The Law Office of Della J. Durham, P.C. is a private practice law firm designated as a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. All initial consultations are free. We offer Saturday and evening consultations by appointment for those who cannot afford to lose income from missed work.
Chapter 7 is also commonly called “total bankruptcy” because the debtor receives a total “discharge” (release from personal liability) on debts with a few exceptions. Examples of “non-dischargeable” debts include debts for back child support, some federal income taxes, and student loans. An unsecured debt is a debt where the creditor does not hold a security agreement or lien on any property to secure the debt. Secured debt is debt where the creditor does have a lien on the property and has a right to take the property upon default to satisfy the debt. Examples of secured debts are mortgages, vehicle loans, and tax liens. When a Chapter 7 is filed, the secured creditor does not lose their secured status and the debtor must choose whether to keep and continue paying for the property or to surrender the property to the creditor. If the debtor chooses to surrender the property, any deficiency owed to the creditor after the creditor sells the surrendered property and applies the proceeds to the debt balance, would become unsecured debt and would be discharged in the bankruptcy.
I attended law school in Lubbock and received my Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1997. Upon returning to Abilene, I began my legal career as a staff attorney with Noah Project, Inc. of Abilene, where I represented victims of family violence in Taylor County and ten surrounding counties. Subsequently, I became an associate attorney with Monte J. White and Associates, P.C., where I practiced primarily Bankruptcy law. Through 2006, I maintained a very busy, high volume bankruptcy law practice representing both consumer debtors and business debtors in Federal Bankruptcy Court.
Foreclosure
The automatic stay operates as an injunction that automatically stops all lawsuits, repossessions, foreclosures, garnishments, and collection efforts, including harassing telephone calls. In most cases, the automatic stay goes into effect immediately upon filing a bankruptcy petition to protect the "bankruptcy estate". A bankruptcy estate (similar to a probate estate created upon a person’s death) is created by law when a bankruptcy case is filed. The bankruptcy estate includes all legal or equitable interests in any property or assets the debtor owns.
Debt Collection
Immediately upon your filing a bankruptcy case, in most cases, an automatic stay becomes active to protect your bankruptcy property interests. The automatic stay operates as an injunction that stops all debt collection actions against you or your property, including those unscrupulous and harassing telephone collection calls which should be referred to your attorney's office for handling.