Westside Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer
A mortgage that slipped two or three payments behind, a car loan in default, and a tax bill that keeps growing can feel like separate emergencies on the Westside, where housing costs leave little room for a bad quarter. Wadhwani & Shanfeld is a consumer bankruptcy and debt relief law firm that handles Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 cases for individuals and families across Los Angeles County, including Santa Monica, Hollywood, and the Westside, as well as Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.
A Westside Chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer is often the right call for homeowners and professionals who earn a steady paycheck but have fallen behind on something they cannot afford to lose. Chapter 13 does not wipe the slate clean the way Chapter 7 does. It gives you three to five years to repay what the law requires, on a court-approved plan, while creditors are barred from collecting outside it. For someone sitting on real home equity, that structure can be the difference between keeping the house and watching it sell on the courthouse steps.
The stakes in a Chapter 13 case are concrete. Missed plan payments can get a case dismissed, and a dismissal puts you back where you started, with creditors free to resume everything the automatic stay had paused. Getting the plan numbers right before you file, not after, is the main job of the lawyer you hire.
Why Choose Wadhwani & Shanfeld for Chapter 13 on the Westside
Wadhwani & Shanfeld has helped more than 30,000 individuals and families resolve debt, and the firm is led by two Board-Certified Specialists in Consumer Bankruptcy through the American Board of Certification, a distinction held by a small fraction of attorneys nationwide. Together the attorneys carry more than 90 years of combined legal experience. The firm serves clients throughout Los Angeles County and the surrounding counties, files in every division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, and lets you speak directly with an attorney from your first call, with no pressure to come in before you get answers.
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 are board certified in consumer bankruptcy.
That depth matters in Chapter 13 because the work is front-loaded. The plan has to be feasible on your actual income, the exemption system has to be chosen correctly, and the trustee and your creditors have to be satisfied that the numbers hold up. The firm also handles the alternatives, including debt settlement, loan modification, and IRS representation, so the recommendation you get reflects what works for you rather than the only service on offer. Clients can handle their entire case by phone, email, video, or online chat, and virtual consultations are available. When a garnishment, foreclosure sale, or repossession is days away, the firm acts fast.
Situations That Lead Westside Filers to Chapter 13
- Mortgage Arrears and Foreclosure: Chapter 13 lets you cure missed mortgage payments over the life of the plan while staying current going forward. California’s notice of default process gives a borrower roughly three months and 20 days before a sale can be set, and the right to reinstate a monetary default runs until five business days before the sale, but filing stops the process outright.
- Home Equity Above the Exemption: Westside property values often exceed what California’s homestead exemption covers. In Chapter 7 a trustee could sell a home with unprotected equity; in Chapter 13 you keep the house and pay creditors the value of the nonexempt equity through the plan.
- Income Above the Means Test: Higher earners may not qualify for Chapter 7 because household income exceeds the California median for their household size. Chapter 13 has no such income cutoff, though your disposable income drives the plan payment.
- Back Taxes and Priority Debts: Recent income tax debt, support arrears, and other priority claims generally survive a Chapter 7 discharge. Chapter 13 lets you pay them in full over the plan without interest and penalty pressure from collection.
- Car Loans and Repossession: If a lender has repossessed your vehicle or threatens to, Chapter 13 can stop the process and allow you to catch up on the arrears. California requires a seller to give written notice before disposing of a repossessed car, but that notice period is short.
- Wholly Unsecured Second Mortgages: When your home is worth less than the first mortgage balance, a second mortgage may be stripped off in Chapter 13 and treated as unsecured debt, reducing or eliminating what you pay on it.
- Wage Garnishment and Judgments: A creditor judgment can take a slice of each paycheck. The automatic stay halts a garnishment the moment the petition is filed, and the plan then governs how that creditor is paid.
- Self-Employed and Contract Income: Entertainment, creative, and consulting professionals with irregular income can use Chapter 13 to build a plan around real, documented earnings rather than a fixed salary.
What to Do If Foreclosure, Garnishment, or Repossession Is Close
Start by gathering the paper that sets your deadlines: any notice of default or notice of sale, the lawsuit or judgment papers if a creditor has sued, and any repossession notice. The dates on those documents control how fast a bankruptcy attorney needs to move. If a sale is scheduled, the notice of sale must be mailed and posted at least 20 days before the sale, so you may have less time than you think, and a postponed sale of at least 10 business days requires the lender to send written notice of the new date within five business days. Do not assume a postponement means the problem has gone away.
Call a bankruptcy lawyer before paying off one creditor in a panic, moving money between accounts, or transferring property to a relative. Those moves can create problems the trustee will examine later. Also hold off on running up new credit. Bring recent pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, a list of everything you own and everything you owe, and your mortgage and car loan statements to the consultation.
Where you file depends on the street address where you live. The Central District bankruptcy court assigns cases by zip code, and the Los Angeles Division, which sits in downtown Los Angeles, covers most of Los Angeles County. The San Fernando Valley Division, which sits in Woodland Hills, takes cases from Valley communities such as Sherman Oaks, Encino, Van Nuys, and Northridge. Because the assignment turns on your zip code, your attorney confirms the correct division before filing. If you were sued, the civil case typically sits in a Los Angeles Superior Court location such as the Santa Monica courthouse or the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, and a bankruptcy filing halts that suit.
Soon after you file, you will attend a meeting of creditors, where a trustee asks about your petition under oath, and you will begin making plan payments, usually within 30 days of filing. Keep every payment current. The most common reason Chapter 13 cases fail is not the law; it is a missed payment or a lost job with no plan to modify.
