A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the most desired kind of consumer bankruptcy. If you qualify for a Chapter 7, you can discharge all of your unsecured debt in only about three months, while keeping everything you own. Furthermore, it is surprisingly inexpensive. To make your options clearer, I have divided my Chapter 7 practice into my Express Chapter 7 program, which is the most basic and least expensive option, and which is described below, and my Full Service Chapter 7 program, which is described on the following page.

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Most likely, you can qualify for my Express Chapter 7 program if you meet all the requirements listed below, but you will need an experienced attorney to review all your financial data before you can be sure. If you have any questions about any of the requirements or need additional explanation of the requirements, feel free to call me at 917-414-6795. I do not charge for phone consultations.

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Express Chapter 7 Requirements:

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1. You live within the five boroughs of New York City

2. You have not filed another Chapter 7 bankruptcy case within the last 8 years.

3. Your debt consists mostly of unsecured debt such as credit cards and personal loans, and/or secured loans on leased or financed cars, and, possibly a leased or financed car with not a great deal of equity.

4. You don’t own (alone or with another party) real property (house, condo, coop, vacant land) anywhere in the world and you have not owned real property anywhere in the world within the last seven years. 

5. You do not own (alone or with another party) your own business.

6. You are not trying to discharge (erase) past income taxes.

7. You are not currently suing anyone for anything, such as personal injury or medical malpractice, that might win you a cash award

8. You have not used your credit cards within the last 90 days for anything other than in small amounts for such necessities such as food, gas etc.

9. You have not paid back a loan of significance to anyone within the last year.

10. If you do have a retirement account such as a 401k or an IRA, you started or opened it yourself and you did not inherit it or have it transferred to you as a gift.

11. Outside of regular monthly loan or credit card payments, within the last 90 days you have not paid a significant amount of money to anyone you owed money to in the past. 

12. Your assets (furniture, car, clothes, collectibles, cash & cash equivalents) are of modest value.

13. Finally, your combined household income – meaning your income combined with your spouse’s income after taxes and basic living expenses are deducted –  must not exceed the allowed New York State income levels for your size family. I will discuss those allowed income levels when you call.

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Normally the fee for my Express Chapter 7 program is about $2,000 (not including the $338 court filing fee), but it can be lower, depending on the circumstances. For example, a senior citizen whose only income is social security, who rents their residence and has no assets, will be charged a significantly lower fee. Call me and let's talk about it.

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