Bankruptcy Lawyer in Gaithersburg, Maryland

If your car is about to be repossessed or your wages are already being garnished, filing bankruptcy can stop both. Gaithersburg is in Montgomery County, so your case goes to the Greenbelt Division of the United States Bankruptcy Court. In most cases you keep your car. If it has already been towed but not yet sold, you may be able to get it back, especially in Chapter 13. Middleton Legal is a virtual firm serving clients across Maryland, and Sheereen E. McNair works directly with every client. Call 240-896-3253 for a free consultation.

Your Car Is Usually the Emergency

In Gaithersburg, losing the car means losing the job. The commute is real, transit does not reach everywhere, and a repossession can unravel a household in a week. Here is the honest picture on vehicles in bankruptcy.

If you are current on the loan, you generally keep the car and keep paying. In Chapter 7 that often means signing a reaffirmation agreement so the loan continues as before.

If you are behind, Chapter 13 lets you cure the missed payments over the life of the plan while you keep driving. This is the single most common reason Gaithersburg clients end up in Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7.

If the car has already been repossessed but the lender has not yet sold it, filing can sometimes get it back. This is time sensitive. Lenders move fast, so call the day it happens, not the week after. And if the car is worth far less than you owe, Chapter 13 may allow the loan balance to be reduced toward the vehicle's actual value in certain circumstances, which can cut the monthly payment significantly.

How Maryland Actually Protects Your Car, and Why Most Websites Get This Wrong

You will read on a lot of Maryland bankruptcy websites that Maryland gives you a vehicle exemption of a few thousand dollars, or that you can pick the federal exemptions if they protect your car better. Both of those are wrong, and getting this wrong is how people lose a car they did not need to lose.

Here is the accurate version. Maryland has opted out of the federal exemption system, so the federal exemptions, including the federal motor vehicle exemption, are simply not available to you. And Maryland does not have a standalone motor vehicle exemption at all. There is no separate bucket reserved for your car.

What Maryland gives you instead is a wildcard exemption of up to $6,000 in cash or property of any kind. You can point that wildcard at your car. But the same $6,000 has to cover anything else you want it to protect, so if you also need it for cash in the bank or other property, it gets thin fast. Retirement accounts are generally protected under separate rules.

This is exactly why vehicle equity needs to be calculated before you file, not after. We run your actual numbers, look at what the car is really worth against what you owe, and structure the case so the wildcard goes where it does the most good.

Where Gaithersburg Cases Are Filed

Gaithersburg is in Montgomery County. Montgomery County bankruptcy cases go to the Greenbelt Division, Federal Courthouse, 6500 Cherrywood Lane, Suite 300, Greenbelt, MD 20770. Phone (301) 344-8018. Petitions may be filed with the Clerk's Office in either the Baltimore or the Greenbelt Division. Montgomery County cases are heard in Greenbelt.

What Filing Stops

The automatic stay takes effect the moment your case is filed. It stops wage garnishment, releases frozen bank accounts, pauses foreclosure sales, stops repossession, halts collection lawsuits, and ends the creditor phone calls. You do not have to negotiate with anyone. The court protection does the work.

Chapter 7 or Chapter 13

Chapter 7 clears most unsecured debt, like credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans, usually in about three to four months. You have to pass the means test, which compares your household income to the Maryland median for your household size. Chapter 13 reorganizes debt into a three to five year plan. Choose it when you are behind on a car or a mortgage, when you make too much for Chapter 7, or when you owe back taxes.

What It Costs

The court filing fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13. Attorney fees are separate and payment plans are available. In Chapter 13, most of the attorney fee is typically paid through the plan rather than up front, which is often what makes it possible when money is tight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Maryland have a motor vehicle exemption?

No. Maryland does not have a standalone motor vehicle exemption. Car equity is generally protected using Maryland's wildcard exemption of up to $6,000 in cash or property of any kind, and that same wildcard has to cover anything else you apply it to. Maryland has also opted out of the federal exemptions, so the federal vehicle exemption is not available to you either.

Can bankruptcy stop a car repossession in Gaithersburg?

Yes. Filing triggers the automatic stay, which stops repossession. If the car was already taken but not yet sold, you may be able to recover it, particularly in Chapter 13. Call immediately, because timing decides this one.

Will I lose my car if I file Chapter 7 in Maryland?

Usually not, but it depends on your equity. If you are current on payments and your equity in the car can be covered by Maryland's wildcard exemption, you generally keep the car and keep paying. Because Maryland has no dedicated vehicle exemption, the equity math matters, so have it run before you file.

I am behind on my car payments. What are my options?

Chapter 13 lets you catch up the missed payments over the plan while continuing to drive the vehicle.

Where do Gaithersburg residents file bankruptcy?

Gaithersburg is in Montgomery County, so cases go to the Greenbelt Division of the United States Bankruptcy Court, 6500 Cherrywood Lane, Suite 300, Greenbelt, MD 20770.

How much does it cost?

The court fee is $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13, plus attorney fees. Payment plans are available.

Keep the Car. Keep the Job. Keep Going.

Free consultation. Call before the tow truck, not after. Call 240-896-3253. Middleton Legal, 6301 Ivy Ln, Ste 700, Greenbelt, MD 20770.

Related pages: Montgomery County, the Chapter 7 guide, the Chapter 13 guide, and all our Maryland locations.