Why do people choose 13 over 7?

[nursepower]

Would you mind giving a synopsis of why you picked what you did?
I would think 7 would give a fresh, new start, where as 13 you have to pay for 5 years.
Why would one pick one over the other?

[Anonymous]

Back when I was close to filing for bankruptcy many years ago.. I was told by the lawyer, that I didnt qualify for Chap. 7 because my income was too high. Chap. 13 was my only option. I decided not to go through with it and settled my debt on my own regard. Not sure of any other reasons why someone would go 13 over 7 ,besides the fact they make too much to qualify for 7.

[BGinVA]

Chapter 13 allowed me to keep my house which I have never made a late payment on, where as Chapter 7 would have forced the sale of my home due to the euqity involved, that's why I chose Chapter 13.  

[ptkdude]

Check out ProPublica's series on bankruptcy for more reasons why people choose a 13 over a 7, even though they qualify for a 7.

[2GreenThumbs]

Like the other posts above mine, I made too much to qualify for Ch. 7 AND I wanted to keep my home.  Also, it stayed on my record for 7 years vs. 10 years.  My Ch. 13 was due to fall off of my reports at the end of May this year.  As of today, it's fallen off of all 3 of my credit reports.  Just a little over 19 months post DC and I went from EQ 609 to 810!  I'm not sure that would have happened so quickly had I been able to file Ch. 7.

[Anonymous]

In general, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is either used because one doesn't qualify for Chapter 7, or that person wishes to take advantages of features available in Chapter 13, but otherwise unavailable in Chapter 7, such as:

- The ability to cure (pay) delinquent mortgage loans over time

- Student loans can often be included in the monthly payment to creditors, whereas they get no benefit from a CH7 filing.

- You can "cram down" secured loans in a CH13 plan, whereas you may only be able to redeem in a CH7 plan.

[Anonymous]

I chose to file chapter 13 simply to buy me time. I was about a year away from moving and needed to keep my car. I disclosed this to my attorney and they advised it was a solid plan. I kept up with my monthly payments for about 18 months and then dismissed and filed chapter 7. This “buyed” time allowed me to move, purchase a used car and financially prepare myself for a chapter 7.

[Anonymous]

For zledford, do you mind if I ask why you chose to dismiss your Ch13 and file Ch7 instead of converting your Ch13 to a Ch7?

I’m in a scenario where I currently have slightly to high of income to qualify for a Ch7 so I was forced to file a Ch13 but my income will be changing drastically and in talking with my lawyer I plan to convert.

[silvius]

13 over 7?  Numerologists would likely say to pick 7, but I wouldn't listen to numerologists.

[coreyb80]

Taxes and parking tickets can't be wiped out in 7, but they can in 13 though.  That's why I had to file 13.