West Covina Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Lawyer
West Covina residents weighing a Chapter 7 filing are usually deciding between two things at once: whether to wipe out the debt, and whether they can do it without losing the house, the car, or the paycheck they depend on. 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, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County, including West Covina and the eastern San Gabriel Valley.
If you are searching for a West Covina Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer, the questions are probably practical ones. Will a Chapter 7 clear the credit cards and medical bills? Does your income pass the means test? Will a creditor’s lawsuit or a wage garnishment stop the day you file?
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a Chapter 7 Filing
The firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification, and together its attorneys bring more than 90 years of combined legal experience. The firm serves clients throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, handling Chapter 7, Chapter 13, debt settlement, foreclosure defense, wage garnishment, creditor lawsuits, and IRS tax debt. Clients get direct access to an attorney from the very first call, a free consultation, and the choice of meeting in person or handling the whole case by phone, email, video, and online chat, including 100% virtual consultations.
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. 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. Both hold board certification, a distinction earned by a small fraction of attorneys.
For a Chapter 7 client, that depth shows up in the unglamorous details: choosing between California’s two exemption systems, spotting an asset a trustee might go after, and moving fast when a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is only days away. The firm files in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, so your case is handled by people who work in that court regularly. A bankruptcy petition preparer can type forms, but cannot advise you on exemptions or stand next to you if a trustee raises an objection. A mistake in a filing can cost you property or your discharge, and that is the gap a board-certified bankruptcy attorney fills.
Debts and Situations a West Covina Chapter 7 Can Resolve
- Credit Card Balances: Revolving card debt is the classic unsecured debt that Chapter 7 discharges. Households that have been paying minimums for years while interest outpaces the principal are often good candidates.
- Medical Bills: An illness or injury can generate bills far beyond what insurance covers. These unsecured balances are generally dischargeable, including accounts that have already gone to collections.
- Personal and Payday Loans: Unsecured personal loans and payday loans are typically wiped out, which can break a cycle of borrowing to repay earlier loans.
- Repossession Deficiencies: If a lender took your car and sold it for less than you owed, the leftover balance is an unsecured claim that Chapter 7 can eliminate.
- Collection Lawsuits and Judgments: A suit from a collection firm, or a judgment already entered against you, can be addressed through filing. The automatic stay halts the suit, bank levies, and wage garnishments the moment the case is filed.
- Older Income Tax Debt: Some income taxes can be discharged if they meet specific timing rules. Newer tax debt, and debt tied to a payment plan with the IRS, often fits better in Chapter 13 or a negotiated resolution.
- Debts Chapter 7 Cannot Touch: Child support, alimony, most student loans, most government fines, and debts for injuries caused by drunk driving generally survive. Knowing this before you file avoids unpleasant surprises at discharge.
What to Do Now if Collectors, a Garnishment, or a Sale Date Is Pressing You
Start by collecting what you have received: summonses, demand letters, garnishment notices, a notice of default or notice of sale, and a repossession notice if one has arrived. Dates on those papers drive the whole strategy. If you have been served with a lawsuit, the deadline to respond is short, and a missed deadline can mean a default judgment. Call before the response date passes so an attorney can tell you whether to answer, negotiate, or file.
Foreclosure timing is more predictable than most people expect. A trustee’s sale cannot be scheduled until at least 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 generally reinstate a monetary default until five business days before the sale. A bankruptcy filing stops the sale as of the moment of filing, but the closer the date, the less room there is to prepare, so do not wait for the last week.
For a car repossession, the lender must give written notice at least 15 days before it disposes of the vehicle, and you can ask in writing for an extra 10 days to redeem or reinstate. A lender can pursue a deficiency only if the notice went out within 60 days of repossession and contained the required items, which is worth checking before you assume you owe the balance.
If your wages are being garnished, remember that on an ordinary judgment the garnishment is capped, and you can ask the court to exempt earnings proven necessary to support your family. Your employer cannot fire you because of garnishment on a single judgment. Filing Chapter 7 stops most garnishments at the time of filing.
Where your case is filed depends on the zip code of your street address, not a P.O. box. West Covina filers should have their zip code checked against the Central District of California Bankruptcy Court’s court locator, since the court has five divisions: Los Angeles, Northern, Riverside, San Fernando Valley, and Santa Ana. Collection lawsuits against West Covina residents may be heard at the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s West Covina courthouse. Your attorney will confirm which division handles your petition and handle that filing for you.
Avoid a few common mistakes. Do not pay one creditor in full right before filing, since the trustee can claw back certain payments. Do not move assets to a relative. Do not run up new card charges for cash advances or luxuries, because that can invite a fraud challenge. And do not make a payment on an old, time-barred debt without asking first; a payment does not revive a debt whose limitations period has already expired, but it can create confusion about what you owe.
The Means Test and What You Keep Under California’s Exemptions
Chapter 7 eligibility starts with the means test. It compares your household income to the California median for a household of your size, and if you are above it, it accounts for your allowed expenses to see whether you have disposable income to pay creditors. The median figures are adjusted periodically, so your attorney works from current numbers. If you do not qualify for Chapter 7, Chapter 13 reorganizes your debts into one monthly payment over three to five years.
