Outstanding Case Results

The examples below are representative results from cases handled by the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin, PA. Identifying details have been removed or generalized to protect client confidentiality. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every bankruptcy and debt-relief case depends on its own facts.

Chapter 7 – Full Discharge of Unsecured Debt

Coral Gables couple with approximately $148,000 in credit-card and medical debt. After successfully completing the means test, the case was filed and the discharge was entered approximately 95 days later. All unsecured debt was eliminated. The clients kept their homestead, two vehicles, and retirement accounts in full.

Chapter 13 – Saved Home From Foreclosure Sale

Miami client filed Chapter 13 the day before a scheduled foreclosure sale on a homestead with approximately $42,000 in mortgage arrears. The arrearage was cured over 60 months through the plan. The client retained the home and is current on the mortgage today.

Chapter 13 – Lien Strip of Second Mortgage

Hialeah client owed approximately $76,000 on a second mortgage that was wholly unsecured at the time of filing because the first mortgage exceeded the home's fair market value. The second mortgage was stripped and treated as unsecured debt in the Chapter 13 plan. Upon plan completion, the second mortgage lien was extinguished.

Chapter 13 – Cramdown of Vehicle Loan

Broward client owed $19,400 on a vehicle purchased more than 910 days before filing, with a fair market value of approximately $9,800. The loan principal was crammed down to the fair market value and the interest rate was reduced to the Till rate. Monthly payments fell substantially through the Chapter 13 plan.

Chapter 11 Subchapter V – Small Business Reorganization

Miami-Dade small-business client with approximately $620,000 in trade debt and an SBA loan filed Subchapter V. A consensual plan was confirmed restructuring the SBA loan and paying unsecured creditors a percentage over three years. The business remains operating.

Foreclosure Defense – Lawsuit Dismissed

Foreclosure complaint against Coral Gables homeowner dismissed after motion practice exposed defects in standing documentation. The client subsequently negotiated a loan modification without filing bankruptcy.

FDCPA Settlement – Collection Harassment

Five-figure settlement obtained for Miami client harassed by debt collector after written cease-communication request was ignored. Underlying alleged debt was also resolved.

Wage Garnishment – Stopped Same Week

Pembroke Pines client whose paycheck had just been garnished filed an emergency Chapter 7 petition within five business days of the initial consultation. The garnishment stopped immediately. Discharge entered approximately four months later, eliminating the underlying judgment.

Tax Debt – Older Income Tax Discharged in Chapter 7

Client with approximately $34,000 in federal income tax debt from tax years more than three years old, where returns were timely filed and the assessments were more than 240 days old, received a full discharge of the tax debt as part of a Chapter 7 case.

What a "Good Result" Looks Like in Each Chapter

Because every case turns on its own facts, it is more useful to describe the categories of outcomes the firm routinely pursues than to publish individual dollar figures. A good outcome in bankruptcy is rarely measured by a single number. It is measured by which assets are preserved, which debts are eliminated, which creditors are restructured, and whether the client emerges in a position to rebuild.

Chapter 7 Outcomes

A successful Chapter 7 case ordinarily ends with the entry of a discharge order under 11 U.S.C. § 727 approximately 90 to 100 days after filing, eliminating personal liability on all dischargeable debts. The strongest Chapter 7 results combine four elements: (1) the client passes the means test cleanly and avoids any motion to dismiss under 11 U.S.C. § 707(b); (2) all assets are fully protected by Florida exemptions; (3) no creditor files a nondischargeability adversary under 11 U.S.C. § 523; and (4) the discharge is broad enough to cover the debts that motivated the filing.

Chapter 13 Outcomes

A successful Chapter 13 case ends with plan confirmation under 11 U.S.C. § 1325, completion of plan payments over three to five years, and the entry of a Chapter 13 discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 1328. The plans the firm regularly confirms involve some combination of:

• Cure of mortgage arrears over the life of the plan to save a home from foreclosure
• Strip-off of a wholly unsecured junior mortgage under In re Tanner and 11 U.S.C. § 506(a)
• Cramdown of a vehicle loan to the collateral's fair market value where the 910-day rule does not apply
• Payment of priority tax debt over 60 months without interest accrual under 11 U.S.C. § 1322(a)(2)
• Payment of nondischargeable domestic-support obligations through the plan
• Treatment of general unsecured creditors at a percentage determined by disposable income and the best-interests test

