Creditor left off schedules...am I liable???

[indigo]

My husband and I filed Ch. 7 in Jan. 2003 and were discharged April that year. My mother got a call from a creditor asking all these questions about me. I called back, told them that account was included in my bankruptcy. They want me to fax them copies of all my paperwork. I checked though, and come to find out that they were not included. And I KNOW I gave the paperwork to my attorney. I have heard that debts that existed when you filed, even if they were not listed, are all discharged. Is this true - can I just fax them my discharge and say here you go - or do I have to re-open and amend my case to add them to get it discharged?

[HHM]

No, its not true. Under 11 USC 523(3), debts that were not scheduled on the petition are not discharged.

Is this an original creditor, collection agency, or debt purchaser who is calling. If its a debt purchaser (someone like Sherman Acquisitions), you may have listed the underlying debt, the original creditor, but did not list the debt purchaser. But the debt would be discharged nonetheless.

You could go to the effort to reopen your case to add this creditor, but it may be too late, I don't know if there is a time limit on reopening cases.