Northridge Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer
Wadhwani & Shanfeld helps Northridge homeowners, car owners, and wage earners get current on what they owe and keep what they have, handling Chapter 13, Chapter 7, debt settlement, foreclosure defense, and wage garnishment for clients across Los Angeles County and the rest of Southern California. For many people in the San Fernando Valley, a Northridge Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer is the right call when the problem is not that the debt can never be paid, but that it cannot be paid on the creditors’ timetable.
Chapter 13 works by replacing a pile of competing demands with one court-approved repayment plan, usually stretched over three to five years. Missed mortgage payments, a car loan in default, back taxes, and credit card balances are folded into a single monthly payment sized to your actual income. Once the court confirms the plan, creditors are bound by it, and the automatic stay that arrives the moment you file stops foreclosure sales, garnishments, bank levies, and collection lawsuits while you work through the plan.
Northridge cases are filed in the San Fernando Valley Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, which serves Northridge along with neighboring communities such as Reseda, Granada Hills, Chatsworth, and Van Nuys. Which division hears a case is determined by the street address where you live, so it is worth confirming before anything is filed.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a Chapter 13 Case
The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy, certified through the American Board of Certification, and the team carries more than 90 years of combined legal experience. Clients in Northridge and throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties get direct access to an attorney from the very first call, and cases can be handled entirely by phone, email, video, and online chat, with 100% virtual consultations available. The first consultation is free.
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. That familiarity with the court’s filing systems matters in Chapter 13, where a case is a multi-year process of plan drafting, trustee review, and confirmation rather than a single filing. Greg Shanfeld, also a founding shareholder and partner, earned his law degree from 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, so your case does not depend on which courthouse your address assigns it to.
Chapter 13 plans live or die on the numbers: how much you can realistically pay, what the plan must cover by law, and how your property is protected. The firm builds each plan around your income, your property, and your goals, and it will tell you plainly if Chapter 7 or a settlement outside of court would serve you better. When a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away, the firm acts quickly to get the case on file.
Situations Where Chapter 13 Fits a Northridge Household
- Behind on the mortgage: Chapter 13 lets you cure missed payments over the life of the plan while staying current going forward, which is often the only way to keep a home once a notice of default has been recorded.
- A scheduled foreclosure sale: In California, a sale cannot be set earlier than three months and 20 days after the notice of default is recorded, and a monetary default can be reinstated until five business days before the sale. Filing Chapter 13 triggers the automatic stay and halts the sale, often when time is shortest.
- Income above the Chapter 7 means test: If your household income is too high to qualify for Chapter 7 after comparing it to the California median for your household size, Chapter 13 is the lawful route to reorganize debt.
- Home equity beyond the exemption: Many Valley homeowners hold more equity than California’s homestead exemption protects. In Chapter 7 that equity could be at risk; in Chapter 13 you keep the property and pay creditors the value of the unprotected portion over time.
- Priority debts Chapter 7 cannot erase: Recent income tax debt, child support arrears, and similar obligations survive a Chapter 7 discharge but can be repaid in full through a Chapter 13 plan, usually without added interest or penalties accruing.
- Car loan default or repossession: A plan can bring a delinquent auto loan current and stop a repossession before it happens, a useful option for commuters who cannot function without a vehicle.
- A wholly unsecured second mortgage: If your home is worth less than the balance on the first mortgage, Chapter 13 can in some cases remove the second mortgage lien so it is treated as unsecured debt.
- Wage garnishment from a judgment: A creditor who has won a judgment can take a portion of each paycheck. Filing stops that garnishment on filing, and the debt is handled inside the plan.
What to Do Right Now If You Are Considering Chapter 13
Start by sorting out what is urgent. A foreclosure sale date, a pending repossession, a wage garnishment order, or a court deadline to answer a creditor’s lawsuit all run on clocks that do not pause for deliberation. If you have been sued, the response deadline is the first date to protect, because a creditor can obtain judgment simply because no answer was filed. Bring every notice, summons, and letter to your first conversation with an attorney.
Next, gather the paperwork a Chapter 13 plan depends on: recent pay stubs, your last couple of years of tax returns, bank statements, your mortgage and car loan statements, a list of every creditor with approximate balances, and records of any property you own. Chapter 13 requires you to show regular income and a budget, so the more accurately you document monthly expenses, the more realistic and sustainable the plan will be. A plan built on optimistic guesses is the most common reason Chapter 13 cases fail partway through.
Do not pay one creditor in a rush to protect it, and do not transfer property to a relative to put it out of reach; both can create problems in a bankruptcy. Also avoid running up new credit card balances, since recent charges can be challenged. Hold off on any decision to hire a petition preparer or notary to file for you, because they cannot give legal advice, choose your exemptions, or represent you if the trustee or a creditor objects.
After you file, you attend a meeting of creditors, typically by phone or video, where the trustee asks about your finances. Your plan is then reviewed and brought to the court for confirmation. From the date of filing, your plan payment goes to the trustee each month, and keeping those payments on time is what carries you through to discharge. Northridge filers are assigned to the San Fernando Valley Division, though the firm can confirm the right division from your zip code.
