Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the chapter that we typically recommend if you are eligible because it is the quickest, the easiest, the cheapest and it generally does the most for you. If you have a secured creditor (someone that if you did not pay them they could take property away from you) then you must remain current with that creditor if you want to retain the property. However, the advantage in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is that if you do not want to keep property (such as giving back a house or a car) then you can surrender the property back to the creditor and any debt that you owed that creditor would be discharged just like your credit cards.
Chapter 12 is for farmers. Chapter 11 is a business bankruptcy for a “debtor in possession” who still has a viable business but it is just too burdened to continue doing business with the current debt load.
Chapter 13 is a wage earners plan. It is designed to give you 60 months (5 years) to get yourself caught up on a house that you were behind on, to avoid repossession, or to stop penalties and interest on past due IRS debt. Most of our clients pay back nothing to their unsecured creditors in a Chapter 13.