Sylmar Bankruptcy Lawyer
Sylmar residents who are weighing whether to file for bankruptcy usually have a short list of questions: Will I keep my house? Will the garnishment stop? What happens to my car? Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles Chapter 7, Chapter 13, debt settlement, foreclosure defense, wage garnishment, creditor lawsuits, and IRS tax debt for families in Sylmar and across Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County.
If you are searching for a Sylmar bankruptcy lawyer, the answer to most of those questions depends on specifics: how much equity you have in your home, whether your paycheck is already being garnished, whether a creditor has sued you, and how your income compares to the California median for your household size. The sections below walk through how bankruptcy works for someone in Sylmar, which court your case would be filed in, and what to do first.
Sylmar sits in the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley, and the court that covers it is the San Fernando Valley Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. That matters because the division is assigned by your home zip code, and knowing it up front removes one of the small but real sources of confusion in filing.
Why Sylmar Clients Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Bankruptcy Help
The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification, Raj Wadhwani and Greg Shanfeld, who are the firm’s founding shareholders and partners. Together the firm’s attorneys bring more than 90 years of combined legal experience to consumer debt cases, and the team files in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, including the San Fernando Valley Division that handles Sylmar filings.
Board certification in consumer bankruptcy is held by a small fraction of attorneys, and it matters in a practical way. Choosing between California’s two exemption systems, deciding between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, and spotting a debt that will or will not survive discharge are judgment calls where an error can cost you property or your discharge. 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, so the mechanics of filing in this court are familiar ground.
Clients get direct access to an attorney from the very first call, not a handoff to an intake script. When a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is only days away, the firm moves fast. The first consultation is free, and you can handle your case entirely by phone, email, video, and online chat, with 100% virtual consultations available, which is helpful if work or childcare makes a daytime appointment hard. The firm also builds a plan around your income, your property, and your goals rather than pushing every client into the same filing. If bankruptcy is not the best answer, the attorneys will tell you so, since they also handle debt settlement, loan modification, IRS tax debt, second mortgage settlements, student loan strategies, and small business debt solutions.
Debt Situations That Bring Sylmar Residents to a Bankruptcy Attorney
- Credit Card and Medical Debt: Unsecured balances like these are the core of most Chapter 7 cases. When the balances have outgrown what your paycheck can cover, a Chapter 7 discharge can wipe them out, provided you pass the means test, which compares your income to the California median for your household size.
- Wage Garnishment: A garnishment on an ordinary judgment is capped at the lesser of 20% of your weekly disposable earnings or 40% of the amount your weekly disposable earnings exceed 48 times the minimum hourly wage. Filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 stops most garnishments the moment the case is filed.
- Bank Account Levies: A creditor with a judgment can levy your bank account. California automatically protects a set amount per judgment debtor, and the bank must apply that protection before handing money to the levying officer, but the protection does not cover wages owed to someone else, support debts, or debts owed to the state.
- Foreclosure and Missed Mortgage Payments: Chapter 13 lets you catch up on arrears over three to five years while keeping the home, and filing stops a scheduled sale. Some wholly unsecured second mortgages can be stripped off in Chapter 13.
- Car Repossession and Deficiency Balances: A lender that repossesses must send written notice before selling the vehicle, and any deficiency left after the sale can often be discharged in bankruptcy.
- Creditor Lawsuits and Judgments: Collection firms that sue Southern California consumers can obtain a judgment if you do not respond in writing. Bankruptcy halts the lawsuit and any enforcement of a judgment already entered.
- IRS Tax Debt: Some older income tax debt can be discharged if it meets the timing rules, and the firm also represents clients with the IRS to stop levies and arrange payment plans.
- Student Loans and Small Business Debt: Most student loans are not discharged in a standard filing, so the firm looks at strategies for them separately, and it handles small business bankruptcy and business debt solutions for owners whose personal and business debts have tangled together.
What to Do Right Now if Debt Collection Is Closing In
Start by gathering paper. Pull together every letter, summons, and notice you have received, along with recent pay stubs, a list of your debts, your most recent tax return, and anything related to your mortgage or car loan. If you have been served with a lawsuit, find the date you were served, because the deadline to respond in writing runs from that date. This matters more than most people realize: an expired deadline for the creditor to sue is a defense, but it only helps if you raise it in a written answer. If you ignore the suit, the court can still enter judgment against you.
