Westside Bankruptcy Lawyer
Filing for bankruptcy on the Westside rarely looks like what people picture. Debt here is shaped by high rents, expensive homes, entertainment-industry income that swings month to month, and car payments that sit alongside everything else. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles Chapter 7, Chapter 13, debt settlement, foreclosure defense, wage garnishment, and creditor lawsuits for people across the Westside and the rest of Southern California, and a Westside bankruptcy lawyer from this firm will start by looking at which of those problems is actually driving your situation.
The answer matters because the Westside is not one financial profile. A freelance editor in Santa Monica with credit card balances and a lapsed tax payment has different options than a homeowner in Hollywood who is two payments behind on a mortgage and a second loan. The right path depends on your income, your equity, and which creditor is closest to doing damage.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Westside Bankruptcy Help
The firm serves clients throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, including Westside communities such as Santa Monica and Hollywood, and it handles cases by phone, email, video, and online chat as well as in person. Every new client gets a free consultation and direct access to an attorney from the first call, without being routed through a call center first.
The firm is led by Raj Wadhwani and Greg Shanfeld, founding shareholders who are each Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification, a distinction earned by only a small fraction of attorneys. 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. Greg Shanfeld, who earned his law degree at the University of Southern California, has handled more than 10,000 bankruptcy cases over three decades. Together with their team, the firm brings more than 90 years of combined legal experience to each file.
That depth matters on the Westside because choices in these cases carry real consequences. Choosing between California’s two exemption systems, deciding whether a home with substantial equity can be protected in Chapter 7, or deciding whether Chapter 13 is the better tool all require judgment. As a Westside bankruptcy attorney team that handles bankruptcy and its alternatives, the firm can recommend what fits rather than pushing the only service it offers. When a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away, the firm moves fast.
Debt Problems We See From Westside Filers
- Credit Card and Medical Debt: Unsecured balances are the most common reason people file. Chapter 7 can discharge them if you pass the means test, which compares your household income to the California median for your household size and then accounts for your actual expenses.
- Irregular Income After Entertainment or Gig Work: Contract, freelance, and project-based earnings make the means test less straightforward, because the look-back period captures good months and bad months alike. Chapter 13 often works when income is steady enough to fund a plan but too high for Chapter 7.
- Mortgage Arrears and Foreclosure Notices: Chapter 13 lets you cure missed payments over three to five years while keeping the home. Foreclosure timing under California law gives you a window to act, and filing triggers the automatic stay.
- Second Mortgages and Home Equity Lines: In some Chapter 13 cases a wholly unsecured second mortgage can be stripped off. The firm also handles second mortgage settlements and loan modification outside of bankruptcy.
- Creditor Lawsuits and Judgments: A lawsuit from a collection firm is not the end. Filing stops the case, and we can advise on whether to answer, negotiate, or file when a response deadline is close.
- Wage Garnishment and Bank Levies: Garnishment and levies on accounts stop when a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case is filed, and the firm can also help with claims of exemption when bankruptcy is not the right answer.
- IRS Tax Debt: Some older income tax debt can be discharged if it meets specific timing rules, and the firm also represents clients with the IRS on levies and payment arrangements.
- Car Loans and Repossession: Chapter 13 can help you keep a financed vehicle, and Chapter 7 can eliminate a deficiency balance after a repossession.
Protecting a Westside Home: How California Exemptions Decide the Outcome
Home values are the central issue in many Westside cases, and California’s exemption rules are the reason. California has opted out of the federal exemptions, so you choose between two state systems for the entire case. One system is built around a homestead exemption tied to county median home prices, with a statutory floor and a ceiling that adjust annually for inflation. The other offers a much smaller residence exemption but includes a flexible wildcard that often suits renters or people with little home equity.
Picking the wrong system can cost you property, and you cannot switch partway through. You must also have lived in California for at least 730 days to use California’s exemptions. If you recently moved here, that rule can change the analysis. Because homestead amounts and wildcard figures are updated on a schedule, a Westside bankruptcy lawyer should run the current numbers against your equity before you file, not rely on a rule of thumb you read somewhere.
If your equity exceeds what the exemption covers, Chapter 7 may put the home at risk, and Chapter 13 becomes the more protective route. Vehicles, household goods, tools of the trade, and retirement accounts are protected through the same exemption analysis, and most of our clients keep everything they own.
What to Do Right Now if Creditors Are Closing In
Start with the date closest to you. If a foreclosure sale is scheduled, know that California requires the notice of sale to be mailed and posted at least 20 days before the sale, that a sale cannot occur earlier than three months and 20 days after the notice of default is recorded, and that you can reinstate a monetary default until five business days before the sale. Those windows are short, and filing a bankruptcy case halts the sale outright. If a car has been repossessed, the lender must give at least 15 days’ written notice before disposing of it, and you can request in writing that the redemption period be extended by 10 days.
If you have been sued, do not ignore the summons. The statute of limitations on a written-contract or book-account debt is four years, and on an oral contract it is two years, but an expired deadline is a defense you must raise in a written answer. If you do not respond, the court can enter judgment anyway. A payment on an old debt cannot revive a time-barred claim, and only a signed written acknowledgment can restart the clock in other situations. Lawsuits against Westside residents are typically heard at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, which has a Santa Monica courthouse, a Hollywood courthouse, and others, depending on where the case is filed.
