Encino Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer
Encino homeowners and working professionals who are behind on a mortgage, a car loan, or back taxes, but still earn a steady paycheck, often reach a point where the question is no longer whether to act but which kind of filing fits. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm serving Encino, the rest of the San Fernando Valley, and clients throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. If you are weighing an Encino Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer against other options, the right place to start is understanding what a repayment plan can do that nothing else can.
Chapter 13 is the chapter built for people who want to keep what they have. Instead of wiping debts out and surrendering anything unprotected, you propose a plan that folds your debts into one monthly payment stretched over three to five years. Once the court confirms the plan, your creditors are bound by it. For an Encino homeowner with real equity, a missed-payment history, or income too high to pass the Chapter 7 means test, that structure is often the difference between keeping the house and losing it.
The decisions inside a Chapter 13 case matter as much as the decision to file. Which of California’s two exemption systems you choose, how long your plan runs, which debts get paid in full and which get paid in part, and whether a second mortgage can be removed all shape what you pay and what you keep. The sections below walk through those choices in the order a real client faces them.
Why Encino Clients Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Chapter 13 Cases
Wadhwani & Shanfeld has helped more than 30,000 individuals and families resolve debt through bankruptcy, settlement, and negotiation, and the firm serves clients across Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County. The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy, certified through the American Board of Certification, with more than 90 years of combined legal experience across the team. When you call, you speak directly with an attorney from the first conversation, and cases can be handled entirely by phone, email, video, and online chat, including 100% virtual consultations, so a long workday in the Valley does not stand between you and getting help.
Raj Wadhwani, a Founding shareholder and Board-Certified Specialist in Consumer Bankruptcy, is a Southwestern Law School graduate who helped pilot the Best Case Bankruptcy software in 1998 and was the first attorney to file a bankruptcy case electronically in the Central District of California. Greg Shanfeld, also a Founding shareholder and Board-Certified Specialist in Consumer Bankruptcy, earned his law degree from the University of Southern California and has handled more than 10,000 bankruptcy cases over three decades. That depth matters in Chapter 13 because a plan lives or dies on details: the arrears calculation, the exemption election, the budget the trustee scrutinizes, and the timing against a scheduled foreclosure sale. The firm files in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California and acts quickly when a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away. Consultations are free.
Debt Situations That Point Toward a Chapter 13 Plan
- Mortgage Arrears Before a Foreclosure Sale: Chapter 13 lets you cure missed mortgage payments over the life of the plan while you resume regular payments, and the automatic stay halts a scheduled trustee’s sale the moment the case is filed. This is the most common reason Valley homeowners choose this chapter.
- Income Above the Chapter 7 Means Test: Many Encino households earn more than the California median for their size and cannot qualify for a straight discharge. Chapter 13 has no median-income cutoff to get in the door; your income instead shapes how large the payment is and how long the plan runs.
- Home Equity Beyond What Exemptions Protect: Encino property values can push equity past the exemption available in a Chapter 7 case, where a trustee could sell the home. In Chapter 13 you keep the property and pay creditors through the plan, at least what they would have received in a liquidation.
- Wholly Unsecured Second Mortgages: If your home is worth less than the balance on your first mortgage, a second mortgage or home equity line may be stripped off and treated as unsecured debt, which can be paid at a fraction or discharged at the end of the plan.
- Priority Tax Debt and Support Arrears: Recent income taxes and past-due support cannot be wiped out in Chapter 7, but a Chapter 13 plan can pay them over time, often without further interest and penalties accruing the way they would outside bankruptcy.
- Car Loans and Repossession Threats: A repossession notice under California law gives you a limited window, and a Chapter 13 filing can stop a repossession and restructure the loan so you keep the vehicle you need to get to work.
- Wage Garnishment From a Judgment: Once a creditor wins a judgment and starts taking a share of each paycheck, filing stops the garnishment through the automatic stay, and your plan payment replaces it on terms you can plan around.
- Self-Employed and Small Business Owners: Business owners with irregular income but a regular profit can use a plan to catch up on personal debts, taxes, and obligations they guaranteed, without closing the business.
What to Do in the First Days After You Decide to Explore Chapter 13
The first step is to gather what a bankruptcy attorney needs to see: your last two years of tax returns, recent pay stubs or profit-and-loss statements, mortgage and car loan statements showing how far behind you are, and every collection letter, lawsuit, or garnishment notice you have received. Put dates on them. If a foreclosure notice has been recorded, the timeline is fixed by statute. A sale date cannot be set earlier than three months and 20 days after the notice of default is recorded, the notice of sale must be mailed and posted at least 20 days before the sale, and your right to reinstate by paying the missed amounts runs until five business days before the sale. Knowing where you sit on that calendar tells us how much room we have to prepare a thoughtful plan rather than an emergency filing.
If a creditor has sued you, do not let the response deadline slip. An expired statute of limitations is a defense, but it only protects you if it is raised in a written answer; a court can still enter judgment against someone who ignores the summons. A written contract or credit account claim generally carries a four-year limit and an oral contract two years, and a payment on a time-barred debt does not revive it, though a signed written acknowledgment can. Because those questions affect whether filing is the right move at all, bring the paperwork to your consultation before you respond to the lawsuit.
Where you file is determined by your home address. Encino falls within the San Fernando Valley Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, which sits in Woodland Hills, and the court’s zip code locator confirms the division for a street address. Your case will be administered there, and you will attend a meeting of creditors with the trustee, so it helps to know that the process happens close to home. The most common mistakes we see are waiting until the week of the sale to call, continuing to pay unsecured creditors while falling behind on secured debt, transferring property to relatives, and relying on a non-attorney petition preparer who cannot choose exemptions or advise you when a trustee objects.
