Emergency Bankruptcies for Repossession or Foreclosure

Many people are faced with an imminent threat of a car repossession or home foreclosure before seriously considering bankruptcy.  Filing a typical Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Kansas City often requires working with your attorney to prepare over 50 pages of paperwork for filing.  It often can take quite a bit of work and time for the filer to compile the required information and documents and provide it to their attorney and it then requires additional time and work by the attorney to organize this information and prepare the proper paperwork.

So what happens if you are faced with immediate repossession or foreclosure and need the protection of bankruptcy to prevent repossession or foreclosure?  In such a case the Bankruptcy Code allows you to file an "emergency" skeletal Petition consisting of only the first two pages of the Petition along with your credit counseling certificate.  You will then have 15 days to file the remainder of the paperwork with the Court.  Filing the "emergency" petition can prevent immediate foreclosure, repossesion or wage garnishment, along with creditor harassment.

However, I do not ever recommend or would I agree to file an "emergency" Petition without proof of an imminent (within the next few days) foreclosure or repossesion because if the remainder of the paperwork is not filed within the next 15 days the Court will dismiss the bankruptcy case.  Therefore, save for the case of a true "emergency", a client should always be prepared to compile all required information and documentation prior to filing the bankruptcy Petition.  Please be aware that it can often take at least a week to provide the required information and documentation.  For more information about bankruptcy in Kansas City please visit my firm's website at http://www.thesmalleylawfirm.com