Cherry Hill Bankruptcy Blog

When a chapter 13 bankruptcy is filed the court automatically schedules two hearings. The first is a meeting of creditors. The debtors are required to attend this meeting with the chapter 13 trustee and their attorney. Creditors are invited to come but they rarely do. The other hearing is the confirmation hearing. The debtors' do not have to attend this hearing but their attorney does. In New Jersey the hearing will take place at the Federal courthouse in Camden NJ, Trenton NJ or Newark NJ. The purpose of the hearing is to have the court approve the chapter 13 plan regarding repayment to creditors. Often the confirmation hearing will need to be adjourned to address the claims filed or other issues raised by the trustee. Except in unusual or complicated matters if the Chapter 13 trustee is satisfied with the plan and objections have been addressed the trustee will recommend confirmation and the judge will enter an order approving the chapter 13 plan

The New Jersey Bankruptcy Court, which is part of the Federal Court System has addressed the impact of the federal government shutdown on its official website. Specially the site notes "the Judiciary has continued to operate by using court fee balances and other "no-year" funds. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has revised its original estimate and now is working toward the goal of sustaining paid operations through Jan. 18, 2019." If the shutdown is not resolved by then, the bankruptcy court will not have funds to operate. This applies to the bankruptcy courts in Camden, Trenton and Newark NJ.

When a creditor agrees to settle a claim for a reduced amount, the amount of debt foregiven can result in taxable income. For example, if you owe $20,000 on a credit card and a settlement is reached where they agree to accept $11,000 as payment in full, the creditor is foregiving $9,000.00 of the claim. In that circumstance, the creditor will issue a 1099c to you for the foregiveness of debt. That $9,000.00 will count as income to you. There are some exceptions. If you can show you are insolvent you can avoid liability. Bankruptcy is also an exception. For example, if you filed a chapter 7 to eliminate that $20,000.00 credit card, there would not be any tax liability even though the entire $20,000.00 was eliminated. Depending on circumstances debt negotiations may be an option, but be sure to take into account the tax consequences when deciding between bankruptcy and debt negotiation. And since both the IRS laws and the Bankruptcy laws are Federal Laws, the result would be the same whether you lived in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.