However, if the credit card company gets a judgment against you and then records that judgment, it becomes a judgment lien. Judgment liens are treated as secured debts. With a judgment lien, this collateral can include everything you own to the extent you have non-exempt equity in those assets. If you want to discharge a secured debt in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you'll need to surrender your collateral. Since there would no longer be any collateral, the debt can be treated as unsecured. Few people want to surrender everything to discharge a judgment lien. For this reason, it’s important that you file bankruptcy before the judgment is recorded. Recording a judgment is treated as collections action barred by the automatic stay. Therefore, a judgment recorded after filing bankruptcy doesn't create a judgment lien. Without a judgment lien, credit card debt is unsecured, meaning it will be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. When a judgment has been recorded, if you have no non-exempt equity in your property, you can avoid it. If the judgment lien has been recorded and can't be avoided, your best bankruptcy option may be a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy features a payment plan of 36 to 60 months that can be used to pay off any secured debts. This allows a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to discharge the remainder of certain secured debts.

The triggering event that starts the time period differs among the states also. In cases where a court finds that the debt is time-ba