Pomona Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Lawyer
Pomona residents weighing a Chapter 7 filing are usually deciding between two things: keep fighting the collection calls, or end the debt through the court. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases for individuals and families across Los Angeles County, including Pomona, and throughout Southern California.
A Pomona Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer spends most of the first meeting on three questions. Do you pass the means test? Is everything you own protected by a California exemption? Which of your debts will actually be wiped out? Chapter 7 clears qualifying unsecured debt such as credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, payday loans, and deficiency balances left after a repossession. Most cases wrap up in about four months, and the vast majority of our clients keep everything they own.
The moment your petition is filed, an automatic stay stops lawsuits, bank levies, wage garnishments, repossessions, and foreclosure proceedings. For many people in Pomona, that stay is the real reason to call this week rather than next month.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Pomona
Wadhwani & Shanfeld has helped more than 30,000 individuals and families get out from under debt. 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. We represent clients across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, and we file in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.
Raj Wadhwani, founding shareholder and partner, is a Southwestern Law School graduate. He 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 kind of familiarity with the court’s filing systems matters when a sale date or garnishment is close and the petition has to be right the first time.
Greg Shanfeld, 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. In a Chapter 7, the decisions that carry the most weight, such as which exemption system to elect and how to treat a recent transfer or tax refund, come from that kind of repetition.
For clients, the practical differences are simple. You speak with an attorney from your first call. We act fast when a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away. Consultations are free, and we can handle your whole case by phone, email, video, and online chat, with 100% virtual consultations available. You get plain-English answers from the first meeting through discharge, and we will tell you if bankruptcy is not the right tool.
Debts and Situations That Lead Pomona Filers to Chapter 7
- Credit Card Balances: Revolving card debt is the most common reason for a Chapter 7 and discharges completely when it qualifies. Card issuers and the collection firms that buy their accounts are a frequent source of lawsuits in Los Angeles County.
- Medical Bills: An illness or injury can produce bills that outrun any realistic payment plan. These are unsecured debts and are generally dischargeable.
- Wage Garnishment: Once a creditor has a judgment, it can take a portion of each paycheck. Filing Chapter 7 stops most garnishments as soon as the case is filed.
- Creditor Lawsuits and Judgments: A summons from a collection firm does not close the door. Bankruptcy halts the suit, and in many situations it eliminates the underlying debt along with the judgment exposure.
- Personal and Payday Loans: High-rate loans that keep rolling over are unsecured debts that Chapter 7 can erase.
- Repossession Deficiencies: When a car is repossessed and sold for less than the loan balance, the leftover amount is an unsecured debt that can be discharged.
- Older Income Tax Debt: Some older income taxes can be eliminated if they meet specific timing rules. Newer tax debt and priority taxes usually point toward Chapter 13 or IRS representation instead.
- Small Business Debt: Owners whose business did not work out often carry personal liability for business debts, and Chapter 7 can address it.
What to Do Right Now If You Are Considering Chapter 7 in Pomona
Start by gathering paperwork: recent pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, a list of every creditor, and any summons, judgment, or collection letter you have received. Court papers matter most. If you were served with a lawsuit, the response deadline is short, and missing it can lead to a default judgment. Bring everything to your consultation, even the letters you have been afraid to open.
Do not repay one creditor, a friend, or a relative ahead of the others in the months before filing without talking to an attorney first. Do not run up new charges either. Both can create problems in the case. Likewise, do not move money or transfer property to protect it; a trustee reviews recent transfers, and honest planning is always safer than improvised planning.
Timing is the other thing to watch. If your wages are being garnished, a filing stops it. If a car repossession notice has arrived, the seller must give written notice of its intent to sell the vehicle, and you can ask for the redemption period to be extended. If a foreclosure is underway, the notice of default and notice of sale create a calendar we can work from. We move quickly when one of those dates is close.
Where you file depends on your home address. The debtor’s zip code determines the filing division of the Central District of California bankruptcy court, and the court’s locator confirms it. Chapter 7 hearings are usually brief, and most clients attend the creditors’ meeting by video or phone. You will also complete a credit counseling course before filing and a financial management course before discharge. If a creditor sued you in Pomona, the case likely sits at the Pomona Courthouse South of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and the automatic stay halts it once your petition is on file.
The Means Test and California Exemptions in a Chapter 7
Chapter 7 eligibility starts with the means test. Your household income is compared with the California median for a household of your size, and if you are above it, your actual expenses are taken into account. Filers who are over the line are not shut out automatically, and those who cannot pass may be better served by Chapter 13.
The second question is property. California does not use the federal exemptions. You pick one of two state systems, and you must use that single system for the entire case. One system offers a large homestead protection that is tied to local home prices, which often suits homeowners with equity. The other offers a flexible wildcard that tends to work better for renters or people with little home equity. Which one fits depends on your house, vehicles, bank accounts, tools of the trade, and retirement savings.
