Upland Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer
Chapter 13 is not a smaller version of Chapter 7, and it does not mean you are giving up. It is a court-supervised repayment plan that lets you keep your house, your car, and your paycheck while you catch up on what you owe over three to five years. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles Chapter 13 filings for homeowners and wage earners in Upland and across San Bernardino County, along with Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties. If you are searching for an Upland Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer, the odds are good that something specific is pressing on you: a missed mortgage payment, a foreclosure notice, a garnishment, or an income that is too high to qualify for Chapter 7.
The reason Chapter 13 exists is that some debts cannot simply be wiped away, and some people have too much to lose in a liquidation. A plan lets you pay arrears on a mortgage or car loan over time, pay priority debts like certain taxes in full without penalty interest piling up, and pay only what you can afford toward credit cards and other unsecured balances. Creditors are bound by the plan once the bankruptcy court confirms it, which is why the collection calls, lawsuits, and levies stop and stay stopped.
For Upland residents, this often means a house that has held its value over the years and equity worth protecting. That is exactly the situation where Chapter 13 earns its keep, because it lets you keep property that might be at risk in a different kind of filing, and it gives you a structured way back to being current.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Chapter 13 in Upland
The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification, with more than 90 years of combined legal experience across the practice. Clients get direct access to an attorney from the first call, a free consultation, and the option to handle the entire case by phone, email, video, or online chat, including 100% virtual consultations.
Raj Wadhwani, 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, 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. That depth matters in Chapter 13 in particular, because a plan is built from a lot of moving parts: your income, your arrears, your equity, your tax debts, and what the trustee and your creditors will accept. The firm files in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California and acts fast when a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is only days away.
The attorneys also handle Chapter 7, debt settlement, loan modification, second mortgage settlements, IRS tax debt, student loan debt, and small business bankruptcy. That breadth means the recommendation you get is about what fits your situation, and if Chapter 13 is not the right tool, you will hear that plainly.
Situations That Point Toward a Chapter 13 Filing
- Mortgage Arrears and Foreclosure: If you have fallen behind and received a notice of default, Chapter 13 lets you spread the missed payments over the life of the plan while you keep making the regular payment going forward. The automatic stay halts a scheduled sale the moment the case is filed.
- Income Above the Chapter 7 Means Test: The means test compares your household income to the California median for your household size. If you earn too much to qualify, Chapter 13 is often the route that still gets you relief.
- Car Loans and Repossession Risk: A plan can bring a past-due auto loan current over time, and in some cases restructure the loan terms, so the vehicle you need to get to work stays in your driveway.
- Priority Tax Debt: Recent income taxes and similar priority claims generally cannot be discharged in Chapter 7. In Chapter 13 they are paid through the plan, and the IRS is bound by the schedule.
- 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.
- Home Equity Beyond the Exemption: If you have more equity than California’s exemptions cover, Chapter 7 can put that equity at risk. Chapter 13 lets you keep the property and pay creditors the value you would otherwise have lost.
- Child Support and Alimony Arrears: These obligations survive bankruptcy, but a plan gives you a court-approved way to catch up on them over time.
- Wage Garnishments and Judgments: Filing stops most garnishments and levies immediately, and a plan can address the underlying judgment debt in an organized way.
What to Do Now If You Are Considering Chapter 13 in Upland
Start with the dates on your paperwork, because they decide how much room you have. If you have received a notice of default on your mortgage, California law sets a minimum timeline before a sale can happen: the sale date cannot be earlier than three months and 20 days after the notice of default is recorded, and the notice of sale must be mailed and posted at least 20 days before the sale. You can reinstate a monetary default until five business days before the sale date. If a sale is postponed by at least 10 business days, the lender must give you written notice of the new date within five business days. Bring every one of these notices to your first conversation with an attorney, because the sale date tells us how fast we need to move.
If a car has been repossessed, the lender must give written notice of its plan to sell at least 15 days ahead, and you can request in writing an extension of the redemption period by 10 days. A deficiency claim is only proper if the notice went out within 60 days of repossession and contained the required content, which is something we look at closely. If a creditor has sued you, do not let the response deadline pass. If you are being garnished, collect your recent pay stubs and the court paperwork showing the judgment, since the garnishment can be stopped by filing and the paperwork tells us what we are dealing with.
Gather your last several months of income records, your tax returns, your mortgage and car loan statements, a list of every creditor with approximate balances, and anything showing the value of your home. The attorney will use these to run the means test, calculate what your plan payment would look like, and decide which of California’s two exemption systems protects your property better. You must pick one system for the entire case, and you must have lived in California for at least 730 days to use them.
Your case is filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. For debtors in San Bernardino County, that is the Riverside Division, and the division is determined by the zip code of your street address, not a P.O. box. After filing, you attend a meeting of creditors with the trustee, your plan goes to the court for confirmation, and you begin making plan payments, often through payroll deduction. Missing payments or failing to stay current on new mortgage installments is how plans fail, so we build a plan around what you can sustain, not what looks best on paper.
One mistake to avoid is waiting until the sale date is days away. A case can be prepared quickly in an emergency, but early filing gives us more options and a cleaner plan. Another is paying a petition preparer or notary to type up your forms. They cannot give legal advice, choose your exemptions, or represent you if the trustee or a creditor raises a problem, and errors can cost you property or your discharge.
How California Exemptions Shape a Chapter 13 Plan
In Chapter 13 you keep your property, but the value of what you own still shapes your plan. Under the best-interest test, unsecured creditors must receive at least as much through the plan as they would have received if your non-exempt assets had been sold in a Chapter 7 liquidation. That means the amount of equity California’s exemptions protect directly affects how much your plan has to pay.
