You may have seen ads for New York debt relief, or you are just considering debt relief in general due to a financial hardship.
You are in the right place.
The purpose of this article is to help you understand the legitimacy of debt relief in New York. A reliable way to assess the legitimacy of a program is to consider online reviews. However, you may find that there are not many reviews covering New York debt relief. That said, we found some interesting insights. Here’s what we'll cover:
New York debt relief is an organization that links debtors with other debt settlement companies. Alternatively, it is a financial hardship option when you are unable to afford your debt.
Debt relief is a broader term that refers to getting assistance to help with your debt. Here are the various debt relief options:
Please note that many people consider New York when they are facing a hardship such as New York wage garnishment or a debt collection lawsuit or something that is forcing them to consider their options. Additionally, you may be curious about the popularity of the bankruptcy option.
The cost of New York debt relief is one of the most important things to consider because you are looking for debt relief.
At Ascend, we believe that debt relief may be a good option, but it’s only in the context of understanding all of your options and understanding the cost of that option. This is precisely why we built a free debt relief cost comparison calculator below that helps you compare the cost of debt relief, debt management, bankruptcy, and debt payoff planning. It’s 100% free, and doesn’t even require an email address.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy is often the cheapest and fastest New York debt relief option, but you usually have to qualify using the New York bankruptcy means test, which is based on your income, household size, and state. If it’s helpful, here are the income limits for bankruptcy cases filed on or after April 1, 2025.
| # of People | Annual Income |
|---|---|
| 1 | $68,795 |
| 2 | $89,052 |
| 3 | $108,589 |
| 4 | $134,443 |
| 5 | $145,543 |
| 6 | $156,643 |
| 7 | $167,743 |
| 8 | $178,843 |
| 9 | $189,943 |
From using the calculator, you will notice that the cost to file bankruptcy in New York is $313 for a Chapter 13 and $338 for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You may notice that does not include attorney fees though. Attorney fees may vary depending on where you live. For example, the Chapter 7 attorney fees are estimated at $1,950 in New York City vs $1,170 in Rochester. For Chapter 13 bankruptcy in New York the estimated attorney fee is $3500 - $7500.
You may also notice that you are at risk of losing assets, such as your home or vehicle, if you have too much equity in a vehicle. To protect these assets, you can look at the New York bankruptcy exemptions. For example, you can see the homestead exemption information below (source):
“N.Y. Civ. Prac. L. and R. § 5206(a). *Real property including co-op, condo, or mobile home, to $165,550 for the counties of Kings, New York, Queens, Bronx, Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam; $131,325 for the counties of Dutchess, Albany, Columbia, Orange, Saratoga, and Ulster; $82,775 for the remaining counties in the state. Husband and wife may double.”
For debt management in New York, you’ll see the estimated monthly payment driven by potential interest rates reduction. Debt management is often most helpful if you have high interest credit cards.
For debt settlement, you’ll notice an estimated fee amount and an estimated settlement amount as the companies are trying to negotiate amounts (from say $10,000 to $5,000).
Many people are looking for emergency debt relief in New York, often capturing the most recent events. For example, a debt relief company may be pitching inflation debt relief when inflation is high.
If a company is promising you New York emergency debt relief, please do your research to make sure that they are not just trying to pitch to you a debt relief program with high fees.
Many people in New York experience hardship that requires some debt relief. Thankfully, there are legal debt relief options such as bankruptcy in New York to help you get relief from your debt and a fresh start.
In New York, you may also find legal aid options helpful that can help you get the help you need at a lower cost.
Please note that not everyone qualifies for free legal aid. If you are at or below the New York poverty guidelines, you could also have your bankruptcy filing fee waived. Below are the New York poverty guidelines.
| # of People | 150% Poverty Guideline |
|---|---|
| 1 | $15,060 |
| 2 | $20,440 |
| 3 | $25,820 |
| 4 | $31,200 |
| 5 | $36,580 |
| 6 | $41,960 |
| 7 | $47,340 |
| 8 | $52,720 |
| 9 | $58,100 |
| * Add $5,380 for each individual in excess of 9. | |
Finally, let’s cover some of the pros and cons of debt relief in New York. You can find this list of pros and cons in our debt relief calculator results as well.
We recently polled thousands of our users to help us understand which cons the debt relief companies did not provide. Here were the top cons that our user provided. So, if you get a quote from a debt relief firm, you may want to understand each of these cons.
Pursuing debt relief in New York is ultimately your decision and you know your finances best. For example, are you living in Buffalo and seeing that your rent is going to continue to rise? Are you facing inflation pressures from living in New York City and trying to live on a New York minimum wage of $13.20 per hour?
What you can do (if helpful) is take the free New York debt relief calculator below that can help you estimate the costs and pros and cons of each of your options.