Then call before the deadline, not after it. Whether to answer the lawsuit, negotiate, or file bankruptcy is a decision best made with an attorney who has seen the paperwork. Because the automatic stay takes effect the moment a petition is filed, a case can often be prepared and filed quickly to stop a garnishment, a bank levy, or a foreclosure sale. If your home is in foreclosure, know that California law lets you reinstate a monetary default up to five business days before the sale date, and the sale cannot happen earlier than three months and 20 days after the notice of default is recorded. A notice of sale must also be mailed and posted on the property at least 20 days before the sale. Those timelines give you more room than many people think, but they are not unlimited.
If your car has been repossessed, the lender must give at least 15 days of written notice before disposing of it, and on written request it must extend your redemption or reinstatement period by 10 days. A lender can pursue a deficiency only if it gave the required notice within 60 days of the repossession, so notices that arrive late or incomplete can be worth a closer look.
A few practical cautions. Do not make a payment on an old debt to “show good faith” before talking to a lawyer; a payment cannot revive a debt already barred by the statute of limitations, and only a signed written acknowledgment restarts the clock, but a payment can still muddy the picture. Do not move assets or pay back relatives right before filing, since the trustee can look at those transfers. And do not hand your paperwork to a bankruptcy petition preparer in place of a lawyer. A preparer can type your information into forms but cannot give legal advice, choose your exemptions, or stand up for you if a trustee or creditor raises a problem.
Your filing will go to the San Fernando Valley Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, which serves Sylmar along with neighboring communities like San Fernando, Mission Hills, Pacoima, and Granada Hills. The division is determined by your street address zip code, not a P.O. box. If you are sued by a creditor, the case would typically be heard in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which is divided into geographic districts, and your attorney will confirm the proper venue from the summons itself.
Keeping Your Home, Car, and Savings Under California Exemptions
Chapter 7 is sometimes called liquidation, but the vast majority of the firm’s clients keep everything they own, because California’s exemption laws protect most ordinary property. California has opted out of the federal exemption scheme, so filers choose one of two state systems for the entire case. One system carries a substantial homestead exemption for homeowners. The other is a more flexible system with a wildcard amount that often works better for renters or for people with little home equity. You cannot mix and match, so the choice is one of the most consequential decisions in the whole case.
For homeowners, the homestead exemption is tied to the median single-family home price in your county, with a statutory floor and a ceiling, and it adjusts each year for inflation. If your equity sits within that protection and you stay current on the mortgage, you generally keep the home in Chapter 7. If you have more equity than the exemption covers, or you are behind on payments, Chapter 13 is the usual route, since it lets you keep the property and pay down arrears over time. To use California’s exemptions at all, you must have lived in the state for at least 730 days before filing.
Vehicles, household goods, tools of the trade, and retirement accounts are also protected under California law, and the attorneys work through every available exemption before you file so nothing is left to chance. Because the dollar amounts are adjusted on a schedule, your attorney will apply the current figures to your particular assets rather than relying on a number you read online.
Sylmar Bankruptcy FAQs
How fast does bankruptcy stop a garnishment or lawsuit?
Immediately upon filing. The automatic stay goes into effect the moment the petition is filed, and creditors must stop collection activity, including lawsuits, wage garnishments, bank levies, repossessions, and foreclosure proceedings. In an emergency, the firm can often prepare and file a case very quickly.
Which debts can be wiped out in a Sylmar bankruptcy?
Most unsecured debts can be discharged, including credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, payday loans, and deficiency balances after a repossession or foreclosure. Some older income taxes can also be eliminated if they meet specific timing rules. Child support, alimony, most student loans, most government fines, and debts for injuries caused by drunk driving generally cannot be discharged.
Will I lose my house if I file?
Most of the firm’s clients keep their homes. In Chapter 7, the question is whether your equity is protected by California’s homestead exemption. If it is and you stay current on the mortgage, you keep the home. If your equity exceeds the exemption or you are behind on payments, Chapter 13 lets you keep the home and catch up over time.
