Gridley, CA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

Wells Fargo has been freezing accounts with over $5,000 to "protect the bankruptcy estate" they claim. In a recent court decision it was determined that it was no legal to do that but Wells Fargo is appealing the case and they continue to do it. Wells Fargo froze the account of my client recently for about two weeks. If you report the amount in the account in the bankruptcy petition and exempt it then the Trustee will usually instruct Wells Fargo to release the funds. However, that could keep the account frozen for several weeks (sometimes until after the meeting of creditors). Therefore, it is better to avoid Wells Fargo and not have too much money in any single bank, particularly in Wells Fargo Bank. Also, if you owe money to the bank where the account is held then the bank could be entitled to a set off and take the money to pay the debt. Therefore, it is not a good idea to keep money in an account in a bank to which you owe money because you could lose the money. This applies to all banks and, particularly, to credit unions.

I'm not completely clear on what it was that was "processing" regarding your vehicle.  Was your attorney negotiating a reaffirmation agreement with Toyota, or were you doing a redemption (which requires a motion to be filed with the court)? I have never heard of Toyota Financial repossessing a vehicle post bankruptcy where there was no reaffirmation agreement filed.  The only creditors I've heard of that does that are Chrysler and Ford.  So if that's what you're referring to with your attorney,  he would have no reason to believe Toyota would do anything.  And they very well may not.  This may all just be posturing that's going on.  As long as you stay current with the payments, it will be very difficult for them to get a state court order allowing repossession and sale of your vehicle.  But technically, they can try to do that if they really want to. Once your discharge is received, it's too late to do a reaffirmation agreement.   Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau. 

Generally, student loans are not deschargeable. There is an exception for undue hardship. This requires a lawsuit to be filed in a bankruptcy. The lawsuit is call an adversary proceeding to determine dischargeability of the debt. As to other city, county or state debts it depends on the nature of the debts as to whether they are dischargeable. Consult with an attorney as o the specific facts of your case.