Credit Card Debt And Bankruptcy

Southern California Credit Card Debt Lawyers Since 1970.

Credit card debt can normally be discharged in bankruptcy. However, if the debt is the result of credit card abuse, such as excessive charging within say, the six month period preceding the filing of the bankruptcy petition, the creditor may file a timely complaint to determine whether the obligation ought to be discharged.

Nondischargeable debts, such as debts that the Bankruptcy Court determines arose as a result of credit card abuse, using false financial information to obtain credit, a breach of a fiduciary duty, embezzlement, and willful and malicious injury to another or another's property do not go away after a bankruptcy.

Credit Card Debt And Bankruptcy - What To Expect From The Creditors.

If there is a question of credit card abuse, the creditor will try to convince the bankruptcy judge that one of three types of credit card abuse was involved in the incurrence of the debt:

• That the debtor increased his or her debt in the weeks or months prior to filing the bankruptcy petition, knowing that he or she would soon be filing bankruptcy and therefore having no intention of repaying such charges.
• That the debtor had so much existing debt and so little income at the time the charges were made that the debtor lacked a realistic basis for believing that he or she would have the financial wherewithal to repay such charges.
• That the debtor used materially false financial information in order to obtain credit or to increase his or her credit.

If the creditor initiates a timely challenge and successfully convinces the bankruptcy judge that abuse is present, the Chapter 7 discharge will not include that credit card debt.

If your debts are primarily credit cards, please contact the Law Offices Of Hagen & Hagen today to arrange your initial consultation with one of our Southern California Chapter 7 attorneys. 

We represent clients throughout Southern California, including Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County and San Luis Obispo County. Our Southern California credit card debt lawyers & Chapter 7 discharge attorneys see clients from all over the greater Los Angeles area, including Santa Monica, Long Beach, Anaheim, Pasadena, Orange, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Garden Grove, Irvine, Yorba Linda, Riverside, San Bernardino, Pomona, Torrance, Simi Valley, Mission Viejo, Ontario, Glendora, and Covina. We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.