Chapter 7 or Chapter 13: which is right for me?
Chapter 7 generally fits people with limited income who want to eliminate unsecured debt in roughly four months. Chapter 13 fits people with steady income who need time and structure, such as those behind on a mortgage or car loan, those above the means test limits, or those owing priority tax or support debts. Your income, expenses, property, and debts decide it, and the attorneys review all of them before recommending a path.
Can I file if I already filed bankruptcy before?
Yes, subject to waiting periods. You must wait 8 years between Chapter 7 filings, 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 Chapter 13 plan paid enough to unsecured creditors.
Will my employer find out?
Your employer is not automatically notified. They may learn of it if they are a creditor, if a garnishment has to stop, or if your Chapter 13 payments are deducted from your paycheck. California and federal law prohibit an employer from firing you solely because you filed for bankruptcy, and California’s Labor Code separately bars firing an employee over wage garnishment on a single judgment.
The debt collector says the debt is old. Can they still sue me?
It depends on the type of debt. A written contract debt generally carries a four-year limit to sue, and an oral contract debt carries two years. Credit card claims commonly fall under the four-year rule. If the deadline has passed, you still have to raise it in a written answer to the lawsuit, or the court can enter judgment anyway. A payment on a time-barred debt does not revive it, but a signed written acknowledgment can.
A creditor already has a judgment against me. How long can they collect?
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years from entry, and the creditor can file to renew it for another 10 years. For medical expense judgments with unpaid principal under $200,000 and personal debt judgments with unpaid principal under $50,000, renewal is limited to one time and only five years. Bankruptcy can also address many judgments directly.
What if a debt collector broke the rules while chasing me?
California’s Rosenthal Act covers original creditors as well as third-party collectors. If a collector acted willfully and knowingly, a court can award actual damages plus an additional amount of $100 to $1,000, and a prevailing consumer can recover reasonable attorney fees. The suit must be brought within one year, and a collector can avoid liability by correcting a curable violation within 15 days of discovering it or receiving written notice. If you are being harassed, tell your attorney so the conduct can be documented.
How long will bankruptcy stay on my credit report, and can I rebuild?
A Chapter 7 can remain on your credit report for up to 10 years from the filing date, and the bureaus typically remove a Chapter 13 after 7 years. The impact on your score fades well before then. Many clients see scores begin to recover within the first year by using a secured card responsibly, paying every bill on time, and keeping balances low, and depending on the loan type, buying a home can be possible within a few years of discharge.
Do I have to come into an office to file?
No. The firm handles cases fully by phone, email, video, and online chat for clients anywhere in Southern California, and offers 100% virtual consultations. If you would rather meet in person, you are welcome to arrange that.
Serving Sylmar and the Surrounding Communities
The firm’s bankruptcy work for Sylmar clients extends across the northeast San Fernando Valley and beyond. From Sylmar, the team represents families in neighboring San Fernando, Mission Hills, North Hills, Granada Hills, and Northridge, as well as Reseda, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Woodland Hills, and North Hollywood across the wider Valley. Clients also come from Hollywood, Santa Monica, and the Westside, and from Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale, Acton, and the rest of the Antelope Valley.
Beyond the Valley, Wadhwani & Shanfeld serves Los Angeles, Inglewood, Compton, Torrance, Long Beach, Lakewood, Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Gardena, Cerritos, Cypress, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park throughout Los Angeles County. In Orange County, the firm helps 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. The Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley are covered as well, including Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, West Covina, Riverside, and the Coachella Valley.
Talk With a Sylmar Bankruptcy Attorney Before the Next Deadline
You do not have to wait for a sale date or a court deadline to get answers. A Sylmar bankruptcy attorney at Wadhwani & Shanfeld can review 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. Call for a free consultation and speak directly with an attorney, in person or entirely by video or phone, whichever is easier for you.
If a garnishment, bank levy, repossession, or foreclosure sale is already on the calendar, say so when you call. The firm acts fast in those situations, and the sooner an attorney sees your paperwork, the more options you are likely to have.
