impact on your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, provided that you keep making your mandatory payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee. 

You will want to provide your Portland or Vancouver Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney with your new address and phone number as quickly as possible. In addition, if you are paying the Trustee by wage order, you will also need to provide your new employment information so that a new wage order can be put in place as quickly as possible.       

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May
03

Can I Reduce My Car Payment in My Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

In both Oregon and Washington, you can under certain circumstances reduce the amount that you have to pay back to your car lender by filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. This can obviously represent a huge savings to many debtors in the Vancouver and Portland metro areas.

Generally speaking, as long as the car loan is at least 910 days old, you can reduce the amount you pay back from the actual contract amount owing at the time of the of filing your Chapter 13 Petition to the resale value of your vehicle.  

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May
02

I Missed My Mortgage Payments During My Chapter 13

 The most immediate result of missing your mortgage payment during your Oregon Chapter 13 is the filing of a Motion For Relief From Stay by your lender’s attorney. 

 A Motion For Relief From Stay, if granted by the Portland Bankruptcy Court, enables your lender to foreclose on the property during your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy because of your missed payments. If you get this Motion in the mail, you should immediately contact your attorney. In Oregon, a settlement can often be reached with the lender’s attorney so that the lender does not foreclose. Usually this means that any missed payments are cured within six months, providing ongoing monthly mortgage payments are made in the future.