New York Chapter 7 and 13 Bankruptcy Attorneys

Hayward, Parker, O’Leary & Pinsky, Esqs.

225 Dolson Avenue
Suite 303
Middletown, New York 10940
USA

(845) 343-6227

(845) 343-1927

www.midhudsonbankruptcylawyers.com

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Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

Hayward, Parker, O’Leary & Pinsky has provided excellent legal services to assist clients with bankruptcy and non bankruptcy alternatives to meet their financial needs for more than two decades.

The Law Office of Hayward, Parker, O’Leary & Pinsky is located in Middletown, New York and serves Orange, Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess counties. Attorney Michael O’Leary, a principal of the firm, concentrates his practice exclusively in handling debtor’s bankruptcy and also serves as a Trustee for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the Poughkeepsie, New York Bankruptcy Court.

Our firm offers close to 30 years of experience in bankruptcy law. Our thorough understanding of bankruptcy codes, and years of handling thousands of debtor bankruptcy cases have resulted in extensive knowledge in the field of bankruptcy.

Practice Areas

Bankruptcy

Credit & Mortgage

Debtor & Creditor

Additional Practice Areas: Chapter 7, Chapter 13

Practice Areas Description

- Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay its creditors. Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against a business or corporate debtor ("involuntary bankruptcy") in an effort to recoup a portion of what they are owed or initiate a restructuring. In the majority of cases, however, bankruptcy is initiated by the debtor (a "voluntary bankruptcy" that is filed by the insolvent individual or organization).

- Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is by far the most common type of bankruptcy. In a chapter 7 the Trustee sells all of your assets which are not exempt and distributes the proceeds to your creditors. In return for this, you obtain a Discharge and are relieved from having to repay your debts.

- Chapter 13

The underlying premise of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is that a debtor has sufficient income to not only meet all of their cost of living expenses (i.e. housing, food, clothing, transportation, etc.), but also has money left over to pay down their debts. The excess income (“disposable income”) gets paid by you to your Chapter 13 Trustee once a month for the life of your Plan (usually 3 to 5 years).

- Bankruptcy and Income Taxes

Bankruptcy, in several instances, can be an effective way of dealing with past due federal and state income tax debt.

- Bankruptcy and Credit Reports

Bankruptcy clients are frequently surprised and/or alarmed when they review their credit reports after receiving their Bankruptcy Discharge and note that discharged debts sometimes still appear as open obligations on said reports. It is not your Bankruptcy Attorney’s job to clean up your credit report, unless you specifically hire him to do so.

- Marital Debt and Domestic Support Obligations

It is an unfortunate fact that many marital disputes result in one party (or both) seeking bankruptcy relief, often without an adequate understanding of the limited relief available in the bankruptcy forum. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 ("BAPCPA") directly addressed issues related to the Dischargeability of Marital Debt and Support Obligations, as well as to the effect of the Automatic Stay on marital-related collection and enforcement proceedings.

- Wage Garnishments & Bank Account Restraints

After a creditor successfully sues a debtor and obtains a judgment, the judgment creditor has several options to collect on the judgment. Two of the most commonly employed methods are Wage Garnishments and Bank Account Restraints.

- Student Loans

A bankruptcy filing does not create a "safe harbor" from student loan debt. Although past due tuition owed to an institution is usually dischargeable in bankruptcy, student loans rarely are, regardless of whether their funding comes from (or is guaranteed by) governmental agencies or non-profit institutions (note: this is the usual type of student loan), or from private, for-profit lenders. The one instance where a student loan can be discharged is if the debtor can establish an "undue hardship", which in our experience is very difficult to do.

- Home Mortgage Loan Modifications

Proposed legislation to permit bankruptcy judges to modify most home mortgages failed to pass Congress in 2009. Consequently, the options available to persons needing bankruptcy relief to restructure their debt and who also want a loan modification are (i) government programs, (ii) internal mortgage industry programs, and, (iii) where provable against the lender, in connection with the settlement of litigation for exceptional mortgage origination fraud or significant mortgage servicing abuse. (Mortgage-related litigation is not discussed further here.)

- Small Business Bankruptcy

Small businesses operate in a variety of formats, the most common being sole proprietorships, corporations and partnerships. The entitlement to bankruptcy relief of a small business depends, in part, upon the format through which it conducts business.