Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Philadelphia County, PA

Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings for Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia County creditor the moment the case is filed.

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

The local economy is led by the City of Philadelphia, Penn Medicine, Jefferson Health, Temple Health, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Comcast, and Independence Blue Cross. That shows up directly on the debt schedules I prepare here — a typical Philadelphia County filing includes Penn Medicine, Jefferson Health, Temple Health, PGW, PWD, and Philadelphia Municipal Court credit-card judgments.

Philadelphia has the highest consumer bankruptcy filing rate of any county in Pennsylvania and the only true federal courthouse division for the Eastern District at 900 Market Street. The pressure that most often pushes Philadelphia County households into a Chapter 13 case is PGW/PWD shutoff balances, sheriff sales, and Philadelphia Municipal Court judgments.

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

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

Filing location:
Robert N.C. Nix Sr. Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
900 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Clerk's office: (215) 408-2800

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

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