The Arizona Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Trustee is tasked with ensuring that your debt retrieval process does not violate the law or the rights of the debtor.
There are rules or guidelines set by the law to ensure or oversee a smooth bankruptcy filing process. It is, however, essential to note that filing for bankruptcy does not grant the debtor immunity not to pay their debt. What happens when the debtor file for bankruptcy is that they are allowed an automatic stay.
But what exactly is automatic stay, this is a process that saves the debtor from possible actions of their creditors. This means that you, as the creditors, can’t access their bank accounts, wages, or access their secured assets to auction them. Chapter 11 allows them to actively run the operations of the business while keeping creditors away. The debtors will, however, be required to come up with a clear plan on how they will pay off their debts.
With that being said, the question becomes, what do you need to know about filing for bankruptcy?
The process
The process of filing for bankruptcy involves three main steps listed below;
- Giving a disclosure statement. This process consists of the declaration of all the assets in the debtor’s possession, in this case, chapter 11 bankruptcy. They must be able to disclose the full details of the business such as its operations, and its structure. And that information must be acceptable by the court.
- The confirmation. The debtor will be required to propose a plan on how the dues will be settled. This plan is submitted to the creditors. Once it is in their possession, the creditors can decide whether or not the program is acceptable. It is, however, essential to note that the plan must be acceptable by the judge and all the parties that constitute the creditors.
- The execution of the program. Once everyone approves of the program, a third party can be settled on who will execute the debt retrieval process. And the period may vary on the amount owed or the type of business and the assets in question.
Chapters and the conditions
To better understand this point, you will need to view the terms surrounding chapter 7. In that in chapter 7, when filing for bankruptcy, the debtors will be required to sell some of their assets. This is done will the aim of settling what the creditors owe them. It is, however, essential noting that this will entirely depend on the assets the debtors have and the debt in question.
On the other hand, when they file for chapter 13 bankruptcy, they are allowed a plan to pay off their debts in a period between three to five months. To qualify for this plan, they must meet specific standards, and this mainly concentrates on the secured and or unsecured debts. Secured debts should not, in any case, go beyond $1,149,525, and the unsecured debts must not exceed $383,175.
Secured assets are backed by collateral, while unsecured assets are not supported by collateral.
Chapter 11 can be viewed as a better option for chapter 13. What does it entail? In chapter 11, they are allowed to maintain ownership of their assets and is specially designed for businesses. They are, however, strictly required to ensure that they pay up their debts.
The bankruptcy trustee
The bankruptcy trustee is an independent individual or organization appointed by the court to oversee the smooth running of the bankruptcy filing process. What a trustee does is, holding assets on behalf of the beneficiary. A good example is the Arizona chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee. The following are the qualities of a good bankruptcy trustee;
- Should have a clear understanding of what the laws entail. This will ensure all parties involved will work within the confines of the law and based the what the filed.
- Must be independent. There is no plan B to being independent. And the trustee must ensure they are not influenced by other forces and especially in ways that would break the law.
- Should always have their clients interests at heart. They work to help the clients retrieve their debts, they must, therefore, ensure they don’t deviate from that.
- Should have exceptional investigative skills. If you seek the services of a trustee, it means that they must be able to investigate all the property of your debtor. Their investigative capacity, therefore, ensures that there are no loopholes that might affect the debt payments.
- Exceptional communication skills. As much as the trustee acts at the interest of a creditor, they must have excellent communication skills which will allow or enable the debtor to be cooperative. This will, in the long run, work to your advantage if you are a creditor.
