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Period of exclusivity
Personal bankruptcy - filed by an individual; also called a household bankruptcy, consumer bankruptcy or wage-earner bankruptcy. (see Chapter 13 and also Chapter 12).
Garnishment Laws
Unsecured creditors in relation to garnishment laws do not hold any collateral that they can take from you if you fall behind on your payments.
Debtor-in-possession
The debtor which remains in control of operations; as opposed to having a trustee operate the company.
Trustee
An agent of the court who manages the property of the debtor for the benefit of the creditors. The court appoints a trustee in most Chapter 7 cases and in Chapter 11 cases when it determines that the debtor's management should not remain in control.
Skeleton filing
Term used at bankruptcy courts to describe a bankruptcy filing in which not all the necessary forms have been filed. Certain courts allow a case to commence if only certain important forms are filed so long as the balance of required forms are forthcoming within a certain period of time.
Foreclosure
Your mortgage lender may start a foreclosure action and sell your home at a Sheriff's sale. If the sale nets less than you owe, there will be a "deficiency balance" that you will own to the lender.
Small claims
Also sometimes called convenience claims - under a plan of reorganization or liquidation, claims that are small (e.g. in the hundreds or thousands of dollars range) and numerous are often grouped into a single class and settled for cash for administrative convenience.
Reamortization
If your loan is reamortized, the delinquency is added to the loan balance in order to bring your payments up to date. This increases your loan amount and will also increase your monthly payments.
Automatic stay
The suspension of actions, such as debt collection or foreclosure, against the company in bankruptcy. Occurs automatically when the bankruptcy petition is filed.
Bankruptcy Amendments of 1984
A set of amendments to the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. It contains a number of provisions including: limiting the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court.
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Did You Know?