How a Chapter 13 Plan Is Built and What Decides Its Size
A Chapter 13 payment is not a number we pick; it is the result of several rules working together. Your plan must pay priority debts like recent taxes and support arrears in full, cure any arrears on a mortgage or car loan you want to keep, and give unsecured creditors at least as much as they would receive if your non-exempt assets were liquidated in Chapter 7. Your disposable income, calculated from your budget, determines the rest. If your income is above the California median for your household size, the plan generally runs five years; below it, three years is typically available.
The exemption election is where Encino homeowners should pay close attention. California does not allow the federal exemption scheme. Filers choose one of two state systems and must use that one for the entire case. One system carries a homestead exemption tied to local home prices, with a statutory floor and a ceiling that adjust periodically for inflation, which tends to favor homeowners with substantial equity. The other offers a smaller residence exemption plus a flexible wildcard that can be applied to any property, which often works better for renters or people with little home equity. To use California’s exemptions at all, you generally must have lived in the state for at least 730 days. Because the equity you protect directly raises or lowers what your plan must pay unsecured creditors, the election is a financial decision, not a formality.
Two limits are worth knowing. Chapter 13 will not discharge most student loans or support obligations through the plan the way it handles credit cards and medical bills, though it can structure payments toward them. And if you stop making plan payments, the case can be dismissed and creditors resume collection. Building a budget you can sustain for years, with room for ordinary surprises, is the single most important thing we do at the front end.
Questions Encino Residents Ask About Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Does filing Chapter 13 stop a foreclosure on my Encino home?
Yes. The automatic stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed and halts the sale. You then cure the missed payments through the plan while staying current on new payments. We can often prepare a filing quickly when a sale date is close.
How long does a Chapter 13 plan last?
Plans run three to five years. Households with income below the California median can usually choose a shorter plan; those above it generally commit to five years. The court must confirm the plan before creditors are bound by it.
What is the difference between Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 for someone who owns a home?
Chapter 7 can discharge unsecured debt quickly, but it does not help you catch up on a mortgage and risks a trustee selling a home with equity beyond the exemption. Chapter 13 lets you keep the home and repay arrears over time, and it has no median-income cutoff to qualify.
Will wage garnishment stop if I file?
Filing stops most garnishments through the automatic stay. Ordinary judgment garnishments in California are capped by formula, generally a portion of weekly disposable earnings, but a bankruptcy filing halts the garnishment altogether and replaces it with a plan payment you can budget for.
Can I get rid of my second mortgage in Chapter 13?
Sometimes. If the value of your home is less than the balance owed on your first mortgage, a second mortgage may be wholly unsecured and can be stripped off through the plan. This depends on a current valuation, so we review your numbers before promising any result.
Do I have to pay my credit card debt in full in a Chapter 13 plan?
Not usually. Unsecured creditors such as credit card issuers are paid whatever your budget and the liquidation-value test require, which is often only a portion, with the remaining balance discharged when you complete the plan.
What happens if a creditor already has a judgment against me?
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years and can be renewed, though recent changes limit renewal for certain medical and personal debt judgments. Filing stops enforcement through the stay, and depending on the type of lien, a judgment lien on your home may be addressed in the case.
Will my employer find out I filed?
Not automatically. An employer may learn if it is a creditor, if a garnishment must be stopped, or if plan payments are deducted from your pay. Your employer cannot lawfully fire you solely because you filed bankruptcy, and California law separately bars firing an employee over a single wage garnishment.
How soon can I file Chapter 13 after a previous bankruptcy?
Waiting periods apply: four years after a Chapter 7 filing, and two years between Chapter 13 filings. A discharge in Chapter 13 after a prior Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 can raise additional questions, so we confirm your dates before recommending a path.
Is Chapter 13 worth it if I only need to save my car?
It can be. Chapter 13 can stop a repossession and restructure the loan, and a repossessed vehicle carries its own deadlines, including a minimum of 15 days’ written notice before sale and limits on when a deficiency can be claimed. We compare those options against filing so the car is not the only factor driving the decision.
What if I miss a payment during my plan?
Tell us right away. A single missed payment is often fixable by modifying the plan or making it up, but repeated defaults can lead the trustee to seek dismissal. Keeping communication open protects the case.
Can I handle the process without coming into an office?
Yes. We handle cases fully by phone, email, video, and online chat, and virtual consultations are available, which suits Encino professionals working long hours.
Chapter 13 Representation Across Encino and the San Fernando Valley
Wadhwani & Shanfeld represents Chapter 13 clients from Encino across the San Fernando Valley, including Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, San Fernando, Sylmar, and Van Nuys. We also serve clients on the Westside and in Hollywood and Santa Monica, as well as in Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, and the Antelope Valley communities of Lancaster, Palmdale, and Acton.
Beyond the Valley, the firm works with homeowners and families throughout Los Angeles County, including Long Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Compton, Inglewood, Gardena, Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Cerritos, Cypress, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park. In the Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley, we serve Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Riverside, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, West Covina, and the Coachella Valley. In Orange County, we represent clients in Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, La Habra, Placentia, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel.
Talk With an Encino Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Today
If a mortgage default, a garnishment, or a lawsuit is pushing you toward a decision, speak with an Encino Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney at Wadhwani & Shanfeld before the next deadline arrives. Call for a free consultation and talk directly with an attorney about whether a repayment plan fits your income, your home, and your goals, or whether another route makes more sense. We will give you an honest answer and a plan you can actually carry out.
