Hello, welcome to my web page for the

Bankruptcy Primer for the Real Estate Investor

     The Bankruptcy Primer for the Real Estate Investor is a publication providing basic bankruptcy information to those individuals who are not familiar with the bankruptcy process.  It is written with the real estate investor in mind and covers aspects of the bankruptcy process that an investor may encounter when dealing with sellers.  The book discusses the new bankruptcy laws that were enacted in 2005 and how those changes to the bankruptcy laws may affect decisions to or not to invest. 

The book has a soft bound cover and is 284 pages long. A Small excerpt of the book is below which will give you an idea of the what is discussed in the book.

There are a couple of ways to order the book. 

One, I do have a limited number of print version copies available and if you are interested in ordering one direct from me, you can send me $40.00 (check or money order is fine) and e-mail me your name and address and as soon as I receive the funds, I will mail out your copy.  Please add 7% Georgia sales tax to the total order.

Two, to avoid paying a sales tax, you can visit my printer’s web site and order direct from them.  Click here www.lulu.com and when the web site opens, click on the browse button at the top which will take you to a page where you can browse all of the books that lulu.com prints and sells.  Once you are on the Browse page, at the top you will find a search tab for publication listings.  Simply type in Bankruptcy Primer for the Real Estate Investor in that search tab and you will be directed to my store front. Also, make sure that you click on “books” category in the tab next to the search tab.  Again the cost for the print version is $40.00 and by ordering direct from the printer, you avoid the sales tax charges.  You can also download a copy immediately if you desire at a cost of $29.78

Thanks, and happy investing.

 

Chapter 5

Types  of Bankruptcy Available

  Bankruptcy is divided into individual chapters covering all aspects of the bankruptcy process. There are four ways that a debtor can file for protection under the bankruptcy laws, they are Chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13.  Each chapter requires certain data for filing a case and depending on a debtor’s particular circumstances, he will choose one of these. An additional chapter was added to the code under BAPCPA -- Chapter 15 which deals with cross-border (foreign) cases which will not be covered in the book.

 What is Chapter 7?  Chapter 7 is a liquidation style of bankruptcy. A chapter 7 debtor, whether he be an individual or they be jointly filing husband and wife, is looking for an elimination or discharge (forgiveness) of all his or her unsecured debts.  In the chapter on the history of bankruptcy, I mentioned that when debtors file a Chapter 7 case, they are looking for that fresh start that bankruptcy provides.  The fresh start policy also applies to Chapter 13 debtors but in a different way.

 Under Chapter 7, a debtor’s unsecured debt will be discharged once he has satisfied all the necessary obligations provided for by the Bankruptcy Code. Some of those obligations are the filing of a petition and attendance at a hearing. For those unfamiliar with  unsecured debt, it is all debt that is not secured by some form of property, either real or personal in nature.  Some good examples of unsecured debt are credit cards, signature loans, past due medical bills and personal signature loans.  A debtor in Chapter 7 may have a home, a car or some other tangible property that he may or may not want to surrender. If he owes money on that tangible property, then the debt is considered secured. It is secured because the debtor still has an outstanding balance that must be paid if he wants to keep that property. If a debtor has a home, a car, or any other secured debt, then he must decide whether he wants to keep that property or surrender it.

 If the debtor wants to keep the property, then he has to determine whether any equity exists in that property.  If the property has no equity or very little, then it becomes a simple matter of reaffirming the debt with the creditor.  Reaffirmation is simply when the debtor and the creditor sign an agreement whereby, in most cases, the terms of the original contract will be affirmed with the debtor continuing to make payments on that debt as if it was never included in the bankruptcy case. An example would be a debtor who owns a house that has one or more mortgages but has very little or no equity.  As previously mentioned in another section, the State of Georgia allows debtors a $10,000 exemption ($20,000 for joint filers) for a homestead.

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