Creditors don't care if there's food on the table or a roof over your head. They just want their money!  So. . . we help people file for relief under the United States Bankruptcy Code because we're "The Good Guys."




















Robert Gregory Lathram and Marcus Herbert

We have more than 34 years of combined experience as lawyers representing individuals, families, and businesses in bankruptcy.

In addition to being widely recognized for our expertise in bankruptcy, we are passionate -- both about the law and our clients' rights to a fresh start under the United States Constitution.

Clients who have called us to find out how bankruptcy really works often tell us later that initially they felt "guilty" or "ashamed" about having asked for this information.

We always remind them that the founders of this nation intended that every citizen would have the right to a fresh start under bankruptcy law rather than being condemned to a debtor's prison and indentured servitude.

In fact, the idea that debts should not become unmanageable because of high interest rates, which will take food from the table or the roof from over your head, and ultimately, also should be forgiven if they cannot be repaid in a reasonable amount of time is firmly established as a moral virtue in the Judeo-Christian ethical tradition:  

"If thou lend money to any of my needy people, thou shall not be as a moneylender unto them and charge interest."

Exodus, 22:25 

"At the end of every seven years every creditor shall make a release and not exact a debt from his neighbor; it is called the Lord’s release."

Deuteronomy, 15:1-2

We certainly understand why banks and other creditors ignore these virtues and choose to exercise their legal rights to make money by charging interest on the credit they have extended to our clients and by not forgiving our clients' debts. So, until the lion does lay down with the lamb and creditors acquire these moral virtues, we zealously will assert our clients' rights under the United States Bankruptcy Code.
THE METRO EAST BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS
Lathram & Herbert, LLP
Our Disclaimer (the fine print that everyone should read but no one does until it's too late):
We believe that the information on this website will help you to learn how bankruptcy works and how you can use it to help you regain control of your financial life. However, this information is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for specific legal advice. You always should consult a competent attorney for specific advice regarding your own legal situation.

203 West Main Street
Collinsville, Illinois 62234

618.345.4600 Telephone
618.345.4603 Facsimile

Questions? Contact us at: info@bankruptcylawyers-metroeast.com

Office hours:  Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
                    Saturdays, evenings by appointment
BASIC BANKRUPTCY INFORMATION

I've heard that you lose everything if you file for bankruptcy?

Absolutely not!  Every person or family filing for bankruptcy is entitled to keep certain basic items of property, whether clothes, household furnishings, wedding rings, or other personal belongings, through the use of "exemptions."  There are "exemptions" for your personal property, your vehicles, your retirement/pension funds, the equity in your home. Although some of these "exemptions" are not unlimited, they do protect most of the property that the average person or family owns on the day their bankruptcy case is filed.

Yes, but can I keep my house and car?

In most cases, you do not lose any of your possessions, including your house or car, when you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.  And, in fact, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy specifically is designed to help you save assets, such as your house or car if you already are facing foreclosure or repossession. 

As you did prior to filing bankruptcy, you simply continue to pay your obligations on these assets after you file bankruptcy if you’d like to keep them.  As long as the amount of equity in the property you own is protected by the exemptions and/or by the amount you owe to the creditor with the lien against the property, a bankruptcy trustee cannot take them in either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 case and sell them and use the money to pay other creditors.

If you have too much equity in your property to protect in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, you may be eligible to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case and repay your property’s non-exempt value over a three (3) to five (5) year period.  A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is not a “liquidation” bankruptcy, and your house and car are not in danger of being taken by the bankruptcy trustee to satisfy your debts.

Most people who lose their house in bankruptcy actually choose voluntarily to surrender the property back to the mortgage company because they can no longer afford the monthly mortgage payment. Bankruptcy law allows you to walk away from the debt even if your real estate is sold for less than the balance owed on the mortgage.

How can bankruptcy save my house from foreclosure?

Across the nation, foreclosure cases in state courts are at an all-time high because of adjustable rate mortgages, which periodically raise the interest rate on a mortgage, and, therefore, the monthly mortgage payment.  Unfortunately, refinancing usually is not an option for most families in this situation because they do not have enough equity in their homes. 

If you've fallen behind on your mortgage payments and are facing a foreclosure proceeding, filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case may help you save your home.  Filing a Chapter 13 case can be used to stop an imminent foreclosure and keep a roof over your head.  Filing a Chapter 13 case stops all collection proceedings in an Illinois state court, including all pending or upcoming foreclosure proceedings and sales.

After filing a Chapter 13 case, however, you must resume making your regular monthly mortgage payments.  In addition, you must make a second monthly payment to a bankruptcy trustee in an amount that will catch up all of the monthly payments on which you are behind, but you can take up to 60 months to make these payments.  Chapter 13 works best for families who have a regular source of income and can make their regular mortgage payments and the additional required payment under the repayment plan. 

Again, filing a Chapter 13 case is not a fool-proof end to a possible foreclosure. Miss payments after filing a Chapter 13 case and your lender is free to begin foreclosure proceedings again after obtaining permission from the bankruptcy court.  But, if you make all your payments under your repayment plan, you have a good chance of getting back in your lender’s good graces, and, more importantly, keeping your home.  

Will bankruptcy wipe out all of my debts?

Bankruptcy eliminates most, but not all, debts. Many major debts, including credit card debt, medical bills, broken leases, utility bills, repossessions, payday loans, and unsecured failed business debts, usually can be eliminated in a bankruptcy. Certain other debts that cannot always be eliminated are criminal debts, some tax debts, student loans, back alimony, child support payments, and debts you obtained through fraud.
It doesn't matter where you live in the Metro East area - Alton, Belleville, Collinsville, Columbia, East St. Louis, Edwardsville, Fairview Heights, Freeburg, Granite City, Highland, Lebanon, Mascoutah, O'Fallon, Pontoon Beach, Scott Air Force Base, Shiloh, Swansea, Trenton, Troy, Waterloo, Wood River - we'll help you regain control of your financial life.  So, why wait any longer?  Your fresh start is just a telephone call away.