Your driver’s license may be suspended if you have a significant amount of unpaid tollway and/or parking violations. The penalties and interest charges that are tacked on can quickly lead to thousands of dollars that must be paid to reinstate your driver’s license. You will be unable to drive unless you pay the amount due. If you are unable to drive because of unpaid tolls, parking tickets, or personal injury judgments, our Chicago bankruptcy attorneys can help!
Filing for bankruptcy can help you get your suspended driver’s license back quickly.
A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will consolidate all of your debt into one monthly payment for a period of three to five years. In most cases, the State will reinstate your driver’s license once you include unpaid toll and/or parking violations in the Chapter 13 Plan. You could end up paying pennies on the dollar of your debt through this type of reorganization. And, just as important, you will be able to drive! Speak to an experienced bankruptcy attorney at JRQ & Associates, LLC about your situation and find out your options.
A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy will not generally help discharge debt caused by parking tickets and toll violations because they are not debts that can generally be discharged, but it will provide temporary relief. The underlying debt, however, will need to be paid in order for your license to remain reinstated once the Bankruptcy case is closed. There is an exception to the rule that parking tickets cannot be discharged in Chapter 7 bankruptcy that the City of Chicago now offers.
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 bankruptcy 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 set up the payment plan with the City of Chicago. You must also 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 successfully.
A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy may also be able to help if your license was suspended due to an unpaid personal injury judgment; a person does not qualify if there was any allegation of alcohol or drug use at the time of the accident. Call or email JRQ & Associates, LLC to discuss your specific case and see what our bankruptcy lawyers can do about your suspended license.
**Please note that bankruptcy will not be able to reinstate your license if the suspension was due to impaired driving, moving violations, or nonpayment of court fines. Call our Chicago bankruptcy attorneys for specific information! **
Get back to driving to work, dropping the kids off at school, or wherever your heart desires. Set up a free bankruptcy consultation with one of our Chicago bankruptcy lawyers today and get your life back.
