Subchapter V Bankruptcy Attorney in Orlando | Small Business Reorganization
Facing business debt in Orlando? Subchapter V lets small businesses reorganize and stay open. Attorney Juan Burgos handles Sub V cases in English and Spanish. Free consult.
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Subchapter V Bankruptcy Attorney in Orlando | Keep Your Small Business Open
By Juan C. Burgos, Esq. | Orlando Bankruptcy Attorney | Updated: June 2026
Your business is not just a number on a spreadsheet. It represents years of hard work, the clients you built genuine relationships with, and the employees who depend on you every single day. If mounting debt is threatening to close those doors, Subchapter V bankruptcy may be the fastest way to reorganize what you owe — allowing you to keep operations running smoothly while you do it.
Attorney Juan Burgos represents small business owners in Orlando, Kissimmee, and throughout Central Florida in Subchapter V cases. Our office handles cases fluently in both English and Spanish, and we appear regularly before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando.
Maximum Debt Limit
To Submit Your Plan
Control Kept by Owner
What Is Subchapter V Bankruptcy?
Subchapter V is a streamlined, highly efficient version of Chapter 11 bankruptcy created by Congress in 2019 specifically to shield small businesses. Before Subchapter V existed, traditional Chapter 11 was prohibitively expensive and agonizingly slow — built almost entirely for massive corporations with armies of lawyers and accountants. Subchapter V completely rewrote those rules.
Under Subchapter V, a qualifying small business can:
- Reorganize its debts based on actual cash flow metrics — rather than what demanding creditors dictate.
- Stay open and fully operational throughout the entire duration of the legal process.
- Keep absolute control of the company — no liquidating trustee steps in to seize your operations.
- Avoid a creditor committee, eliminating one of the heaviest cost drivers found in standard Chapter 11 cases.
- Submit a reorganization plan within 90 days of filing, unlocking the fastest path available in commercial debt relief.
The exact moment your case is filed, an automatic stay goes into effect. This is a powerful federal court injunction that immediately halts all collection calls, pending lawsuits, wage garnishments, and commercial foreclosure actions targeting your business. It gives you the necessary breathing room to build a real recovery strategy.
Who Qualifies for Subchapter V in Florida?
To file for Subchapter V relief in Florida, your business operations must satisfy these three criteria:
1. Debt Limit: Your total combined business obligations — counting both secured and unsecured debts — must sit below $3,424,000. This represents the official inflation-adjusted limit applicable to cases filed in this 2026 cycle, established by triennial adjustment under 11 U.S.C. § 101(51D) and published in Federal Register Vol. 90, No. 22.
2. Business Origin: At least 50% of your aggregate liabilities must stem directly from commercial or business operations, rather than personal or consumer debt choices.
3. Entity Type: LLCs, corporations (Inc.), structured partnerships, and sole proprietors are all fully eligible to file. If you are a sole owner who signed personal guarantees on your business lines of credit, your personal liability profile is heavily affected, and we will analyze this directly during your consultation.
If your actual total liabilities happen to exceed the $3,424,000 threshold, a traditional Chapter 11 filing remains completely open to you with no maximum debt cap limitations.
How Subchapter V Compares to Standard Chapter 11
| Procedural Element | Traditional Chapter 11 | Subchapter V |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory Debt Limit | No maximum cap | $3,424,000 cap |
| Creditor Committee | Mandatory in most standard corporate filings | Completely eliminated |
| U.S. Trustee Quarterly Fees | Yes — heavily expensive over time | Completely eliminated |
| Timeline to Submit Plan | Ranges widely from 120 to 300 days | Strict 90-day window |
| Creditor Voting Approval | Generally required for confirmation | Not always mandatory |
| Average Administrative Costs | $50,000 to $200,000+ | Significantly lower overhead |
For a small commercial enterprise holding less than $3.42 million in debt, Subchapter V stands out as the structurally superior path if preserving the entity via reorganization is your ultimate goal.
Subchapter V vs. Chapter 7: Which Path Fits Your Business?
This is the core strategic question local business operators bring to our firm. The choice depends almost entirely on whether your business models possess a clear, functional future value:
Choose Chapter 7 if: Your company no longer generates sustainable gross revenues, market dynamics have permanently shifted away, or continuing to open every day only deepens your financial losses. Chapter 7 legally closes down the business, handles asset liquidation through an assigned trustee, and discharges liabilities over a fast 3-to-6-month timeline.
Choose Subchapter V if: The core company generates real operational revenue but is currently buried under commercial leases, historical pandemic-era financing, merchant cash advances (MCAs), or a severe cyclical slowdown. Under this path, the business structure survives, recalibrates, and moves forward with restructured obligations.
An objective analysis with Attorney Burgos will clarify which specific direction preserves your interests best. You can contact our team directly here or call our office line at (407) 505-4190.
What the Subchapter V Process Looks Like
Step 1 — Filing the Petition: We prepare and formally submit your core bankruptcy petition, schedules, and verified financial disclosures to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando.
Step 2 — Stay Activation: The exact moment our submission logs into the federal portal, all collection maneuvers freeze instantly. Creditors are legally barred from filing suits, executing garnishments, or attempting foreclosures.
