Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Lehigh County, PA

Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings for Lehigh County residents are handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Chapter 13 is a 3–5 year repayment plan that stops foreclosure, lets you cure mortgage arrears, and pays priority taxes over time while discharging remaining unsecured debt at the end.

Chapter 13 is the right choice when you're behind on a mortgage, have non-dischargeable tax debt, have too much equity for Chapter 7, or earn too much to pass the Chapter 7 means test. Your plan payment is built from disposable income plus any arrears, priority taxes, and secured catch-up.

For Lehigh County clients specifically, we run the Pennsylvania means test using current state median income figures, file electronically with the Eastern District clerk, and the automatic stay stops every Lehigh County creditor the moment the case is filed.

Lehigh County sits in Lehigh Valley, with Allentown as the county seat, and its cases are administered by the Reading Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The local economy is led by Lehigh Valley Health Network, St. Luke's University Health Network, Air Products, PPL, and the Route 22 warehouse corridor. That shows up directly on the debt schedules I prepare here — a typical Lehigh County filing includes Lehigh Valley Hospital, St. Luke's, Service Electric, and First Commonwealth FCU.

The Lehigh Valley is one of the fastest-growing logistics hubs in the Northeast — Lehigh filers are often warehouse workers and CDL drivers with irregular schedules. The pressure that most often pushes Lehigh County households into a Chapter 13 case is warehouse-shift volatility and Lehigh Valley Hospital medical bills.

In a Lehigh County Chapter 13 we build the plan around the arrears that actually exist here — mortgage catch-up on Lehigh County property, sheriff sales scheduled at the Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown, county and school-district property taxes, and PA Department of Revenue claims.

Lehigh County bankruptcy petitions are filed in the Reading Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Filing location:
The Madison Building
400 Washington Street, Suite 300
Reading, PA 19601
Clerk's office: (610) 208-5040

341 meeting of creditors: Held virtually by the Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 trustee assigned to your case — Lehigh County filers almost never appear in person at Reading.

The drive from Allentown to Reading is rarely necessary — petitions are filed electronically and the 341 meeting of creditors is held by video.