Bankruptcy Attorneys in Albany & Clifton Park NY

At Ianniello Anderson, P.C., our bankruptcy attorneys help individuals, families, and business owners across the Capital Region understand which chapter fits the situation and what comes next. The first conversation is confidential, has no pressure attached, and often clarifies more in thirty minutes than weeks of worrying on your own.

Call **(518) 371-8888** to speak with our team, or read on for an overview of the chapters and the alternatives we handle.

Chapter 7 — Liquidation Bankruptcy

Chapter 7 is the most common form of personal bankruptcy. It is designed for individuals whose income is too low to realistically repay unsecured debt, and it works by discharging — wiping out — qualifying debts in exchange for the sale of non-exempt assets. In practice, most Chapter 7 filers in New York keep everything they own, because state and federal exemptions protect a primary residence, retirement accounts, a vehicle within limits, and ordinary household goods.

Eligibility starts with the **means test**, which compares your household income against the New York median for your family size. Below the median, you generally qualify. Above it, a second-step calculation looks at disposable income after allowed expenses.

A Chapter 7 case typically runs four to six months from filing to discharge. The moment the petition is filed, an **automatic stay** takes effect — collection calls, lawsuits, wage garnishments, and most foreclosure actions stop immediately while the case proceeds.

What Chapter 7 discharges: credit card balances, medical debt, personal loans, old utility bills, deficiency balances on repossessed cars, and most other unsecured consumer debt. What it does not touch: see the limits section below.

Chapter 13 — Reorganization

Chapter 13 is the right tool for a different situation: income is high enough that Chapter 7 is not available or not advisable, or there are assets — most often a home — that need to be protected from foreclosure while arrears get caught up.

A Chapter 13 case is built around a **three-to-five-year repayment plan** filed with the court. Disposable income, after allowed living expenses, goes into the plan each month, and the trustee distributes it among creditors according to priority. Unsecured creditors often receive only a fraction of what they are owed; at the end of the plan, the remaining qualifying balances are discharged.

For homeowners, Chapter 13 is frequently the difference between keeping the house and losing it. Mortgage arrears that a servicer will not modify can be cured over the life of the plan, while the regular mortgage payment continues on schedule. Our bankruptcy attorneys work directly with our [foreclosure defense team](/real-estate/foreclosure/) when a Chapter 13 filing is part of a larger strategy to save a home.

Chapter 13 also allows people to keep vehicles, business equipment, or other secured property a Chapter 7 trustee might otherwise sell, as long as the plan treats those creditors appropriately. The trade-off is duration in exchange for the right to reorganize rather than liquidate.

Chapter 11 — Business Reorganization

Chapter 11 is the right tool when a business needs to restructure debt while continuing to operate. The business stays open, leases and contracts can be renegotiated or rejected, secured debt can be reworked, and a plan of reorganization is approved by the court.

The 2019 Small Business Reorganization Act created **Subchapter V**, a streamlined Chapter 11 path for small businesses under the debt limits — faster, less expensive, and built around the realities of owner-operated companies. Our [business law team](/business-law/) works with the bankruptcy attorneys when restructuring is the right answer for a company carrying debt it cannot service in its current form.

What Bankruptcy Can and Cannot Do

The chapters above are powerful tools, but they are not unlimited. An honest first conversation includes both halves.

**What bankruptcy generally discharges:**

• Credit card debt
• Medical bills
• Personal loans and signature loans
• Most older judgments
• Deficiency balances after a car repossession or short sale
• Old utility, phone, and similar consumer accounts

**What bankruptcy does not discharge:**

• Most federal and private student loans, absent a separate adversary proceeding showing undue hardship
• Child support and spousal maintenance arrears
• Recent income tax debt (older tax debt may qualify under specific timing rules)
• Criminal restitution, fines, and most court-ordered penalties
• Debts incurred through fraud, when properly challenged by a creditor

Secured debts like mortgages and car loans also continue unless the underlying property is surrendered. Part of the early file review is mapping which of your debts fall into which category, so you have a clear picture of what filing actually accomplishes.

Alternatives Worth Considering First

Bankruptcy is one option. It is not always the right one, and a responsible first conversation includes the alternatives.

• Debt negotiation — direct settlement with creditors, often for a fraction of the balance, when there is a lump sum available. Works best on older, unsecured accounts already in collections.
• Debt consolidation — combining multiple debts into a single loan with a lower rate. Useful when income supports repayment and the issue is interest rate and cash flow rather than total debt load.
• Loan modification — for homeowners specifically, restructuring a mortgage to cure arrears or reduce the payment, often through the lender’s loss mitigation department or a foreclosure settlement conference.
• Nonprofit credit counseling — a structured debt management plan administered by an accredited counseling agency. Slower than bankruptcy, but appropriate for situations where the goal is to repay in full over time.

Sometimes one of these resolves the problem. Sometimes the math shows that bankruptcy is the cleaner exit. Either answer is a legitimate outcome of the conversation.

Confidentiality, and the Stigma That Should Not Apply

Personal bankruptcy filings are part of the federal court record, which means they are technically public — but in practice, they sit in a federal database that no one in your life will check, and they do not show up in casual searches. The conversation you have with our attorneys is, of course, fully confidential under attorney-client privilege.

The people who file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 in Upstate New York are not who television suggests they are. They are nurses, contractors, small-business owners, retired teachers, people in the middle of a divorce, people who had a medical year that nobody plans for. The stigma that still attaches to bankruptcy in casual conversation does not match the reality of who uses it or why.

What matters in the room is the math and the law. There is no version of this conversation that involves judgment about how you got here.

Talk to Us Before You Decide.

The right time to talk to a bankruptcy attorney is before the decision is made — not after a lawsuit is filed, a wage garnishment starts, or a foreclosure sale is scheduled. The earlier the file is reviewed, the more options stay open and the better the math works.

Call **(518) 371-8888** for a confidential conversation, or fill out the form on our [contact us](/contact-us/) page and a member of our legal team will be in touch within one business day — often sooner. Learn more about the attorneys who will be working on your matter on our [our attorneys](/our-attorneys/) page, or see the rest of our [personal law practice](/personal/).