San Bernardino Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer
A foreclosure sale date on your house, a car payment you are three months behind on, and a paycheck that cannot stretch to cover both is the situation that sends most San Bernardino County homeowners looking into Chapter 13. San Bernardino Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer services at Wadhwani & Shanfeld are built for exactly that pressure: the firm handles Chapter 7, Chapter 13, debt settlement, foreclosure defense, wage garnishment, creditor lawsuits, and IRS tax debt for individuals and families across San Bernardino County and the rest of Southern California.
Chapter 13 is not a wipeout. It is a court-supervised repayment plan, usually running three to five years, that lets you keep your property while you catch up. Creditors are bound by the plan once the bankruptcy judge confirms it, and the moment your petition is filed, the automatic stay freezes foreclosure, repossession, lawsuits, and most garnishments.
Where this goes wrong is usually timing. People wait until the week of a sale. A Chapter 13 can still work then, but you have far more options if you call earlier.
How a Chapter 13 Case Moves From Filing to Discharge
The case starts with a petition and a proposed repayment plan. Your income, expenses, property, and debts are laid out in detail, and the plan states what you will pay each month and to whom. Payments are typically made to a Chapter 13 trustee, who distributes the money to creditors.
Within a few weeks, you attend a meeting of creditors, a short session where the trustee asks about your paperwork. Creditors rarely show up. Then comes a confirmation hearing, where the judge decides whether the plan is feasible and fair under the Bankruptcy Code. If the trustee or a lender objects, the plan is adjusted and the case moves on.
After confirmation, the work is steady, not dramatic. You make plan payments on time, stay current on new mortgage payments and taxes, and report major changes in income. When the plan term ends and you have completed it, the court enters a discharge of the remaining eligible debt.
San Bernardino County cases are filed in the Riverside Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. That division covers both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, so your hearings and filings run through that court. The division is assigned by your street address zip code, not a P.O. box, which is one of several details that must be right at filing.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Chapter 13 in San Bernardino County
The firm serves clients across San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and handles cases in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, including the Riverside Division where San Bernardino County cases land.
The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification: founding shareholder Raj Wadhwani and founding shareholder Greg Shanfeld. Together with their team, they bring more than 90 years of combined legal experience. Greg Shanfeld, a University of Southern California law graduate, has handled more than 10,000 bankruptcy cases over three decades. Raj Wadhwani, a Southwestern Law School graduate, 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 experience matters in Chapter 13 because the case lasts years and turns on details: how a plan payment is calculated, how arrears on a mortgage are treated, whether a second mortgage can be stripped, which California exemption system protects your equity. A Chapter 13 attorney who has seen these questions thousands of times spots problems before the trustee does.
You also get direct access to an attorney from your first call, a free consultation, and fast action when a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away. Clients can handle everything remotely by phone, email, video, and online chat, with 100% virtual consultations available, so a long drive across the Inland Empire is never required.
Situations That Lead San Bernardino Residents to File Chapter 13
- Mortgage Arrears and Foreclosure: You have missed payments and received a notice of default. Chapter 13 lets you cure the arrears over the life of the plan while you resume regular payments, and filing stops a scheduled trustee’s sale.
- Income Above the Chapter 7 Means Test: Your household income exceeds the California median for your household size, so Chapter 7 is not available. Chapter 13 is the path to restructure debt based on what you can actually pay.
- Car Loans and Repossession Risk: You are behind on a vehicle you need to commute across the Inland Empire. A plan can catch up missed payments and stop repossession, and in some cases reduce what is paid toward the loan.
- Back Taxes and Priority Debt: Income tax debt that is too recent to discharge, and support arrears, must be paid in full, but a Chapter 13 plan spreads that payment over time without collection pressure.
- Wage Garnishment: A creditor judgment is taking a share of your paycheck. Filing stops most garnishments through the automatic stay, and the plan replaces the garnishment with a single manageable payment.
- Home Equity Above the Exemption: If your equity exceeds what California’s homestead exemption protects, Chapter 7 might put the home at risk. Chapter 13 lets you keep it while paying creditors the value they would have received.
- Wholly Unsecured Second Mortgages: When your home is worth less than the first mortgage balance, a second mortgage can sometimes be stripped off and treated as unsecured debt in the plan.
- Creditor Lawsuits and Judgments: You have been sued or a judgment has been entered. Chapter 13 halts the case and can address the judgment within the plan.
What to Do Right Now if You Are Considering Chapter 13
Start by pulling together your paperwork: recent pay stubs, your last couple of tax returns, mortgage and car loan statements, any foreclosure notices, and every letter or summons from a creditor. If you have been served with a lawsuit, note the date; your response deadline does not pause on its own.
If a foreclosure is in motion, the dates matter. Under California law, a sale cannot be set until about 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. A borrower can reinstate a monetary default up to five business days before the sale. Once you are inside that final window, filing a bankruptcy petition is often the cleanest way to stop the sale, and the firm can move quickly when a sale date is close.
For a car facing repossession, a lender must send at least 15 days’ written notice before disposing of a repossessed vehicle, extended to 20 days if the notice is mailed from or to an address outside California. On written request, the redemption period is extended by 10 days. A Chapter 13 filing can stop the sale and let you catch up.
