Hi. I’m Roger Ghai and I wanted to talk today a little bit about the considerations involved on whether you should actually file a bankruptcy or not. I get a lot of calls with people calling me saying, “Okay, I’ve got $5,000 or $7,000 in debt. Do I qualify for filing a Chapter seven bankruptcy case?” The answer is, “Yes, legally you qualify.” There is not a minimal amount of money that you have to owe on filing a bankruptcy case. However, the issue becomes whether it is a wise thing to do.
Normally, what happens is you want to have a lot of debt before you file a Chapter seven case especially, because you’re only permitted to file a Chapter seven case every eight years. Over the course of the last 25 years in practicing bankruptcy law, that time limit has changed. In some times, you’ve been able to file as frequently as every six years, a Chapter seven case. Other times, it’s changed to a seven year time period in which you could file a Chapter seven case, and other times it’s currently at eight years that you can file a Chapter seven case.
What we look at in deciding whether you should file a case is your income, and then the amount of debt that you have, and how much debt you’re actually going to get rid of, if you file a chapter seven case. Those are very important factors. Not all people will qualify for Chapter seven relief.
If you have questions about whether you in fact, actually qualify for filing for Chapter seven bankruptcy, just call my office at 770-792-1000 for a fast, easy, free consultation.