Chapter 13 DISMISSED..after 5 years of ontime payments

[Guest]

Hello,

I filed for Chapter 13 in 2006. I just got married and I wanted to clean up my credit. My husband has excellent credit so I did this on my own, seperate from him. My past due bills included medical bills/car loan for a car I no longer had/IRS and one credit card. Thru the 5 years, I paid all payments on time even when I was laid off twice because of the economy 2007-2008. In 2009 I worked only PT, and 2010 to presently I am a stay at home Mom. During this 5 year period I did not hand over my tax returns as I was suppose to. I know this was in error in my part and honestly I forgot. I know that it was not the trustee or the attorney responsibilty to remind me but I was never notified until the time my case was suppose to be discharged, I instead received a motion to dismiss.

I called my attorney's office and an appointment was set-up. I handed over all my tax returns, they asked me if I could pay all the tax refunds back, I told them no, however if possible I am able to make payments. I was told by an employee that my attorney would speak with the Trustee at the hearing to make arrangements. I kept in contact with my Lawyers office leading up to the hearing date to make sure they did not need additional info from me. I was told they would contact me once the hearing is over. About a week later I received a letter from the Trustee saying that my case has in fact been dismissed, also with the letter was whom was present at my hearing. They only box checked was the Trustee. My lawyer was not there to represent me. I called my attorney's office spoke with 3 different individuals on the office regarding my case. I also emailed them. I have not heard back and it has been 1 week. I also called the Trustee's office they did in fact confirm my lawyer was not present. I did receive a letter from my Attorney with a copy of the dismissal of my Chapter, but with no explanation. I dont know what to do.

I checked my 3 credits scores and the dismissal has showed up on all three, however nothing else with the exception of accounts with no outstanding balances and cc that was paid off. And my credit score is in the 700 range.

Should I refile a new Chapter 13?? But 5 years of ontime payments are down the drain! or should I find ANOTHER lawyer that can try to help me try to reopen this case? Or should I just let it be?

I dont know what to do. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[justbroke]

Should I refile a new Chapter 13?? But 5 years of ontime payments are down the drain! or should I find ANOTHER lawyer that can try to help me try to reopen this case? Or should I just let it be?

How long ago did this dismissal occur? If it was within the last 14 days, you may be able to get the dismissal vacated; maybe. If it has been longer, you may offer a reconsideration in that you were not represented. That's still a long shot, but is worth a try.

You really need to come up with the money. The court is not allowed to extend the plan beyond 60 months by operation of law. That may be the reason for the dismissal or your attorney never even responded to the dismissal warning.

Unfortunately, and in the end, you are responsible for meeting the terms of the Chapter 13. It's unfortunate that you went that long... all the way to discharge... and were denied a discharge.

You are in fact the second person in a week to post about this same issue. That is, failure to surrender tax returns on an annual basis when the order confirming the plan required this. I think it's shameful that your attorney did not keep you up to date and didn't attend. If it was that indefensible, perhaps your attorney could have told you that.

Now, you need to prepare for the worse or file a new bankruptcy. The creditors will soon smell blood in the water and you will be at their mercy.

I will give you this one thing. You spent 5 years in Chapter 13 and your scores are in the 700s. Filing again will take a hit (100 points or so), but you are actually better right this moment. If you plan to file a Chapter 13, you may want to replace an aging car or deal with other things as quickly as possible (before the credit hits start popping up).

In any event, you need to rethink what you want to do and start preparing financially for whatever decision that is.

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick feedback..

My case was dismissed 2/2/2012.

I cannot come up with the money unfortunatley or I would. I would love to get this off my back.
How long will it take for the creditors to show up on my credit report? I guess for now I will keep on my credit reports and try to deal with the creditors as they come, by prehaps making payments. If it becomes to overwhelming I will choose to refile.

I take full responsibilty of this and I am really bummed I have to deal with this bs..again. I just wish my lawyer represented me like they said they would or like you said at least let me know if he could not. After doing research online he does this with a lot of his clients. I will be more careful next time around.

Thanks again,

[justbroke]

More than likely, the majority of your unsecured debt was sold to B-Real, B-Line, LVNV Funding, eCast Settlement, or one of the other bankruptcy "junk debt buyers" (JDBs). They will more than likely try to restart and redouble collection efforts within 30-60 days.

You may want to seek some legal advice on paying these creditors. Even paying $0.01 will reset the SOL clock! Some of them may be satisfied with what they received in the Chapter 13, but others may come for blood (accrued interest over the last 5 years on all the debt). I would sit down and look at some worse case scenarios. I'm sure some of these larger JDBs will offer settlements -- if they go after you. You'll need to weigh all of this and also weigh it against re-filing a new Chapter 13 or a Chapter 7.