Be careful with your exemption choice. California does not use the federal exemptions. You must choose one of two state systems for the entire case, and you generally need to have lived in California for at least 730 days to use them. One system carries a large homestead protection that is adjusted annually and is typically better for homeowners; the other has a flexible wildcard that tends to suit renters. Choosing wrong can expose equity you meant to keep.
Avoid the common mistakes: ignoring a lawsuit, paying one creditor heavily right before filing, moving money around, or letting a non-attorney preparer file for you. Preparers cannot give legal advice or defend you if a trustee objects. Then call and speak with an attorney about whether Chapter 13, Chapter 7, or a non-bankruptcy route makes the most sense.
Chapter 13 Compared With Chapter 7 and Other Routes
Chapter 7 wipes out qualifying unsecured debt in roughly four months, but you must pass the means test, and it does not help you catch up on a mortgage. Chapter 13 takes three to five years, but it is the tool built for keeping a home or car you are behind on and for handling debts Chapter 7 cannot touch.
Sometimes neither is right. Debt settlement, loan modification, IRS payment arrangements, and negotiation with a creditor can solve certain problems without a bankruptcy filing. Because the firm handles both bankruptcy and its alternatives, the recommendation follows your facts, not the only service on offer.
Another point many people miss is the age of the debt and the life of a judgment. In California, a written contract claim generally has a four-year limitations period and an oral contract claim two years, but expiration is a defense you must raise in a written answer, or the court can still enter judgment against you. A money judgment is enforceable for 10 years and can be renewed, subject to limits for certain medical and personal debt judgments. These timelines can change the strategy, which is why a lawsuit should be reviewed before you respond.
San Bernardino Chapter 13 Questions Answered
How long does a Chapter 13 case last?
A plan runs three to five years. The length depends on your income relative to the California median and on how much you need to pay to cure arrears and satisfy priority debts. You can sometimes finish early if you pay off the required amount.
Will I keep my house in Chapter 13?
Most filers do, provided they make the ongoing mortgage payments and the plan payment. The plan lets you cure missed payments over time, and the automatic stay stops the foreclosure sale as soon as the case is filed.
How much will I pay each month?
The payment is built from your disposable income, the arrears you must cure, priority debts such as certain taxes, and what unsecured creditors must receive based on your non-exempt property. It is calculated for your circumstances, not set by a formula you can guess in advance.
Can Chapter 13 stop a wage garnishment?
Yes. Filing triggers the automatic stay, which stops most garnishments immediately. Your employer is told to stop withholding, and the debt is then handled through the plan.
Which court will my case be in?
San Bernardino County cases are heard in the Riverside Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. The division is determined by your street address zip code.
Can I still file if I recently went through a prior bankruptcy?
Possibly, subject to waiting periods. You generally must wait 4 years to file Chapter 13 after a Chapter 7, 2 years between Chapter 13 filings, and generally 6 years to file Chapter 7 after a Chapter 13, though that last period can be shortened if your plan paid enough to unsecured creditors.
What happens if I miss plan payments?
The trustee may ask the court to dismiss your case, which ends the automatic stay protection. If you feel a payment slipping, tell your attorney early; plans can sometimes be modified for a job loss or medical event rather than dismissed.
Can Chapter 13 remove a second mortgage?
In some cases, yes. If your home’s value is less than the balance on the first mortgage, leaving the second mortgage wholly unsecured, it can be stripped off and treated like other unsecured debt in the plan. Whether it applies depends on current valuations and your lender.
Will my employer find out I filed?
Not automatically. They may learn if they are a creditor, if a garnishment must stop, or if plan payments are deducted from your paycheck. California and federal law bar an employer from firing you solely because you filed for bankruptcy, and California law also bars firing over a garnishment tied to a single judgment.
Can I use a bankruptcy petition preparer instead of a lawyer?
A preparer can type information into forms but cannot advise you, choose exemptions, or represent you before the trustee or judge. In a multi-year Chapter 13, errors can cost you property or your discharge, so attorney representation matters.
Do I have to come in to the office to start?
No. The firm handles cases fully by phone, email, video, and online chat, and offers 100% virtual consultations, which is practical for anyone in the High Desert, the mountain communities, or the far ends of the Inland Empire.
Serving San Bernardino Chapter 13 Clients Across the Inland Empire and Beyond
Wadhwani & Shanfeld represents clients from the city of San Bernardino itself through the surrounding Inland Empire, including Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Ontario, Chino, Chino Hills, and Montclair. Clients in the eastern San Gabriel Valley communities of Pomona, Claremont, Glendora, and West Covina are served as well.
The firm’s work extends into neighboring Riverside County, including the city of Riverside and the Coachella Valley, and into Los Angeles County, from Long Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Compton, and Inglewood to the San Fernando Valley communities of Van Nuys, Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, and North Hollywood, and out to Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale, and the Antelope Valley. In Orange County, clients come from Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, and Mission Viejo. Wherever you live in these areas, the process is the same: a direct conversation with an attorney about whether a repayment plan can protect your home, your car, and your paycheck.
Talk to a San Bernardino Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Today
If a foreclosure date, a repossession notice, or a garnishment is closing in, the sooner you speak with a San Bernardino Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney, the more options you keep. Call Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a free consultation, speak directly with an attorney, and get an honest answer about whether Chapter 13, Chapter 7, or a solution outside of court gives you the best path forward.
You can meet by phone or video from home and handle your entire case remotely. One call can tell you whether a repayment plan is the tool you need.