Most Chapter 7 clients keep everything they own, but that depends on choosing the right exemption system. California has opted out of the federal exemptions, and a filer must choose one of two state systems for the entire case. One system is built around a large homestead exemption for homeowners, and its amount is tied to the county median home price within a statutory floor and ceiling. The other offers more modest dollar amounts for a residence, a vehicle, and tools of the trade, plus a flexible wildcard that often suits renters. You also generally need to have lived in California for at least 730 days to use California’s exemptions.
For a West Covina homeowner, the question is whether your equity sits inside the homestead protection and whether you are current on the mortgage. If equity exceeds what is protected, or you are behind on payments, Chapter 13 may let you keep the house and catch up over time. For a renter, the second system’s wildcard may protect savings, a vehicle, and household goods better. Retirement accounts and tools of the trade are also protected. This choice is one of the most consequential in the case, and the firm’s board-certified attorneys work through it before anything is filed.
Questions West Covina Residents Ask About Chapter 7
How long does a Chapter 7 case take?
Most cases are completed in roughly four months from filing to discharge. The automatic stay protecting you from creditors begins the moment the petition is filed, long before the discharge arrives.
Will I lose my house or car?
Most of our clients keep their homes and vehicles. In Chapter 7 the question is whether your equity is covered by the exemption system we select and whether you stay current on the loan. If equity exceeds the exemption or you are behind on payments, Chapter 13 is often the better route.
What debts does Chapter 7 wipe out?
Most unsecured debts, including credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, payday loans, and deficiency balances after a repossession or foreclosure. Child support, alimony, most student loans, most government fines, and debts for injuries caused by drunk driving generally cannot be discharged.
Does filing stop a wage garnishment right away?
Yes. The automatic stay takes effect when the petition is filed and halts most garnishments, bank levies, lawsuits, and repossessions. In an emergency, we can often prepare and file a case very quickly.
Will my employer find out?
Not automatically. They may learn if they are a creditor or if a garnishment has to stop. California and federal law bar an employer from firing you solely because you filed for bankruptcy.
How much will my credit score drop?
It depends on where your score starts. People with high scores see a larger drop, while many filers already have low scores from missed payments and collections. Scores can begin recovering soon after discharge with a secured card, on-time payments, and low balances.
How long does bankruptcy stay on my credit report?
A Chapter 7 can remain for up to 10 years from the filing date, though its effect on your score fades well before then.
Can I file Chapter 7 if I filed before?
Yes, subject to waiting periods. You must wait 8 years between Chapter 7 filings. After a Chapter 13, you generally wait 6 years to file Chapter 7, though that period can be shortened if your plan paid enough to unsecured creditors.
If a creditor already has a judgment against me, does Chapter 7 still help?
Often, yes. A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years and can be renewed, but a discharge can eliminate the underlying debt and the stay stops levies and garnishments while the case is pending. Recent law limits renewals to one time, for five years, on certain medical and smaller personal-debt judgments, so the age and type of your judgment matters.
The debt collector says I owe a debt from years ago. Do I have to pay it?
Not necessarily. California gives creditors four years to sue on a written contract and two years on an oral one. A payment will not revive a debt already time-barred, and the expired deadline is a defense you must raise in a written answer if you are sued. Collectors who break the rules can also be liable under California’s Rosenthal Act, which covers original creditors as well as third-party collectors.
Do I have to come into an office to file?
No. We handle cases fully by phone, email, video, and online chat for clients anywhere in Southern California, and 100% virtual consultations are available. If you prefer to meet in person, you are welcome to.
Is a Chapter 7 right for me, or should I try settlement first?
It depends on how much you owe, what you earn, and what you own. Because we handle both bankruptcy and alternatives like debt settlement and loan modification, we will tell you honestly which path fits, even if that is not bankruptcy.
Serving West Covina and the Eastern San Gabriel Valley Bankruptcy Clients
Wadhwani & Shanfeld represents Chapter 7 clients from West Covina and the surrounding eastern San Gabriel Valley, including Glendora, Claremont, Pomona, and Montclair, and out through the Inland Empire communities of Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, San Bernardino, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, and Upland. In Los Angeles County, we also work with clients in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Inglewood, Compton, Gardena, Torrance, Long Beach, Lakewood, Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Cerritos, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park.
In the San Fernando Valley and north county, we serve Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, San Fernando, Sylmar, Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale, and the Antelope Valley community of Acton. In Orange County, we represent clients in Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, La Habra, Placentia, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, and Cypress, and in Riverside County from the city of Riverside to the Coachella Valley.
Talk With a West Covina Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney Today
You do not have to keep dreading the next call, letter, or court date. A West Covina Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney at Wadhwani & Shanfeld will review your income, property, and debts, explain every option inside and outside of bankruptcy, and tell you plainly whether Chapter 7 is the right move. Call today for a free consultation and speak directly with an attorney, in person or from your own living room by video.