If your wages are being garnished, ordinary garnishment is capped at the lesser of 20% of weekly disposable earnings or 40% of the amount by which those earnings exceed 48 times the minimum hourly wage, with higher multipliers for biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly pay. Where the local minimum wage is higher than the state’s, the local rate is used. You can also claim an exemption for earnings proven necessary to support you or your family, and your employer cannot fire you because of garnishment on a single judgment. For bank accounts, a deposit-account exemption applies automatically without filing a claim, though it does not cover levies for child or spousal support, wages owed to another, or debts owed to the state.
Gather your last two years of tax returns, recent pay records, a list of every creditor, any lawsuit papers, and mortgage or loan statements. Then call. Bankruptcy petitions are filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, and your zip code determines the division. Many Westside residents file in the Los Angeles Division, while some zip codes fall in other divisions, which is why the filing location is confirmed through the court’s locator before anything is filed. The firm files in every division of the Central District.
One common mistake is waiting until a sale date or garnishment is already running. Another is paying a bankruptcy petition preparer to type forms. Preparers cannot give legal advice, pick exemptions, or represent you if a trustee or creditor raises a problem, and errors can cost you property or your discharge.
Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 for Westside Households
Chapter 7 wipes out qualifying unsecured debt, including credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, and repossession deficiencies, and most cases finish in roughly four months. Chapter 13 reorganizes debts into one payment over three to five years, binds creditors once the court confirms the plan, and is the usual route for people with income above the means test, mortgage arrears, priority tax debt, or support arrears.
Westside households often land on Chapter 13 because of equity, not because of income alone. A Chapter 13 plan lets you keep a home with equity above the exemption, provided you can pay unsecured creditors at least what they would have received in a liquidation. When a case does not need bankruptcy at all, debt settlement, direct negotiation with creditors, and IRS representation are on the table.
Eligibility also depends on prior filings. The waiting periods are 8 years between Chapter 7 cases, 4 years to file Chapter 13 after a Chapter 7, 2 years between Chapter 13 cases, and generally 6 years to file Chapter 7 after a Chapter 13, though that last period can be shortened if the Chapter 13 plan paid enough to unsecured creditors.
Westside Bankruptcy Questions, Answered
How fast does bankruptcy stop a garnishment, levy, or foreclosure sale?
The automatic stay takes effect the moment the petition is filed, and creditors must stop collection activity. In an emergency the firm can often prepare and file a case quickly to stop a sale or levy.
Will I lose my house in Santa Monica or Hollywood if I file?
Most clients keep their homes. In Chapter 7 the question is whether your equity is covered by the exemption you select and whether you are current on the mortgage. If equity exceeds the exemption or you are behind, Chapter 13 lets you keep the home and catch up over time.
Which debts can bankruptcy eliminate?
Most unsecured debts, including credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, payday loans, and deficiency balances. Some older income taxes can also be discharged if they meet timing rules. Child support, alimony, most student loans, most government fines, and debts from drunk-driving injuries generally cannot be.
How does the means test treat variable or freelance income?
It compares your household income to the California median for your household size and then accounts for allowed expenses. Because irregular earnings can swing the result, the firm reviews your actual income history rather than assuming a single figure.
Can I use California’s homestead exemption if I just moved here?
You must have lived in California for at least 730 days to use California’s exemptions. If you have not, the analysis changes, and we will walk through what applies to you.
My wages are garnished. Does bankruptcy stop it?
Yes. Filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 stops most garnishments through the automatic stay, and your employer cannot fire you solely because you filed or because of garnishment on a single judgment.
Is a debt too old for a collector to sue me?
Possibly. A written-contract or book-account claim carries a four-year limit and an oral contract two years, but you must raise the expired deadline in a written answer. A payment cannot revive a time-barred debt.
How long can a creditor enforce a judgment against me?
A California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years from entry and can be renewed. Since recent reform, certain medical and personal-debt judgments below set principal amounts can be renewed only once, for five years.
Can a collector break the law and owe me money?
Under the Rosenthal Act, a consumer can recover actual damages, plus an additional $100 to $1,000 if the collector acted willfully and knowingly, and a prevailing consumer can recover reasonable attorney fees. The Act covers original creditors as well as collectors, and the suit must be filed within one year.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a small debt?
Often yes, especially if a lawsuit has been filed or a judgment could lead to a levy or garnishment. A consultation costs nothing and will tell you whether to answer, negotiate, or file.
Do I have to come into an office?
No. The firm offers 100% virtual consultations and handles cases fully by phone, email, video, and online chat, with in-person meetings available if you prefer.
Serving Westside Bankruptcy Clients and the Surrounding Region
Wadhwani & Shanfeld represents clients across the Westside, including Santa Monica and Hollywood, and throughout Los Angeles County, with particular reach into the San Fernando Valley communities of Sherman Oaks, Encino, Woodland Hills, Van Nuys, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, San Fernando, and Sylmar. The firm also serves Los Angeles, Long Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Compton, Inglewood, Gardena, Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Cerritos, Cypress, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park.
Farther out, our bankruptcy attorneys help clients in Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale, and the Antelope Valley including Acton, as well as the Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley: Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, West Covina, Riverside, and the Coachella Valley. In Orange County the firm serves Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, La Habra, Placentia, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel.
Talk With a Westside Bankruptcy Attorney Today
If a lawsuit, garnishment, foreclosure notice, or repossession has you counting days, call Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a free consultation and speak directly with an attorney. A Westside bankruptcy attorney from our team will review your income, property, and debts, explain every option inside and outside of bankruptcy, and tell you plainly which path gives you the best fresh start. You can meet in person or handle everything remotely, whichever is easier for you.
