Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Vermont

Re: Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a federal matter; you can file for protection in any of the 50 states, including Vermont. However, if you live in Vermont and have lived there for at least the past 180 days, you MUST file in Vermont; you can't decide you'd rather file in NY or MA or Hawaii (that would be a nice vacation; go to Hawaii, drop all your debt; sounds good to me!)

What would happen and how it would all work in your particular bankruptcy depends in very large part on your individual circumstances and to answer your question an attorney would need to know a lot more than what you have posted (or should post) here.

In general, though, bankruptcy is the process whereby the debtor (you in this case) requests the court to issue an order forbidding creditors to ever contact or make collection attempts against that debtor again for the debts listed in the bankruptcy petition. It comes in several flavors: there's liquidation (aka Chapter 7), wherein all debts can be simply wiped out; there's Chapter 9, which is the municipality's option in filing for bankruptcy protection; there's Chapter 11 which is generally used for business reorganizations; there's Chapter 12 which is for farmers and fishermen running family-owned operations; and there's Chapter 13, which is debt reorganization for individuals ("individuals" in bankruptcy lingo also includes married couples).

The usual chapters for individuals/marrieds to file under are 7 and 13 (yes, it is still possible to file under Chapter 7 even with the new bankruptcy law in place; it's just more of a pain in the tail).

Each chapter of the code offers different advantages and disadvantages; I recommend you do a little research into your various options (the bankruptcy courts' websites are packed with information) and, WITH YOUR ATTORNEY (and you need an attorney to watch over your interests in a bankruptcy filing, especially with the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Act in place), select the option that would be best for you.

Do this soon; don't wait for the bank to move forward with a foreclosure, especially if you want to keep your house (and it may still be possible for you to keep your house).

Good luck.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.