U.S. BANKRUPTCY

U.S. bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor that cannot repay the debt it owes to creditors.

Corporations and other business forms file under Chapters 7 or 11.  Complete loss of Equity holder's Investment results in Chapter 7 and can result in Chapter 11 proceedings.

The most common types of personal bankruptcy for individuals are Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. As much as 65% of all U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings are Chapter 7 cases.

There are six types (chapters) of bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code, located at Title 11 of the United States Code:

• Chapter 7: basic liquidation for individuals and businesses; also known as straight bankruptcy; it is the simplest and quickest form of bankruptcy available.
• Chapter 9: municipal bankruptcy; a federal mechanism for the resolution of municipal debts.
• Chapter 11: rehabilitation or reorganization, used primarily by business debtors, but sometimes by individuals with substantial debts and assets; known as corporate bankruptcy, it is a form of corporate financial reorganization which typically allows companies to continue to function while they follow debt repayment plans.
• Chapter 12: rehabilitation for family farmers and fishermen.
• Chapter 13: rehabilitation with a payment plan for individuals with a regular source of income; enables individuals with regular income to develop a plan to repay all or part of their debts; also known as Wage Earner Bankruptcy.
• Chapter 15: ancillary and other international cases; provides a mechanism for dealing with bankruptcy debtors and helps foreign debtors to clear debts.