Both Chapeter 13 and Chapeter 7 insolvency have eligibility necessities which can forestall individuals from being able to file under that particular chapter. The most well known being the mean-test requirement under Chapter 7. Basically if an individual earns above a certain quantity, that person may not be eligible for Chapter 7 protection, and may only be eligible to file for Chapter 13. Unlike Chapter 7 nonetheless , Chapter 13 has debt limitations which have increasingly caused more and more folk to not be eligible to file.
Section 109 (e) of the Bankruptcy code places restrictions on the quantity of debt that an individual could have so as to file for Chapter 13. So as to be eligible to file for Chapter 13, an individual must have less than $360,475 of unsecured debt, and must have less than $1,081,400 of secured debt. Since these numbers on first glance seem very high, many of our customers are usually shocked when they discover that they will not be eligible because they surpass those debt limits.
The reason more of our customers are having issues with surpassing the debt restrictions of 109 (e) is thanks to the lack of equity in their homes. The breakdown of the home market hit Southwest Florida as hard as anywhere else in the country. A direct consequence of the home market collapse is that many people in Southwest Florida now owe more on their home than it is worth. The amount that a householder is underwater on their home counts towards the $360,475 unsecured debt limit. Also , if a property owner is underwater on their first loan and they also have a 2nd mortgage, that complete second mortgage would be considered unsecured. Since so many homeowners are underwater on their homes, many of them are finding out that they'd exceed the unsecured debt limit even if their other debt is low.
Up to date Florida cases have eased these limitations slightly at least for married debtors who file jointly. In In Re Scholz and In re Hannon the insolvency court held that married couples can ’stack ‘ their debt limits while each spouse would be well placed to file his or her own individual Chapter 13. In In Re Scholz, a married couple filed a Chapter 13 petition with $386,221.31 of unsecured debt and the Chapter 13 Trustee moved to dismiss the argument for surpassing the unsecured debt limitation. The Judge overruled the Trustee’s objection and authorized the couple to proceed with their joint Chapter 13 because as people, each debtor was below the $360,475 limit. It was just when their debt was mixed that they exceeded the debt limits. If married debtors are each able to file individual Chapter 13 Petitions, they may file a joint Chapter 13 petition not withstanding a combined debt total which exceeds the 109 (e) limits.
See In re Scholz, no. 6:10-bk-08466-ABB (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2011) and In re Hannon, 23 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B132 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2011).
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Jonathan Bierfeld is an attorney with Martin Law Firm, P.L, whose practice focuses in Insolvency Law and Civil Legal proceedings. He’s admitted to practice law in the state of Florida and the Federal Court for the Middle District of Florida. He basically practices in Lee County Florida in Cape Coral and Fort Myers, Florida. If you are looking for a Fort Myers Bankruptcy attorney, Jonathan can be reached via his website at www.martinlawfirm.com.