How To File Bankruptcy for Free in Iowa

Collect Your Iowa Bankruptcy Documents

To file bankruptcy, you need to submit a lot of paperwork. The information you need to fill out that paperwork will come from several financial documents. Some of these you’ll also need to submit with your bankruptcy forms when you file at the court. This is true whether or not you file your case with a lawyer.  Required documents include:

• Your tax returns from the past two years,

• Paycheck stubs from the last 60 days, and

• A bank statement for each of your accounts. When you submit your bankruptcy petition, these statements will need to include the date you filed your bankruptcy.

You’ll also need to compile information about your expenses and what you owe to creditors. Certain documents can help you easily find this information, including:

• Bank statements from the previous 6-12 months,

• Any statements or bills from your creditors,

• Any letters that collection agencies have sent, and

• A credit report.

You can get a free credit report once a year from each of the three major credit bureaus. If you’re using Upsolve’s free filing tool, it will get your credit report.

Take a Credit Counseling Course

The U.S. Bankruptcy Code mandates that you take a credit counseling course before you file. The course covers your debt relief options, including Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy, so you can make an educated decision on how to deal with your debt. You have to take the course from an approved provider, and you must complete the course within the 180 days before you file your Chapter 7 case. The course has a fee, but you may be eligible for a waiver if you can’t afford it.

Once you complete the course, you’ll receive a certificate. You need to include this document in your filing.

Complete the Bankruptcy Forms

It can take a lot of time to fill out the bankruptcy forms, but many people have successfully filed them out on their own. You can find all the required forms and download them for free as fillable PDFs at USCOURTS.gov. Most of the forms are the same for filers across the U.S. because bankruptcy is a federal process.

When you use Upsolve’s free tool to file a Chapter 7 case, Upsolve simplifies the process. You’ll fill out a questionnaire, then Upsolve’s software will generate the forms using your answers. If you file with a lawyer, you’ll also answer a questionnaire. Then the lawyer or their staff will fill out forms based on your answers.

Get Your Filing Fee

You’ll have to pay a $338 fee for filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy no matter where you live. You can qualify for a waiver if you make less than 150% of the poverty level. To see if you’re eligible, look at the Iowa Fee Waiver Eligibility table below. 

If you don’t qualify for a waiver, but you can’t pay the full fee all at once, you can also apply to pay through installments. It’s generally best to pay in full because if you have an installment plan and you miss a payment, you risk having your case dismissed. That said, some people want to file bankruptcy immediately because once they do so they’re protected from their creditors. 

For example, if you’re facing wage garnishment, once you file your bankruptcy case, you can stop the wage garnishment because of the automatic stay. The stay won’t apply to garnishments that are due to alimony and child support, but it will stop most other collections activity.

Print Your Bankruptcy Forms

If you hire a bankruptcy lawyer, they’ll submit your forms online with the court. If you file on your own without a lawyer, you need to manually fill out the forms, print them, and submit them to the court. It’s good to print each section separately so you don’t forget to include any documents. Ensure that you print all the required forms on white, 8.5 x 11-inch paper in black ink. Only print on one side of the page, and don’t staple the pages together. Finally, make sure you sign in every required signature spot.

If you file using Upsolve’s tool, you’ll receive all your forms in one downloadable packet. It will also have dividers to show which pages you should sign.

File Your Forms With the Iowa Bankruptcy Courts

The Iowa Bankruptcy Court is divided into two districts: the Northern District and the Southern District. Neither allows individuals filers without a lawyer to file their bankruptcy petition online. This means you’ll need to file your forms either in person at the courthouse or by mailing them to the court. See more information on how to do this in your district below.

Currently, both courts are open. You may want to check to see if there are any changes due to COVID-19 before you file.

Mail Documents to Your Trustee

Once you file, the court will assign a bankruptcy trustee to your case. The trustee confirms that the information you submitted is accurate. Once you file, the court will send you the trustee’s name and contact information.

Even though the court sends your information to the trustee, you’re required to send the following documents at least seven days before you meet with the trustee at the 341 meeting (more on this soon):

• Your most recent tax turns from the last two years, and

• A statement from each of your bank accounts that includes the day when you filed your petition.

Trustees also sometimes request:

• Vehicle titles

• Real estate records

• Paycheck stubs

• Recent divorce decrees

• Child support orders 

If the trustee does request additional information from you, be sure to provide it to ensure your case progresses smoothly.

Take a Debtor Education Course

U.S. bankruptcy law requires you to complete a debtor education course from an approved provider after you file for bankruptcy. If you don’t, you won’t get your bankruptcy discharge. The course covers personal financial management skills like budgeting, so you can make the most of your financial clean slate after your debts are discharged.

You need to take the course no later than 60 days after your 341 meeting or the court can dismiss your case. Once you complete the course, you have to file the certificate that proves you took it. 

Attend Your 341 Meeting

The 341 meeting is also referred to as the creditors’ meeting (or meeting of creditors) because your creditors might go to the meeting to ask you questions under oath. This usually doesn’t happen though. More often it’s just you and the trustee who wants to verify your identity and information. To do so, you’ll answer questions under oath at your 341 meeting. The trustee will ask you your name and Social Security number to confirm that the information on your bankruptcy forms is accurate. Usually, the 341 meeting doesn’t last more than 10 minutes. 

It’s not too hard to prepare for the meeting. You just need to remain calm and answer truthfully. After you complete it, you’ll be even closer to your bankruptcy discharge. Right now, all 341 meetings are being held remotely due to COVID-19.

Dealing with Your Car

Many people worry about losing property as part of their Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This is especially true for people who rely on their cars. Luckily, you have many options for dealing with your car. If you’ve paid off your motor vehicle, you can keep it if its value is less than the applicable exemption limit. Generally, the exemption you will claim will be the vehicle exemption, which is limited to $7,000 in Iowa. (We’ll talk about exemptions more below.) 

If you’re still making payments, you can hang onto the car if you’re up to date on your payment plan. You’ll need to continue making payments to keep your car. You may need to sign a reaffirmation agreement with your lender. If you don’t want to keep your car or continue a lease, you can surrender it and quit making payments. 

If you’re leasing and you're current with your payments, you can do something similar by “assuming” the lease. For either a loan or a lease, if you decide to quit making payments and to surrender the car, your debt will be erased as part of the bankruptcy.

It will be difficult to get an auto loan while you’re going through bankruptcy, but once the bankruptcy process is complete, you’ll likely be able to receive a more favorable bankruptcy loan.