Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Luzerne County, PA

Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings for Luzerne County residents are handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle 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 Luzerne County clients specifically, we run the Pennsylvania means test using current state median income figures, file electronically with the Middle District clerk, and the automatic stay stops every Luzerne County creditor the moment the case is filed.

Luzerne County sits in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with Wilkes-Barre as the county seat, and its cases are administered by the Wilkes-Barre Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The local economy is transitioning from anthracite coal to Geisinger Wyoming Valley, Commonwealth Health Wilkes-Barre General, Wilkes University, and the I-81/I-80 warehouse cluster. That shows up directly on the debt schedules I prepare here — a typical Luzerne County filing includes Geisinger Wyoming Valley, Commonwealth Health, M&T Bank, and Luzerne County tax-claim balances.

Luzerne County cases are heard at the Max Rosenn U.S. Courthouse in downtown Wilkes-Barre — the Middle District's Wilkes-Barre division. The pressure that most often pushes Luzerne County households into a Chapter 13 case is warehouse and gig-driver income swings plus inherited anthracite-era property-tax debt.

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

Luzerne County bankruptcy petitions are filed in the Wilkes-Barre Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Filing location:
Max Rosenn U.S. Courthouse
197 South Main Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701
Clerk's office: (570) 831-2500

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

Filing happens electronically from our office, so Luzerne County clients almost never need to travel even though the courthouse sits right in Wilkes-Barre.