There is also a residency requirement. To use California’s exemptions, you generally must have lived in the state for at least 730 days before filing. Our attorneys run both systems against your actual assets before recommending one, because the wrong election can cost you property you would otherwise keep.
Wage Garnishment, Bank Levies, and What Chapter 7 Stops
An ordinary judgment garnishment is capped by statute: the lesser of 20 percent of weekly disposable earnings or 40 percent of the amount by which those earnings exceed 48 times the applicable minimum hourly wage. Biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly pay periods use 96, 104, and 208 times the minimum wage instead. If the local minimum wage is higher than the state’s, the local rate controls.
You can also ask the court to exempt earnings that are necessary to support you and your family. Your employer cannot fire you because wages are garnished for a single judgment. Still, a garnishment is a slow drain, and Chapter 7 ends most of them at the moment of filing.
Bank levies work differently. California protects a set amount in a deposit account automatically, and the bank must apply that protection without you filing a claim. It does not apply to levies for wages owed to someone else, child or spousal support, or debts owed to the state. Anything above the protected amount can be taken, which is why people often call us the day a levy hits.
Pomona Chapter 7 Questions, Answered
How do I know if I qualify for Chapter 7?
You pass the means test if your household income is at or below the California median for your household size, or if your allowable expenses leave too little to repay creditors. We run the numbers at your consultation and tell you plainly whether Chapter 7, Chapter 13, or a non-bankruptcy option fits.
Will I lose my house or car?
Most clients keep both. In Chapter 7, the question is whether your equity falls within California’s exemptions. If it does and you stay current on the loan, you keep the property. If you have more equity than the exemption covers or you are behind, Chapter 13 is often the better route.
How long does a Chapter 7 case take?
Most cases are completed in roughly four months from filing to discharge. Complications, such as a trustee objection or a disputed asset, can extend that.
What debts survive Chapter 7?
Child support, alimony, most student loans, most government fines, and debts for injuries caused by drunk driving generally cannot be discharged. Recent income taxes usually survive as well. Student loan strategies and IRS representation are separate paths we also handle.
Can I stop a wage garnishment before my case is finished?
Yes. The automatic stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed, and creditors must stop collection. In an emergency, we can often prepare and file quickly.
Can I file Chapter 7 if I filed before?
Possibly, subject to waiting periods. You must wait 8 years between Chapter 7 filings. After a Chapter 13, the wait for a Chapter 7 is generally 6 years, though it can be shortened if your plan paid enough to unsecured creditors.
A collector sued me over a very old debt. Does that matter?
It can. In California, written contract debt generally carries a four-year limitations period, and oral contract debt carries two years. But an expired deadline is a defense you must raise in a written answer; if you ignore the suit, the court can still enter judgment. A payment on a time-barred debt does not revive it, and only a signed written acknowledgment restarts the clock.
I already have a judgment against me. Is bankruptcy still worth it?
Often, yes. A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years and can be renewed. Chapter 7 can discharge the underlying debt and stop collection on it, including garnishment and levy, which beats waiting out a judgment that can follow you for a decade.
Do collectors have to follow rules before I file?
Yes. California’s Rosenthal Act covers original creditors as well as third-party collectors. A consumer can recover actual damages, a court can add an additional $100 to $1,000 for willful and knowing violations, and a prevailing consumer can recover attorney fees. Suits under the Act must be filed within one year, so document harassing calls and letters.
Will my employer find out I filed?
Not automatically. An employer might learn of it if it is a creditor or if it has been garnishing your wages and has to stop. California and federal law prohibit an employer from firing you solely because you filed.
Can a paralegal or document preparer handle my Chapter 7 instead?
A petition preparer can type your information into forms but cannot give legal advice, choose your exemptions, or represent you if a trustee or creditor raises a problem. Errors can cost you property or your discharge.
Serving Chapter 7 Clients Across Pomona and the Surrounding Region
We represent clients in Pomona and the eastern San Gabriel Valley communities around it, including Claremont, Glendora, West Covina, and Montclair. Just across the county line, we also help people in Chino, Chino Hills, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fontana, and San Bernardino, which are in San Bernardino County, as well as Riverside and the Coachella Valley in Riverside County.
Throughout Los Angeles County, our Chapter 7 work reaches Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Torrance, Inglewood, Compton, Gardena, Lakewood, Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Cerritos, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park. In the San Fernando Valley, we serve Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, Sylmar, San Fernando, and Santa Clarita, and in the Antelope Valley, Lancaster, Palmdale, and Acton.
In Orange County, we serve Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Fullerton, Buena Park, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, Westminster, and Mission Viejo. Because we can handle cases fully by phone, video, email, and online chat, you do not have to travel to work with us.
Talk With a Pomona Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney Today
If creditors are calling, a garnishment is eating your paycheck, or a lawsuit is waiting for an answer, a conversation with a Pomona Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney will tell you where you actually stand. Call Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a free consultation and speak directly with an attorney. We will look at your income, property, and debts, explain every option inside and outside of bankruptcy, and tell you honestly which path gives you the best fresh start.
