Inglewood Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer
A Chapter 13 case for an Inglewood homeowner is not a standalone event; it starts in the pile of notices that lands when a mortgage slips behind, and it ends only after three to five years of plan payments to a trustee. Inglewood sits in Los Angeles County, so these filings move through the Los Angeles Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, and the plan you propose has to hold up before a standing trustee and, if a lender objects, a judge. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 cases for individuals and families across Los Angeles County and Southern California.
If you are searching for an Inglewood Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer, you are probably in one of a few situations: a foreclosure sale is approaching, a car is about to be repossessed, your income is too high for Chapter 7, or you owe debts like back taxes or support that a Chapter 7 discharge would not touch. Chapter 13 is the chapter built for those problems. It lets you keep your property, catch up on what you missed over time, and pay only what your budget can carry. The sections below explain how that works in practice, what it protects, and what it asks of you.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Chapter 13 in Inglewood
Wadhwani & Shanfeld has helped more than 30,000 individuals and families resolve debt, and the firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification. Between its attorneys the firm carries more than 90 years of combined legal experience. For a Chapter 13 client, that depth matters because a repayment plan is a multi-year commitment: how it is drafted at the start decides whether you finish it.
Raj Wadhwani, a founding shareholder and partner, 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 partner, earned his law degree at the University of Southern California and has handled more than 10,000 bankruptcy cases over three decades. The firm files in every division of the Central District bankruptcy court, which means your case is handled by people who know that court’s procedures, not by an out-of-area filer learning them on your dime.
Clients speak directly with an attorney from the first call, and the firm can act fast when a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away. Consultations are free, and the firm offers 100% virtual consultations, with cases handled fully by phone, email, video, and online chat for clients anywhere in Southern California. The firm’s plans are built around your income, your property, and your goals rather than a one-size-fits-all filing, and the attorneys will tell you plainly if Chapter 7, debt settlement, or another route fits better than Chapter 13.
Debt Situations Where Chapter 13 Fits Best for Inglewood Filers
- Mortgage Arrears and Pending Foreclosure: If you have fallen behind on your home loan, Chapter 13 lets you cure the missed payments over the life of the plan while staying current going forward. The automatic stay halts a scheduled trustee’s sale the moment the case is filed.
- Car Loans Headed Toward Repossession: A plan can bring a delinquent auto loan current over time, and in some situations it can reduce what you pay on the vehicle. Filing stops a repossession in progress.
- Income Above the Chapter 7 Means Test: Households whose income exceeds the California median for their size may not qualify for Chapter 7. Chapter 13 has no such cap in the same way and is built for people with steady income.
- Priority Tax Debt and Support Arrears: Some tax debts and domestic support arrears cannot be wiped out in Chapter 7. A Chapter 13 plan lets you pay them off in installments, free of new collection pressure while the plan runs.
- Home Equity Beyond California’s Exemptions: A homeowner whose equity exceeds what the homestead exemption covers risks losing the excess in Chapter 7. In Chapter 13 you keep the home and instead commit to paying unsecured creditors at least what they would have received in a liquidation.
- Wholly Unsecured Second Mortgages: When your home is worth less than the first mortgage balance, a second mortgage may be stripped off and treated as unsecured debt within the plan, which can substantially lower your housing costs.
- Wage Garnishments and Judgment Liens: Filing stops most garnishments at once, and a plan can address judgment creditors rather than leaving them free to levy accounts and paychecks.
- Prior Bankruptcy Filings: Waiting periods between filings are different for each chapter, and Chapter 13 is sometimes available when Chapter 7 is not. The timing rules are specific enough that you should check them before assuming a door is closed.
What to Do Right Now If You Are Falling Behind in Inglewood
Start with the date on the most urgent paper you have received. In California, a foreclosure follows a fixed sequence. After a notice of default is recorded, a sale date cannot be set until roughly 90 days later, and the sale itself can occur no earlier than three months and 20 days after that recording. The notice of sale must be mailed by registered or certified mail and posted on the property at least 20 days before the auction. You also have a right to reinstate the loan by paying the missed amount up to five business days before the sale. If a sale is postponed by at least 10 business days, the lender must send written notice of the new date within five business days. Gather every one of these notices, because the dates on them tell an attorney how much room you have.
For repossession, California requires the lender to give at least 15 days’ written notice before disposing of a repossessed vehicle, extended to 20 days when the notice is mailed from or to an address outside California. You can ask in writing for a 10-day extension of the redemption period. A lender can pursue you for a deficiency only if it sent a proper notice within 60 days of the repossession, so keep every letter. If a creditor has already sued you, note your response deadline and bring the summons and complaint to your consultation. For many Inglewood residents, those suits are filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which has a courthouse in Inglewood itself.
Next, pull together the documents a Chapter 13 plan depends on: recent pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, your mortgage and auto loan statements, a list of every creditor, and a monthly budget that reflects your real spending. Because a plan must show you can make every payment, an accurate budget is the heart of the case. Avoid the common mistakes: do not transfer property to relatives, do not pay back favored creditors in a rush, and do not run up new charges before filing. Those moves can invite scrutiny from the trustee. Then call the firm. Your filing division is set by the zip code of your street address, and for Inglewood residents that is the Los Angeles Division, which sits in downtown Los Angeles. After filing, you will attend a meeting of creditors with the trustee, and your plan will be reviewed for confirmation by the court.