Step 3 — Crafting the Plan: You have an exclusive 90-day window to file a structural plan mapping out how your enterprise will repay liabilities using realized net disposable income over time. We build this around your true cash flow capacity.
Step 4 — Court Confirmation: The bankruptcy judge reviews and confirms the proposal. In a Subchapter V framework, you don’t always need affirmative creditor votes; the judge can confirm your plan over aggressive objections if it meets legal standards.
Step 5 — Execution & Discharge: You maintain operations, issue the agreed-upon structured payments across a 3-to-5-year window, and emerge with a cleared balance sheet and your business intact. The timeline from filing to final confirmation typically runs **6 to 12 months**.
Industries We Serve Across Central Florida
Subchapter V mechanics were tailored specifically for the real-world business sectors that form the economic backbone of Central Florida. Attorney Burgos regularly works alongside owners in:
Restaurants & Food Service: Entities navigating high fixed lease structures, thin margins, and unyielding commercial real estate commitments that fail to adjust when sales drop seasonal numbers.
Construction & Specialty Contractors: Teams dealing with severe project delays, non-paying commercial clients, and materials financing lines that evolved into unmanageable liabilities.
Landscaping & Lawn Care: Operators facing high commercial equipment financing terms, weekly payroll demands, and variable seasonal revenues.
Retail & Brick-and-Mortar: Stores managing rigid retail square-footage leases that have outlasted localized foot traffic trends, or inventory lines gone wrong.
Healthcare, Personal Services & Tourism Logistics: Local operations managing billing delays, high overhead staffing costs, or post-pandemic line-of-credit balances across Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties.
Filing Subchapter V in the Middle District of Florida
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, located in downtown Orlando at 400 W. Washington Street, holds exclusive jurisdiction over all filings originating across Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Lake counties.
Attorney Burgos practices before these local judges regularly. He understands the precise procedural expectations, local trustee requirements for income verification, and how to shepherd reorganization plans to confirmation efficiently. This distinct local focus matters deeply — and it is an advantage that distant corporate firms based out of Miami or Boca Raton simply cannot deliver to a Central Florida operator. Full Spanish-language availability is maintained across every phase of representation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Subchapter V
What is the current Subchapter V debt limit?
For this 2026 cycle, the Subchapter V debt eligibility ceiling is fixed at $3,424,000 in total combined obligations ( secured plus unsecured). This inflation-adjusted metric reflects the standard triennial calibration under 11 U.S.C. § 104, published in Federal Register Vol. 90, No. 22. At least 50% of your listed liabilities must stem directly from operational business choices, and the limit applies strictly to cases opened on or after April 1, 2025.
Can an LLC or corporation file Subchapter V?
Yes. LLCs, formal corporations (Inc.), structured partnerships, and sole proprietorships all qualify seamlessly for court protection, provided they satisfy the debt ceiling criteria and business-origin requirements.
What happens to my employees if I file Subchapter V?
Your operations continue uninterrupted, and your employees retain their jobs throughout and after the legal process. Active payroll obligations incurred during the case are classified as administrative expenses with top priority status, meaning they are paid directly through your ongoing plan framework.
Can Subchapter V eliminate merchant cash advance (MCA) debt?
Yes. MCA balances are fundamentally treated as unsecured debt inside a Subchapter V re-indexing. Depending upon your actual net cash flow, these high-interest advances can be significantly cut down or restructured into reasonable monthly installments. This remains one of the most effective uses of the law for local business survival.
Will I lose my business assets in Subchapter V?
No. Unlike a liquidation filing under Chapter 7, Subchapter V includes no mechanisms forcing you to sell or surrender your operational machinery, property, or equipment. You retain full ownership and title throughout the entirety of the plan.
Can I cancel a burdensome commercial lease contract?
Yes. A core benefit built into the bankruptcy code is the capacity to reject executory commitments, including unworkable commercial leases. If your business is locked into a commercial rental framework that no longer aligns with financial reality, we can petition the judge to reject it cleanly as part of your restructuring.
Take the First Strategic Step Today
Subchapter V is not a last resort — it is a sophisticated, court-backed tool for companies that possess genuine value but are currently drowning under legacy liabilities. The sooner you intervene, the more protective choices remain on the table.
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*Attorney Juan C. Burgos is a federally designated consumer debt relief agency under corporate federal guidelines. He proudly helps families and commercial entities file for asset protection and debt relief under the provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The data presented on this educational page is meant strictly for general orientation; it does not formulate an explicit attorney-client contractual relationship or representation agreement between parties. Case outcomes vary depending on specific financial facts and localized legal circumstances.
The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on digital advertisements or online features. Before deciding on representation, feel free to ask us to send you free written materials covering our professional qualifications and firm experience.
Gracias a su apoyo pude organizar mi situación financiera y atravesar este proceso con confianza y esperanza.
Lo recomiendo 100 % a cualquier persona que necesite un abogado de bancarrota responsable, comprometido y verdaderamente interesado en ayudar a sus clientes.
¡Mil gracias por todo, abogado Burgos!