Chapter 13 Plan Mechanics: Length, Payments, and Property Protection
The plan’s length is tied to your income. Filers above the median for their household size generally commit to a five-year plan, while those below it can often propose three years, extending to five when needed to cure arrears. Your monthly payment is built from several required layers: what you owe on secured debts you want to keep, priority claims paid in full, and a payment to unsecured creditors that must be at least what they would have received had you filed Chapter 7. That last rule, the liquidation test, is why your property values and exemptions drive the plan’s size.
California does not use the federal exemption list. Instead, a filer chooses one of two state systems and must stay with it for the entire case: the standard system under CCP section 704, which includes a homestead exemption that depends on county median home prices, or the alternative system under section 703.140(b), which offers a smaller residence exemption but a flexible wildcard that tends to suit renters and people with little home equity. You must also have lived in California for at least 730 days to use California’s exemptions. Choosing between the systems is among the most consequential decisions in a case, because it determines how much unprotected value your plan must pay creditors.
Chapter 13 is not a guarantee of completion. If income drops, the plan can sometimes be modified, but missed trustee payments can lead to dismissal, which lifts the stay. That is why the budget at the outset has to hold up through job changes and ordinary expense swings, and why a realistic conversation about the numbers before filing matters more than speed alone.
Northridge Chapter 13 Questions Answered
How long does a Chapter 13 case last?
Plans run three to five years. The length depends on your income relative to the California median for your household size and on how long it takes to cure arrears and pay required claims. You receive a discharge of remaining qualifying debt after completing the plan.
Will I lose my house if I file Chapter 13?
Chapter 13 is designed to let you keep it. You must stay current on ongoing mortgage payments while the plan cures missed ones, and the plan must pay creditors at least the value of any equity beyond what California’s exemptions protect.
Can Chapter 13 stop a foreclosure sale that is already scheduled?
Yes. The automatic stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed and halts the sale. In California, a monetary default can be reinstated until five business days before the sale date, so filing before that window closes preserves more options. If the sale date is days away, call right away.
What is the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13?
Chapter 7 wipes out qualifying unsecured debt in roughly four months and is limited by the means test. Chapter 13 reorganizes debt into a multi-year plan, has no income cap in the same way, and lets you catch up on secured debts and pay priority claims. The right choice depends on your income, property, and which debts you need to handle.
Which debts does Chapter 13 handle that Chapter 7 cannot?
Priority tax debt, support arrears, and mortgage or car loan arrears can all be repaid through a plan. Chapter 7 cannot cure arrears on property you want to keep, which is a central reason people choose Chapter 13.
Will my employer find out I filed?
Not automatically. They may learn if they are a creditor, if a garnishment has to stop, or if your plan payments are deducted from your paycheck. California and federal law prohibit an employer from firing you solely because you filed.
How long does Chapter 13 stay on my credit report?
Credit bureaus typically remove a Chapter 13 after 7 years, compared with up to 10 years for Chapter 7. The effect on your score fades well before removal, especially as you pay on time during the plan.
Can I file Chapter 13 if I recently received a Chapter 7 discharge?
Yes, subject to waiting periods. You generally must wait 4 years to file Chapter 13 after a Chapter 7 case, and 2 years between Chapter 13 filings. If you filed Chapter 13 before, the wait to file Chapter 7 is generally 6 years, which can be shortened if your earlier plan paid enough to unsecured creditors.
What happens to a judgment a creditor already won against me?
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years and can be renewed, which means a garnishment or bank levy can continue for years. Filing Chapter 13 stops enforcement on filing, and the judgment debt is handled within your plan. Wage garnishment on a judgment is capped by statute, but bankruptcy is what halts it entirely.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer instead of using a paralegal or document service?
A petition preparer can enter information on forms but cannot advise you, pick exemptions, or stand up for you if the trustee objects. Chapter 13 involves plan design, exemption choices, and multi-year trustee oversight, where an error can cost you property or the case itself.
Do I have to come into an office to file?
No. The firm handles cases by phone, email, video, and online chat for clients anywhere in Southern California, and consultations can be done virtually.
Serving Northridge and the Surrounding Communities
The firm represents Chapter 13 clients from Northridge and across the San Fernando Valley, including Granada Hills, North Hills, Mission Hills, Reseda, Encino, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, North Hollywood, San Fernando, Sylmar, and Hollywood. Clients also come from the Westside and Santa Monica, and from Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale, Acton, and the wider Antelope Valley.
Across Los Angeles County the firm also serves Long Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Compton, Inglewood, Gardena, Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Cerritos, and Huntington Park. In the Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley, it works with clients in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, West Covina, and Riverside, as well as the Coachella Valley. In Orange County, clients come from 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 a Northridge Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Today
If a foreclosure notice, a garnishment, or a repossession is pushing you toward a decision, speak with a Northridge Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney at Wadhwani & Shanfeld before the next deadline arrives. The consultation is free, you reach an attorney directly, and you can handle the entire process by phone or video. Call today to find out whether a repayment plan, Chapter 7, or a settlement outside of court gives you the strongest path forward.