How a Chapter 13 Plan Is Built and What It Asks of You
A Chapter 13 plan lasts three to five years. The length depends largely on your income relative to the California median and on what you need to cure. Within the plan, debts fall into tiers. Priority debts such as certain taxes and support arrears must be paid in full. Secured arrears on your home or car are cured over the term. Everything else, including credit cards and medical bills, is lumped as unsecured debt and paid only to the extent your budget and the law require, which is often a fraction of what you owe. Whatever remains unpaid on qualifying unsecured debt is discharged when you finish.
Your exemptions shape the plan’s required payout. California has opted out of the federal exemption scheme, so you choose between two state systems for the whole case, and you must have lived in California long enough to use them. One system, built around the homestead exemption, favors homeowners with equity. The other, with a smaller residence figure but a flexible wildcard, often suits renters better. Because the choice locks in for the entire case, it is one of the first decisions the firm’s Board-Certified attorneys work through with you. Your plan must also pay unsecured creditors at least as much as they would have received had you filed Chapter 7, which is why exemptions and home equity drive the monthly number.
Once the court confirms the plan, creditors are bound by it, and the stay continues to protect you as long as you keep paying. Missing payments can lead the trustee to seek dismissal, so the plan has to be realistic from day one. If your circumstances change, such as a job loss or a medical event, a plan can sometimes be modified, which is why staying in touch with your attorney matters throughout the case.
Chapter 13 Questions Inglewood Residents Ask
How fast does Chapter 13 stop a foreclosure sale?
The automatic stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed with the court, and creditors must stop collection activity. When a sale is days away, the firm can often prepare and file quickly to halt it.
Can I keep my house in Chapter 13?
That is the main reason many homeowners choose it. You keep the property so long as you stay current on the mortgage going forward and pay the arrears through the plan. Chapter 13 also protects equity that might be exposed in Chapter 7.
How long does a Chapter 13 plan last?
Plans run three to five years. Your income compared with the California median and the size of your arrears or priority debts influence the length. You make one monthly payment to the trustee, who distributes it to creditors.
Will I pay back everything I owe?
Not necessarily. Priority debts and secured arrears must be paid through the plan, but many unsecured debts are paid only in part, and the balance is discharged at the end. The amount depends on your income, expenses, and the value of non-exempt property.
What is the difference between Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 for someone in Inglewood?
Chapter 7 wipes out qualifying unsecured debt in roughly four months but requires passing the means test and may expose non-exempt equity. Chapter 13 reorganizes debts into a three-to-five-year plan, works for higher incomes, and is far better at curing mortgage and car arrears. The attorneys compare both against your numbers before recommending one.
Does filing stop a wage garnishment?
Yes. The automatic stay stops most garnishments as soon as the case is filed. Outside bankruptcy, an ordinary judgment garnishment is capped by statute at the lesser of 20% of weekly disposable earnings or a formula tied to the minimum wage, and you can ask the court to exempt more if you prove it is needed to support your family. Filing is often faster and more complete relief than fighting each levy.
Can a creditor take money from my bank account while my case is pending?
Once you file, the stay bars new levies. Before filing, California automatically shields a set amount in a deposit account from a bank levy without your filing a claim, though that protection does not cover levies for wages owed to others, support, or debts owed to the state. The figure is adjusted periodically, so ask an attorney for the current amount.
What if a collector sued me over an old debt?
California generally gives collectors four years to sue on written contracts and two years on oral contracts. An expired deadline is a defense you must raise in a written answer, or the court can still enter judgment against you. A payment cannot revive a time-barred debt, and only a signed written acknowledgment can restart the clock. Bring any suit papers in right away.
Could a collector’s conduct give me a claim of my own?
Possibly. California’s Rosenthal Act covers original creditors as well as third-party collectors. A consumer can recover actual damages, and a court can add $100 to $1,000 if the collector acted willfully and knowingly, plus attorney fees to a prevailing consumer. The suit must be brought within one year, and a collector can avoid liability by curing a violation within 15 days of learning of it.
Will my employer find out, and can I be fired?
Your employer is not automatically told. They may learn if they are a creditor or if plan payments are deducted from your paycheck. California and federal law bar firing you solely because you filed, and state law separately protects you from being fired over a single wage garnishment.
Do I have to come to an office to file?
No. The firm handles cases entirely by phone, email, video, and online chat, and offers fully virtual consultations, so your case can be managed from home in Inglewood.
Serving Chapter 13 Clients Across Inglewood and Los Angeles County
Starting in Inglewood, Wadhwani & Shanfeld represents Chapter 13 clients throughout Los Angeles County, including neighbors in Compton, Gardena, Torrance, Long Beach, Lakewood, Paramount, Bellflower, Norwalk, Cerritos, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park. The firm also works with clients across Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, and the Westside, and throughout the San Fernando Valley in Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, San Fernando, and Sylmar.
Beyond Los Angeles County, the firm serves Orange County, including Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, La Habra, Placentia, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel. In the Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley, clients come from Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, West Covina, and Riverside County, including Riverside and the Coachella Valley. The firm also helps families in the Antelope Valley, including Lancaster, Palmdale, and Acton, and in Santa Clarita.
Talk With an Inglewood Chapter 13 Attorney Before Your Deadline Passes
If a sale date, repossession notice, or garnishment is bearing down, an Inglewood Chapter 13 attorney at Wadhwani & Shanfeld can review your income, property, and debts and tell you honestly whether a repayment plan, Chapter 7, or something outside of court gives you the strongest footing. Call for a free consultation and speak directly with an attorney, or schedule a virtual meeting that works with your day. The sooner the dates on your notices are in front of someone who handles these cases, the more options you keep.
