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Freeport Bankruptcy Attorney
As of March 2016, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of New York has received 184 Chapter 7 Bankruptcy^[1] Petitions in Nassau County alone.  Another 115 Chapter 13 Petitions were filed in Nassau County during this same time period.
What Can a Freeport Bankruptcy Do For a Consumer?
If you find that you are facing financial difficulties based on a lack of employment, illness or other setback, it is important to speak to a Freeport bankruptcy lawyer to discuss they types of consumer bankruptcy filings that may be available to you and to discuss any other options that may prove beneficial to you and your family.  While filing for bankruptcy can eliminate some debt, it is imperative to know exactly what such a filing can and cannot accomplish.
The main focus of a bankruptcy is to discharge an individual from their debts.  Discharge means that a consumer’s personal liability for a debt ends and creditors cannot make any further collection effort.  Unfortunately, not all debs are eligible for discharge and it is important, therefore, to understand what a bankruptcy filing can and cannot do before deciding how to proceed.
Things a Nassau County Bankruptcy Filing Can Do

• Credit Card Debt: A bankruptcy filing can eliminate Freeport credit card debt and other unsecured debts. In some limited instances an individual has a secured credit card which means that the creditor has a lien on property and such a secured debt is treated differently.  Most credit card debt, however, is unsecured and constitutes exactly the type of consumer debt that is intended to be eliminated with a Freeport bankruptcy filing.
• Contact with Creditors: A bankruptcy filing can stop creditor phone calls and letters as well as collection activities.  When a creditor is preparing to reposes an automobile or foreclose on a mortgage, the filing of a bankruptcy can assist.  A Freeport bankruptcy attorney can discuss the intricacies of the bankruptcy process and any foreclosure defenses that are applicable to your case.
• Eliminate Liens: A bankruptcy can eliminate consumer debt, but it does not automatically eliminate certain types of liens.  A creditor’s right to take some or all of your property will survive a bankruptcy unless you invoke certain procedure during your bankruptcy case.  An experienced Nassau County bankruptcy lawyer can remove judicial and other liens.
• Debts: Debts that generally can be discharged in a bankruptcy include:  medical bills, payday loans, collections, judgments, unpaid rent, utility bills and auto loans.

What a Freeport Bankruptcy Cannot Do

• Prevent Repossession: When an individual has a secured debt it means that the creditor has a lien on the property and that the creditor can repossess the property if the debt is not paid.  A bankruptcy discharge can eliminate debt, but it does not eliminate liens.
• Child Support: Child support obligations survive bankruptcy.
• Tax Debts: It is not always easy, but in some instances it is possible to eliminate older tax debts relative to unpaid income taxes.  The process is complicated many tax debts cannot be wiped-out

Nondischargeable Freeport Debts
Not all debts are discharged. The debts discharged vary under each chapter of the Bankruptcy Code. Section 523(a) of the Code^[2] specifically excepts various categories of debts from the discharge granted to individual debtors meaning the debtor must still repay those debts after bankruptcy. Congress has determined that these types of debts are not dischargeable for public policy reasons based either on the nature of the debt or the fact that the debts were incurred due to improper behavior of the debtor, such as the debtor’s drunken driving.  There are 19 categories of debt excepted from discharge under chapters 7, 11, and 12.
Some debts are considered nondischargeable under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, meaning that they survive the filing of a bankruptcy petition:

• Debts that are not listed in the bankruptcy case
• Debts for personal injury or death caused by intoxicated driving
• Debts incurred through fraud including false information on a credit application
• Fines and penalties owed to governmental bodies for violating the law                              including traffic tickets and criminal restitution
• Debts owed to a former spouse or child if they arose out of a divorce or                             separation
• Debts owed to certain tax-advantaged retirement plans
• Debts for certain condominium or cooperative housing fees such as homeowners association fees
• Certain property taxes
• Taxes withheld from employee wages
• Debts determined nondischargeable in prior bankruptcy filings
• Debts owed as a result of violating securities laws and regulations
• Spousal maintenance
• Debts for fraud while the individual was acting in a fiduciary capacity, or for embezzlement or larceny

Nondischargeable Debts When a Creditor Objects
There are other types of debts not deemed automatically excepted from discharge.  In those instances, creditors must ask the court to determine if the debts are dischargeable or not. The court will ordinarily require motions to be filed and hold a hearing when making its decision. If the creditor does not raise the issue of dischargeability or the creditor raises the issue but the court does not agree, the debts will be discharged including:

• Credit card purchases for luxury goods owed to a single creditor and totaling more than $650.00 incurred within 90 days of filing for bankruptcy.
• Cash advances totaling more than $925.00 obtained by a debtor within 70 days of filing for bankruptcy.
• Debts obtained by fraud of false pretense.
• Debts incurred as a result of willful and malicious injury to another or to the property of another

Contact a Freeport Bankruptcy Attorney
If you are unable to pay your debts it is important to speak to a Freeport bankruptcy attorney who can interpret and apply federal and New York laws and discuss all of the issues that may arise from your financial situation.  Call the office of Ronald P. Weiss today at (631) 296-0361 in order to discuss the specifics of your case and to review all of your bankruptcy solutions.
References:
[1] http://www.nyeb.uscourts.gov/statistics?field_stat_date_value_1%5Bvalue%5D%5Byear%5D=2015
[2] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11/523