A Bankruptcy will help you if your license is suspended or your wages are being garnished by the City of Chicago. It will immediately stop all collection actions and reinstate your license shortly after the Bankruptcy is filed. You should immediately contact one of our Bankruptcy attorneys at JRQ & Associates, LLC if you are serious about reducing debt for tollway fines and parking tickets, ending wage garnishments, and reinstating your license. You could end up paying pennies on the dollar of the total debt that you owe. We will provide all of your options and give you advice and representation tailored to fit your unique situation.
The following are some examples of potential options to help reduce your debt and reinstate your license:
Chapter 13 Repayment Plan
A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a great option if you cannot pay back the entire lump sum owed right away or keep up with the payment plan offered by the City. Your license will remain reinstated as long as you stay current with your Chapter 13 Plan payment and do not rack up additional tickets, during or after, the Bankruptcy. With a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, the court consolidates all debts into one payment each month. The City of Chicago will be forced to accept the court-ordered repayment plan and often only a small portion of the debt will be paid back to the City. The rest will be eliminated upon successful completion of the Chapter 13 Plan. Please contact us for a free bankruptcy consultation to discuss your situation and determine if you qualify.
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy does not generally erase debt owed to government entities (Please see below), which includes the City of Chicago, but it will completely erase most of your other debts. This will give you the breathing room you need to pay off the fines owed to the City of Chicago. The temporary license reinstatement can be extended permanently if you pay off the necessary fines during the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy or work out a payment plan with the City upon completion of your Bankruptcy. In certain circumstances, an unpaid judgment is a reason for a license suspension. In that case, you might be able to permanently reinstate your license through a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. However, there are requirements that must be met to qualify for this type of reinstatement. Please contact us for a free bankruptcy consultation to discuss your situation and determine if you qualify.
The City of Chicago amended its parking ticket policy when a person files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and now offers an exception to the general rule that parking tickets cannot be eliminated. They now distinguish between tickets that are less than three (3) years old or more than three (3) years old. If you receive a Chapter 7 discharge, the tickets less than three (3) years old go back to the original amount of the ticket(s) and must be paid. You have up to three (3) years to pay the amount of these tickets through a payment plan with the City of Chicago. You must immediately pay for any new tickets you receive during the repayment plan. The tickets older than three (3) years will be eliminated or waived if you receive the Chapter 7 discharge and pay the tickets less than three (3) years old.
The bottom line is that a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy has the ability to reinstate your license due to failure to pay tollway fines, parking tickets, and/or qualifying unpaid judgments. Please contact an experienced Bankruptcy lawyer at JRQ & Associates, LLC to discuss all available options.