Chapter 11 and Subchapter V Outcomes

The benchmark for a successful Chapter 11 or Subchapter V case is confirmation of a plan under 11 U.S.C. § 1129 (or, in Subchapter V, § 1191) that the debtor can actually perform. For small-business clients, that typically means restructuring secured debt to match the underlying collateral value, deferring or compromising trade debt, addressing priority tax obligations, and emerging with the operating business intact. For high-asset individual debtors who cannot use Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, confirmation often turns on whether the plan satisfies the absolute priority rule or, in Subchapter V, the "fair and equitable" standard with respect to unsecured creditors.

Foreclosure Defense Outcomes

In foreclosure defense, a positive outcome can take several forms. Sometimes the case results in a full dismissal because the plaintiff lacks standing or cannot prove the chain of assignment of the note. Sometimes the outcome is a negotiated loan modification, short sale, or deed in lieu. And sometimes the right answer is to use the case to buy time while structuring a Chapter 13 cure of arrears.

Consumer Litigation Outcomes

FDCPA and FCCPA cases involving creditor harassment commonly resolve through pre-litigation settlement or after limited discovery, with the collector paying statutory damages, the consumer's attorney's fees, and any actual damages. The firm structures these cases so that the client pays nothing out of pocket and the underlying alleged debt is also resolved as part of the settlement when feasible.

Why Results Vary

Bankruptcy outcomes depend heavily on facts that are particular to each case: household size, current and historical income, the composition of assets and debts, the timing of transfers in the prior two-to-four years, the cooperation of the client in producing documents, the assigned trustee, the assigned judge, and the strategy adopted by individual creditors. Two clients with apparently similar numbers can have very different outcomes. The most predictable element of any case is not the result – it is the process: file accurate schedules, meet every deadline, respond promptly to trustee inquiries, and address creditor issues head-on rather than hoping they go away.

Procedural Standards a Case Must Meet

The firm's case results reflect a baseline of procedural discipline. In every case, the firm aims to:

• File a complete petition under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1007 with all required schedules, the statement of financial affairs, the means-test form, the credit-counseling certificate, the statement of monthly income, and the disclosure of attorney compensation
• Provide the trustee with the 60 days of pre-petition pay stubs and the most recent tax return required under 11 U.S.C. § 521 and Local Rule 2003-1
• Attend the 341 meeting of creditors with the client and respond to all reasonable trustee follow-up inquiries
• File the post-petition financial-management course certificate before the deadline so the discharge actually enters
• Monitor the docket for proofs of claim, objections to exemptions, motions for relief from the automatic stay, and adversary complaints, and respond within the applicable deadlines under the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure

What Counts as a Disappointing Result

It is just as important to be candid about cases that do not produce the result the client hoped for. Common reasons a bankruptcy case underperforms expectations include undisclosed assets discovered by the trustee, prior-year transfers that the trustee recovers as preferences or fraudulent conveyances, debts that turn out to be nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523 (for example, recent tax debt, domestic support obligations, student loans absent an undue-hardship finding, and debts incurred by fraud), and post-petition life changes that derail a Chapter 13 plan. Most of these can be anticipated and managed if the issue is raised in the initial consultation rather than discovered by the trustee after filing.

How These Outcomes Translate to Your Case

No two cases are alike, but the patterns repeat. If the situation is mortgage arrears with stable income, the analysis points toward a Chapter 13 cure. If the situation is dischargeable unsecured debt with assets within exemption limits, the analysis points toward Chapter 7. If the situation is a personally-guarantied operating business, the analysis points toward Subchapter V or an out-of-court workout. If the situation is collector harassment, the analysis points toward an FDCPA / FCCPA claim that pays the consumer rather than the consumer paying anyone. A good intake conversation is one that identifies which pattern applies and rules out the patterns that do not.

Disclaimer

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The summaries on this page are simplified for confidentiality and clarity. They do not constitute legal advice and do not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether any particular strategy is available in your case depends on facts that can only be evaluated through a confidential consultation and a review of your specific records.

To discuss whether a similar approach might work in your case, call 786-522-1411 or email [email protected].