How a Chapter 13 Plan Is Built and Confirmed
A Chapter 13 plan lasts three to five years. The length is driven mainly by your income relative to the California median for your household size: lower earners may qualify for a three-year plan, while those above the median generally commit to five. The monthly payment must cover your ongoing trustee fee, any mortgage or car arrears, priority debts like recent taxes, and a share to unsecured creditors at least equal to what they would have received if your nonexempt property had been liquidated in Chapter 7. That last requirement is why exemptions matter so much.
California has opted out of the federal exemption scheme, so you choose between two state systems for the whole case. One is built around a large homestead protection that is tied to county median home prices, which tends to suit Westside homeowners with significant equity. The other offers smaller dollar amounts for a residence and vehicle but adds a flexible wildcard that can work better for renters or people with little home equity. You must also have lived in California for at least 730 days to use these exemptions. The choice affects how much your plan has to pay unsecured creditors, so it is made with the numbers in front of you.
Once the plan is filed, the court holds a confirmation hearing, and the trustee and creditors can object. Confirmation binds your creditors to the plan terms. After you complete every payment, the court issues a discharge of the remaining qualifying unsecured debt. Throughout the case, the automatic stay continues to protect you from collection of the debts the plan covers.
Westside Chapter 13 Questions Answered
How much does Chapter 13 stop a foreclosure?
Filing the petition triggers the automatic stay, which halts the foreclosure sale immediately. In Chapter 13 you then cure the missed payments through your plan while keeping current on new mortgage payments, which can save the home permanently if the plan is completed.
Can I keep my house in Chapter 13?
In most cases, yes. Chapter 13 is designed for people who want to keep property they are behind on. The conditions are that you stay current on post-filing payments and that the plan pays creditors at least the value of any nonexempt equity in the home.
How long does a Chapter 13 case last?
Plans run three to five years depending on your income relative to the California median and the debts the plan must cover. You receive a discharge after completing all required payments.
Do I qualify if my income is too high for Chapter 7?
Chapter 13 has no income ceiling in the way Chapter 7’s means test does. Your plan payment is based on your disposable income, so a higher earner can file Chapter 13 even when Chapter 7 is not available.
What happens to my wage garnishment?
The automatic stay stops most garnishments when the case is filed. Your employer is told to stop withholding, and the creditor is then paid, if at all, under the terms of your plan.
Can my employer fire me for filing?
Federal and California law prohibit an employer from terminating you solely because you filed for bankruptcy. Separately, California law bars firing an employee over a wage garnishment for a single judgment.
Can Chapter 13 remove a second mortgage?
Only if the second mortgage is wholly unsecured, meaning your home is worth no more than the balance on the first mortgage. In that case, the second lien can be stripped off and treated as an unsecured debt. A second mortgage with any value behind it generally cannot be removed this way.
What if I miss a Chapter 13 plan payment?
One missed payment does not automatically end the case, but repeated misses can lead the trustee to seek dismissal. If your income drops, tell your attorney quickly. Modifying the plan or addressing the problem early is far better than letting arrears build.
Does a Chapter 13 filing stop a lawsuit from a debt collector?
Yes. The automatic stay halts lawsuits and judgment enforcement against you. If a judgment already exists, a California money judgment is enforceable for 10 years from entry and can be renewed, so a pending or old judgment is something your attorney will review as part of the plan.
Is a debt too old for a creditor to sue me over?
California generally gives creditors four years to sue on a written contract and two years on an oral contract. Making a payment on a debt that has already expired does not revive it, but the expired deadline is a defense you must raise in a written answer, or the court can still enter judgment against you.
Will Chapter 13 protect my bank account from a levy?
The automatic stay stops a levy on your account once you file. Even before filing, California law automatically shields a set amount in a deposit account from a creditor levy without any claim from you, though that protection does not apply to wages owed to another, support debts, or debts owed to the state.
Should I hire a lawyer or use a document preparer?
A bankruptcy petition preparer can only type your information into forms. They cannot advise you, choose your exemptions, or represent you if a trustee or creditor objects. In Chapter 13, where the plan itself must be confirmed, mistakes can cost you your home or your discharge.
Serving Westside and Southern California Chapter 13 Clients
The firm represents Chapter 13 clients across the Westside, including Santa Monica and Hollywood, and throughout the broader Los Angeles area. From the San Fernando Valley, we work with filers in Sherman Oaks, Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Northridge, Granada Hills, North Hollywood, North Hills, Mission Hills, San Fernando, Sylmar, and Van Nuys. Clients in Los Angeles, Compton, Inglewood, and Torrance also rely on our bankruptcy law firm, as do families in Long Beach, Lakewood, Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, Gardena, Cerritos, Cypress, Signal Hill, and Huntington Park.
Beyond Los Angeles County, we serve Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale, Acton, and the Antelope Valley, as well as the Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley communities of Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Fontana, San Bernardino, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Claremont, Glendora, and West Covina, along with Riverside and the Coachella Valley. In Orange County, we help 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. Because cases can be handled by phone, email, video, and online chat, distance rarely stands in the way of getting a plan filed.
Talk to a Westside Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Attorney Today
If a foreclosure sale, a garnishment, or a repossession is closing in, the most useful thing you can do is get your numbers in front of a Westside Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney while there is still room to act. Call Wadhwani & Shanfeld for a free consultation and speak directly with an attorney about whether Chapter 13, Chapter 7, or a solution outside of court gives you the strongest path forward.
We will review your income, your property, and your debts, tell you honestly what the plan would look like, and move quickly if a deadline is days away. You can meet with us virtually or handle your entire case remotely, whichever is easier for you.
