Step 4Your planBankruptcy & debt
Bankruptcy and debt, explained plainly
What bankruptcy can and cannot do in Texas, whether it could pause a foreclosure sale, what to gather before you talk to a lawyer, and your rights with debt collectors. Free, in English and Spanish, no account needed.
Start where you are
- Can bankruptcy stop my sale?See how the automatic stay lines up with your sale date — and when it would not start at all.
- Chapter 7 vs Chapter 13The two chapters families use, side by side, in plain words.
- Readiness checklistThe papers a lawyer or legal aid will ask for, tailored to you, with a questions sheet to print.
- Income estimateCompare your household income with the Texas median the court uses. Estimate only.
- Debt worksheetList what you owe and see which debts are secured, priority or unsecured — and which may be too old to sue on.
- Your rights with collectorsValidation, stop-contact letters, old debts, wage protection and credit reports.
- Letters you can sendValidation request, stop-contact, credit dispute, old-debt inquiry and a payoff request to your servicer.
- Free help by countyYour county's bankruptcy court, legal aid offices and statewide help.
- Scam warningsBankruptcy mills, fake preparers and foreclosure-rescue filings.
Numbers worth knowing
- Credit counseling
- within 180 days before filing
- Chapter 7 court fee
- $338
- Can be paid in installments; a Chapter 7 fee waiver exists for low incomes.
- Chapter 13 court fee
- $313
- Texas median, family of four
- $117,962
- U.S. Trustee table for cases filed on or after Jul 15, 2026.
- Chapter 13 plan length
- 3 to 5 years
Checked Sep 22, 2026
The law behind these pages
Every rule quoted here is copied word for word from the official text we store and re-check. Tap a rule to read its plain-language summary.
11 U.S.C. § 110(a)Federal law regulates people who are not lawyers and prepare bankruptcy papers for pay. They may type forms, but may not give legal advice — including which chapter to file or which property to protect. Techoclaro does neither: it explains and helps you get ready.
Quoted text“prepares for compensation a document for filing”Verified against the official source
11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(1)Before anyone can file, they must take a credit-counseling briefing from a U.S. Trustee–approved agency within the 180 days before filing. It can be done by phone or online.
Quoted text“an individual may not be a debtor under this title unless such individual has, during the 180-day period ending on the date of filing of the petition by such individual, received from an approved nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency”Verified against the official source
11 U.S.C. § 362(a)Filing a bankruptcy case creates an "automatic stay": a court order, by law, that pauses most collection — including a foreclosure sale — from the moment the case is filed.
Quoted text“operates as a stay, applicable to all entities”Verified against the official source
11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3)(A)If a person had one bankruptcy case dismissed in the past year, the stay in a new case ends on day 30 unless a judge extends it.
Quoted text“shall terminate with respect to the debtor on the 30th day after the filing of the later case”Verified against the official source
11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(4)(A)(i)If two or more cases were dismissed in the past year, no automatic stay starts at all when a new case is filed. A judge can be asked, within 30 days, to put one in place.
Quoted text“the stay under subsection (a) shall not go into effect upon the filing of the later case”Verified against the official source
11 U.S.C. § 1322(c)(1)The right to cure a home-loan default in Chapter 13 lasts until the home is sold at a lawful foreclosure sale. After the sale, it is generally too late.
Quoted text“until such residence is sold at a foreclosure sale that is conducted in accordance with applicable nonbankruptcy law”Verified against the official source
Tex. Prop. Code § 41.001(a)Texas protects a homestead from most creditors — but not from the mortgage, property taxes, or other liens the law allows on a home.
Quoted text“are exempt from seizure for the claims of creditors except for encumbrances properly fixed on homestead property”Verified against the official source
Tex. Prop. Code § 42.001(b)(1)Current wages are protected from ordinary creditors in Texas; court-ordered child support is the main exception.
Quoted text“current wages for personal services, except for the enforcement of court-ordered child support payments”Verified against the official source