California has opted out of the federal exemption scheme, so filers choose between two state systems. The first, found in the Code of Civil Procedure at section 704, includes a homestead exemption that is the greater of a statutory floor or the prior-year countywide median single-family home price, up to a ceiling. Those figures adjust annually for inflation. The second, under section 703.140(b), has smaller specific allowances for a residence and vehicle plus a wildcard that can be applied to any property, and those amounts adjust every three years. For a long-time Upland homeowner, the homestead system often protects more. For someone with little home equity but other assets to shield, the wildcard system can work better. Getting this choice right can lower your plan payment and protect more of what you own.
Chapter 13 also differs from Chapter 7 in how long it takes and what it asks of you. Plans run three to five years, and your payment is based on your disposable income. Prior filings affect timing: the waiting period to file Chapter 13 after a Chapter 7 discharge is four years, two years between Chapter 13 filings, and generally six years to file Chapter 7 after a Chapter 13, though that last period can be shortened if your plan paid enough to unsecured creditors.
Chapter 13 Questions Upland Residents Ask
How does Chapter 13 stop a foreclosure?
The automatic stay takes effect the moment your petition is filed, which halts the foreclosure sale. Your missed payments are then folded into the plan and paid over three to five years while you stay current on new payments. If you miss plan payments or fall behind again, the lender can ask the court for relief, so the plan has to be realistic.
Do I qualify for Chapter 13 if I make too much for Chapter 7?
Often yes. Chapter 7 uses the means test, which compares your income to the California median for your household size. Chapter 13 does not have that income cutoff, though you need steady income to fund a plan and your debts must fall within the limits the law allows.
Will I lose my house or car in Chapter 13?
That is the main reason people choose it. You keep your property and use the plan to cure arrears. The plan has to pay unsecured creditors at least what they would have received in a liquidation, which is where your exemptions come into play.
How long does Chapter 13 take?
Plans run three to five years. The length depends on your income, the size of your arrears, and what must be paid to priority creditors. After you complete the plan, remaining qualifying debt is discharged.
How long does a Chapter 13 stay on my credit report?
The credit bureaus typically remove a Chapter 13 after seven years. Its effect on your score fades before then, especially if you rebuild with on-time payments and low balances.
What happens to my wage garnishment?
Filing stops most garnishments through the automatic stay. Ordinary judgment garnishments are capped at the lesser of 20 percent of weekly disposable earnings or 40 percent of the amount by which those earnings exceed 48 times the minimum hourly wage. If garnishment has already begun, we can usually stop it quickly by filing.
Can my employer fire me for filing?
No. California and federal law prohibit an employer from firing you solely because you filed for bankruptcy. Your employer is not automatically notified, though they may learn of it if plan payments are deducted from your paycheck or if they are a creditor.
Can Chapter 13 deal with a lawsuit from a collector?
Yes. Once the case is filed, the stay halts lawsuits and judgments. If the debt is old, the statute of limitations may also be a defense. Written contract debt generally carries a four-year limit and oral contract debt two years, but that defense has to be raised in a written answer, and a payment cannot revive a debt that is already time-barred.
What if a judgment against me is already entered?
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years and can be renewed, though limits apply to renewal of certain personal debt and medical judgments. A plan can address the judgment debt, and filing stops levies and garnishments while it does.
Can I file Chapter 13 if my bank account was levied?
Yes, and the stay stops further levies. California also protects a baseline amount in a deposit account automatically without a claim of exemption, though that protection does not apply to levies for wages owed to another, support, or debts owed to the state.
Do I have to come to an office to file?
No. We handle cases fully by phone, email, video, and online chat, and 100% virtual consultations are available.
Will a creditor be able to sue me under collection laws while I’m in the plan?
Not for the debts covered by the plan. If a collector keeps contacting you, California’s Rosenthal Act gives you remedies against both original creditors and third-party collectors, including actual damages, an additional $100 to $1,000 for willful and knowing violations, and attorney fees, but suit must be brought within one year.
Serving Upland and San Bernardino County Chapter 13 Clients
We represent homeowners and working families in Upland and throughout San Bernardino County, including Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fontana, San Bernardino, Chino, Chino Hills, and Montclair. Those clients file in the Riverside Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, and we handle that process from start to finish. Along the eastern edge of the San Gabriel Valley, we also serve Pomona, Claremont, Glendora, and West Covina, and we work with clients across the Inland Empire in Riverside County and the Coachella Valley.
Our reach extends across Southern California. In Los Angeles County, that includes Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley communities of Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, North Hollywood, and Sylmar, the Westside including Santa Monica and Hollywood, and Long Beach, Torrance, Compton, Inglewood, Norwalk, Bellflower, Gardena, and Cerritos. In the Antelope Valley, we serve Lancaster, Palmdale, and Acton, along with Santa Clarita. In Orange County, we work with clients in Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel. Wherever you live, the Chapter 13 process is the same, and the right plan depends on your income, your property, and your goals.
Talk With an Upland Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Today
If a foreclosure date, a garnishment, or a stack of missed payments is hanging over you, speaking with an Upland Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney is the quickest way to find out whether a repayment plan can keep your home and get you current. Call Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a free consultation and speak directly with an attorney about your situation, whether you prefer to meet in person or handle everything remotely.
We will go through your income, your arrears, your equity, and your options inside and outside of bankruptcy, and tell you honestly which path makes sense. If Chapter 13 fits, we will build a plan you can actually complete. If it does not, we will say so.
