Motion To Dismiss??

[newimges]

I filed Chapter 7 on Oct. 3rd and had my 341 meeting on Nov.
20th. My case was declared no distribution.

I got a letter today from the US Trustee with a motion to dismiss stating "according to the files and records of this case, it appears that the Debtor has not filed their Schedules I and J"

I filed all of my required schedules and forms at the same time on Oct. 3rd. I check pacer regularly and it states that Schedules A-J were filed on Oct. 3rd and entered on Oct. 4th.

I already typed up an answer to the motion which I have 15 days to file with the court.

I also have to send a copy of the answer to the motion directly to the attorney for the US Trustee. I am also going to send the attorney a print out of the Docket Activity Report on Pacer which shows the schedules were filed as well as a copy of Schedules I & J.

I am freaking out about this!

Has anyone had a problem like this or had the clerk make a mistake entering forms or schedules?

Thanks in advance...

[SinkingFast]

When you filed,................ Did you get some sort of "receipt" or date stamped itemization of what you filed from the Clerk??

If so, I'd include that as well.

Show the UST's Office that this is simply a clerical error.

[newimges]

The clerk stamped some of my forms but not all of them.

I am hoping it is enough that the Dockey Activity Report shows that Schedules A-J were filed. It shows an itemized list of all the forms that were filed.

[lrprn]

The clerk stamped some of my forms but not all of them.

Hmmmm.....were Schedule I and J stamped by the clerk?

I am hoping it is enough that the Dockey Activity Report shows that Schedules A-J were filed. It shows an itemized list of all the forms that were filed.

"Hoping" is risky when the US Trustee is involved. Call your court's clerk early Monday morning and find out for sure (1) that ALL your schedule forms were uploaded into PACER and (2) that they are each clearly visible for viewing.

[newimges]

No, the clerk didn't stamp any of the schedules.

Hope is all I can do. I did file them. I checked pacer the next day and saw that all the papers I filed showed up on there as filed and entered. So I had no reason to believe they weren't in the system otherwise I could have taken care of it then. There isn't anything I can do now but file the answer and see what happens at the hearing.

If the case is dismissed - does that mean I will be able to file again in 6 months?

[PaKettle]

I don't see how the case could truly be dismissed if you have a document showing that the court did receive the documents they are saying they did not receive!

Sounds like some kind of administrative snafu.

Good luck!

p.s. This just made me think: it might be a good idea to go to Pacer and download all the files that are uploaded, from the beginning, that way if later they say they did not receive them, you can show that they did. (Maybe take screen shots showing they are on the Pacer site, instead of downloading.) This would at least prove that they WERE indeed uploaded to Pacer!

[SinkingFast]

p.s. This just made me think: it might be a good idea to go to Pacer and download all the files that are uploaded, from the beginning, that way if later they say they did not receive them, you can show that they did. (Maybe take screen shots showing they are on the Pacer site, instead of downloading.) This would at least prove that they WERE indeed uploaded to Pacer!

That's a good idea, Pa.

When our printer prints anything off the Net, there's a Time/Date stamp printed either on the top of the bottom of the page. That would for sure show the Schedules were filed as stated.

But still. If PACER is physically showing the Schedules, the date shows there where they were uploaded and posted into the ECF System too.

Could be a case of the Clerk of the Court set the originals off to the side during scanning. Maybe they got filed with another person's Case file. Who knows??!!

[newimges]

Could be a case of the Clerk of the Court set the originals off to the side during scanning. Maybe they got filed with another person's Case file. Who knows??!!

That's what I'm thinking. The Docket Activity Report on pacer shows the schedules were filed and entered but when I check on pacer for the actual forms that were filed Schedules I and J are not there.

To err is human and I am sure even the clerks make mistakes. I understand that as long as I don't have to pay for it!

I am sending the Docket Activity Report I printed out with the date/time stamp to the Trustee along with the answer to the motion and copies of the original schedules. I am going to file my answer with the clerk tomorrow.

We'll see what happens...

Thanks for your responses!

[SinkingFast]

I am going to file my answer with the clerk tomorrow.

We'll see what happens...

Thanks for your responses!

You might ask,.......... While you're at the Clerk's Office,........ If they would check the files of people who also filed around the same time as you.

Maybe the Clerk's Office will find your Originals and that will settle the matter with the UST's Office.

[newimges]

Good idea! I will do that.

[newimges]

I filed my answer with the clerk's office.

I told the clerk about the motion I received and she looked up my file and said it appears that the schedules were filed and entered. She said there was no way to run a report to see if the schedules I and J had been entered incorrectly to another person's account. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack but she said that clerks make mistakes and this does appear to be some type of clerical mistake. She also said that if the schedules were posted to someone else's account by mistake - they may bring it to the clerk's attention. That happens sometimes.

She said that given the circumstances - it is likely that the US Trustee will drop the motion and that will be the end of it. Otherwise a hearing will be scheduled and the judge will hear our side of the story along with the documentation that we have to show the schedules were filed and entered. It will be up to him to decide.

[Lindsay]

NewImges, that's great news! Hopefully they will just drop the motion now. It's always something, isn't it? I bet clerical errors happen all of the time.

[newimges]

It is ALWAYS something. I thought after the 341 meeting went well I could relax a little but then 4 days later I received the motion to dismiss.

All I can do is wait and see what happens and go from there. Worst case scenario is the case gets dismissed and I will wait the 180 days and file again. It won't be the end of the world but I will hate having my phone ringing off the hook again from those creditors for another 6 months!
It's been nice and quiet since I filed.

Thanks for all of your support.

I will keep you posted on what happens.

[newimges]

I got a call from the US Trustees office this morning and she told me that she could see that my schedules were filed according to the activity report but for some reason they did not get scanned into the system. She said that I need to go to the court and file Schedules I and J again and as soon as they are scanned the US Trustee will drop the motion to dismiss. I told her I would be at the court first thing tomorrow morning.

She told me that they contacted the court before filing the motion to see if they could find the schedules as they did believe I filed them but they had no choice but to file the motion when the schedules were not available for them to review. She even apologized for the inconvenience.

That's a load off my shoulders!

Again, thanks for all of your support. I would be so much more stressed out if it wasn't for this board.

[lrprn]

Whew! So glad that everything will be fine. You must be so relieved!!