Trustee never came and got asset in Michigan

[Rainh2o]

My wife and I filed back in October of 2011. We had nothing but 2 cars that where exempt, a rental property, a boat and our home. We did have about 40K in credit and unscure loans and the wife was let go from her job and thats what forced us into Bankruptcy. We decided to let everything but the home go. The rental property was forclosed upon with no problem. We received our discharge in Jan of 2012.

This is the confusing part. At the 341 meeting it was discovered that our boat title had no lean holder on it. We told the trustee that it was a mistake and here was the paperwork stating the boat belonged to the lender but the trustee said nope it didnt because their name was not on the title and the lender never perfected the title.

The trustee said she was going to come and claim the boat.
The lender said they where going to come claim the boat but my layer told me that the lender couldnt because of the clear title and the trustee now had legal posession over it so i was not to let them have it.

I removed the boat from my property and its now at a storage facility. The trustee has never notified me to surrender the boat. I have never received any info from anyone on it. Its now July and still no word. According to our home lender, our reaffirmation can not be compleated until they receive a statement of abandonment from the trustee. We are and always have been current on our home loan and still want to keep it. But this boat deal and the trustee not doing anything is driving us nutts. My lawyer keeps telling me to just wait and see.

What should I do? File a motion to abandon the property? How do I find out if the case was filed as an asset case? Could it have been filed as a non asset case and the trustee was just blowing smoke at the meeting? How long does it usually take for a trustee to come and claim assets?

[justbroke]

You need to speak with your attorney. Your attorney may decide to file a Motion to Abandon. However, this may require re-opening your case which has a court fee of $260. That would be on top of the amount your attorney charges (hourly) to file and prosecute the motion.

You could easily determine what was abandoned and whether you are an asset case by simply logging into PACER and checking your case status. It will show right at the top of the screen "Asset: No" for "No Assets" and "Asset: Yes" for an asset case. If your case is still open, then the Trustee may still be processing your (potential) asset case. In fact, if the Trustee said they wanted the boat, they probably already listed you as an asset case.

[HHM]

Has the case closed?

If the case has closed, the property has been abandoned.

If the case is not closed, then you will need a Motion to Abandon.

[btbeme]

Has the case closed?

If the case has closed, the property has been abandoned.

If the case is not closed, then you will need a Motion to Abandon.

HHM, I know of a similar case where the aggressive Trustee said she intended to investigate the value of an asset (a home in another state) held jointly by several people. The case is listed as an asset case and has a discharge date of March 2011 - some 16 months ago. Since this is not yet "closed", I am guessing that a Motion to Abandon should be started. If so, what machinations will be made by the Trustee, BK judge, and/or others involved? Is it realistic to think that a judge would simply say that 16 months was plenty of time for the Trustee to investigate and grant the motion?

[Rainh2o]

What is Pacer? Do the trustees usually take this long to determine value? I would think a quick check on the blue book value would come up with a figure...actuality its only worth about 2200 max according to the blue book I looked up...I never got any notification that the case was closed so I am assuming it isnt.

[SMinGA2]

The trustee may have decided it wasn't worth her time. If blue book value is only $2200, selling it would generate less and part of the selling costs would go to the selling expenses.

But on the topic of the mortgage reaffirmation, if the case discharged I believe its too late? But you should be able to keep the house by keeping the payments.

[justbroke]

PACER is a public access system that allows one to see the court docket (records). It literally means public access to court electronic records (PACER). When it comes to asset cases, it can take 12-24 months for this type of case to close, depending on just what type of resources the Trustee needs to use to obtain and liquidate the assets. Chapter 7 Trustees are strange creatures of the bankruptcy process and you can never tell what one will do over another given the same exact circumstances.

So, we believe your case isn't closed and that if you want to "nudge" the Trustee, you would do so with a Motion to Abandon to force the issue.

As for how a Motion to Abandon is received by the Trustee and Court, it just depends on the facts. A case that has been opened for 18 months is far more likely to see the Motion granted easier than one where the case was just opened. That's my opinion of course. It still doesn't mean that it is likely to be granted because the case has aged. There are other specific facts of the case which needs to be looked into. A major factor is litigation, especially where the Trustee employs counsel (whether it is themselves or outside counsel) to pursue assets. Other factors where there are non-debtors involved could prolong a case as well. An asset case being opened for 2 years is not outside the realm of possibility.

However, I agree with HHM that if the case is truly dragging on and there is no "reasonable" explanation for the Trustee to keep the case open, then a Motion to Compel or Motion to Abandon is appropriate.