A Clearwater Bankruptcy Lawyer Can Help You Buy a Car Before or After Chapter 7 Filing
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If you are located in the Tampa Bay area of Pinellas County and you are considering filing bankruptcy, consult with an experienced Clearwater bankruptcy lawyer if you want the best advice on buying a car. There are many attorneys in Florida but you must contact someone who focuses in bankruptcy. Bankruptcy law is complex and only experienced bankruptcy lawyers can guide you through the complex maze of bankruptcy law in Florida. Bankruptcy allows you to legally discharge a debt. It can also be used to stop or delay foreclosure in Florida.

Before Filing

The first step in a bankruptcy proceeding is the filing of the petition in the bankruptcy court. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding, you can claim certain assets as exempt assets. You can retain such exempt assets and the trustee appointed by the bankruptcy court cannot take over and sell such exempt assets. An experienced Clearwater bankruptcy lawyer can assist you claim exemption for your car. Florida bankruptcy law allows for exemptions of cars up to $1000. If your equity in the care is $1000 or less than you will be able to keep it without any problem. Your equity is the market value less any loans against the car. If your equity exceeds $1000, an experienced Clearwater bankruptcy lawyer can apply exemptions from other categories. If not, an experienced Clearwater bankruptcy lawyer can negotiate with the trustee and enable you to retain the car by paying the amount in excess of the exemption amount.

Talk to an experienced Clearwater bankruptcy attorney if you are located in the Tampa area if you intend to buy a car before filing for bankruptcy. If your car is an unsecured purchase made within 90 days before the filing, the bankruptcy trustee will question the purchase as it will be considered as an attempt to divert your funds. An experienced Clearwater bankruptcy lawyer may be able to convince the trustee and the creditors that it is a legitimate purchase and not made to divert the funds. If you have an older car that is debt free and cannot be exempt, then you may be able to trade it in for a newer car with careful planning with the help of an experienced bankruptcy lawyer. An experienced Clearwater bankruptcy lawyer will ensure that your purchase is properly planned and does not violate the law. However bankruptcy lawyers will never advise you to buy a new car because the law bars them from advising a bankruptcy filer to incur new debt.

During Bankruptcy Proceedings

If you do not have a car or you want to purchase one during the bankruptcy proceeding, an experienced Florida bankruptcy lawyer will advise you to wait until the creditors meeting is over. However getting finance for buying a car while you are in bankruptcy can be difficult. Even if you do manage to locate a lender, you will end up paying a high interest rate. There are lenders specializing in lending to people in bankruptcy. If the reason for your bankruptcy was sudden illness or something beyond your control, the lender may be willing to lend you the money. The lender will require you to explain how you intend to repay the loan.

After Bankruptcy

If you have obtained a discharge, then you can easily buy a car. There are no legal restrictions. Many people will tell you that once you come out of bankruptcy you will find it difficult to get credit as bankruptcy will remain on your credit for 10 years and your credit scores will be less. This is not necessarily the case. Talk to an experienced Clearwater or St. Petersburg bankruptcy attorney. He or she will explain how you can improve your credit. All lenders will consider your credit before providing credit.

An experienced Clearwater bankruptcy lawyer will tell you that there are lenders in Tampa who are willing to finance your car purchase and will advise you to look beyond the car dealer for finance since the dealer generally offers only its own limited range of loan products. There are lenders who focus on providing car loans for people who have just come out of bankruptcy. Such lender will offer you finance because they know that your unsecured is already reduced by bankruptcy and you have a lower debt to income ratio making it easier for you to meet future financial commitments. Lenders want to earn more by way of interest. Since you have just come out bankruptcy the lender can and will charge you more as interest. Lastly the loan is secured by your car which the lender can repossess in case of default.

Filed under: Clearwater Bankruptcy Lawyer

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