Once the questionnaire and the documents have been completed, we will schedule another appointment with your attorney to review the documents and the questionnaire to make sure everything is complete and accurate. Then your attorney will prepare your bankruptcy petition and have it completed within a few days. We will call you and schedule an appointment with your attorney to review page by page your petition and to sign and date the petition.

After your petition has been reviewed by you and your attorney, the credit counseling course has been completed, and all corrections have been made, we will file your case. Filing your case is done electronically. That means we log into a site on the bankruptcy courts website and upload your petition. This site is secure, and Johnson and Wilk takes all precautions to ensure that your petition is safe and secure while filing. Once your case is filed, we will receive your case number immediately and your creditors meeting date within a few hours. Once we have all this information, we will mail you your case number, your Judges name, your trustee, the date and time of your creditors meeting, and directions on how to get to the bankruptcy court (and places to park).

Your creditors meeting will take place approximately 5 weeks after your case is filed. You are required to attend this meeting, and your attorney will be there with you. You are required to have picture identification and proof of your social security number. The Trustee will swear you in and proceed to ask you questions about your income, debts, assets, prior bankruptcy filing, and so on. Your attorney will meet with you prior to your creditors meeting and explain what to expect at your meeting. Your creditors have a right to attend this meeting and ask you questions pertaining to your petition, but usually your creditors do not attend the meeting.

At the conclusion of your creditors meeting, there is a 60 day waiting period before you can receive your discharge from bankruptcy. Also, within 45 days of your creditors meeting you must complete your debtor education course and have it filed with the court. If you do not complete this course, then your case will be dismissed. Once your debtor education course has been filed with the court and the 60 day waiting period has expired, you will receive a discharge order, signed by your Judge stating that your dischargeable debts have been discharges. You will want to save this order, along with your petition for future reference if creditors are calling your for payments on debts that were discharged in your Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

For more information, or to set up your free consultation with an attorney from Johnson and wilk, email us at info@johnsonwilk.com or call (866) 297-4341.

-Six months of pay stub;
-Six months of bank statements for each account you have;
-All recorded mortgages on your home;
-The deed for your home;
-Title to your car;
-The loan documents on your car;
-The last two years of your Federal and State tax returns;
-Copies of all credit card statements, loan statements, medical bills, and collection notices (anything that states you owe money);
-Pension/401 (k)/IRA statements;
-Any brokerage statements; and
-A certificate of Credit Counseling from an accredited agency.

There may be additional documents needed, depending on your circumstances. You attorney will advise you if additional documents are needed.

With the high rise in foreclosures in Michigan, the legislature passed public acts 29-31, amending the foreclosure process. The act became effective on July 4, 2009 and the purpose was to facilitate a meeting between the homeowner and the borrower to avoid a foreclosure.

Now, in order to foreclose, the lender must send the homeowner a written notice by first class mail and certified mail. This notice has to advise the homeowner the reason of the default and the amount due and owning on the mortgage. It must also contain the name, address, and telephone number of the mortgage holder, the mortgage service, or any person designated to be a contact with the authority to make agreements or modify the mortgage. Included in this notice, will be a list of housing counselors developed by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and within 14 days of the notice, the homeowner can request a meeting with a housing counselor in order to modify the mortgage.

If the homeowner requests a meeting with the housing counselor, then the foreclosure process cannot be commenced for 90 days. If the homeowner and the mortgage company agrees to a modification, the mortgage will not be foreclosed if the homeowner abides by the agreement.

If the homeowner and the lender do not come to an agreement to modify the mortgage, and it is determined that the homeowner meets the criteria for a modification, then the foreclosure must proceed judicially, and not by notice as was done in the past. This is much more costly and will have a much more uncertain outcome for the mortgage company. In essence, they will have to go to court and ask a judge to foreclosure on the mortgage.

The criteria that the homeowner must meet is a simple target ratio, where the homeowners housing related debt must be 38% or lower than the homeowners gross income. In order to meet this ratio, the homeowner and the lender may negotiate a reduction in the interest rate, and extension of the mortgage to 40 years, and/or a reduction in late fees.

Only time will tell if this will save homes for Michigan families, but it is a start in the ending of foreclosures in Michigan.