converting from 13 TO 7

[mia111]

Please Help....
hi, is converting from 13 to 7 hard to do, what are the fees with converting?
we filed 13 in oct 06,and because of our plan we can't afford our mortgage. we are now behind 2 mortgage payments that are made outside of the plan.
the mortgage co,has filed relief from stay and has a court date of april 5th,
we don't mind if the house goes into forclosere but should we stay in 13 or switch to 7 while the lift is granted and forclusere starts?
thanks in Ohio
lawyer no help at all

[happycarl]

I too would like information on this subject.

While I filed a Chapter 7 and was discharged last June 2006, my domestic partner filed a Chapter 13, got it confirmed and has been making payments regularly. The lawyer said he met the income guidelines to file a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13. Of course the lawyer pushed for the 13 as his $3000 fees would be rolled in as a Priority Claim along with the Chapter 13 Trustee's fees.

I am certain we would have to change lawyers to convert, IF HE ACTUALLY COULD, we pay our mortgage outside the Chapter 13 as well.

We live in Texas if that means anything.

If he could convert, does that mean everything starts over or does it simply continue as is? Would the Chapter 13 Trustee's fees and the First attorney's fees also be discharged in a Chapter 7 discharge?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am NOT trying to hog into this thread, but I just started posting yesterday and I read a rule that said not to start multiple threads on the same topic.

[bige1030]

conversion (rather than as of the original date of filing), so any legal fees earned but unpaid will be discharged. (See my note above about keeping your original attorney...they'll be sure they get paid before conversion because of this!) If your partner gets a different attorney, it might be cheaper than keeping the same one.

One thing to note about assets: If the conversion is done in bad faith (that's hard to prove, it seems...I read about a case where someone filed 13 originally and converted to 7 to save their severance pay...and it wasn't considered bad faith), property of the estate in the 7 case is property of the estate as of the date of conversion. Otherwise, property of the estate is property of the estate as of the original date of filingable

[mia111]

hi ,bige1030
since I don't have the money to convert to 7 now(pay off lawyer etc)
can i stay in 13 and still let the house go and switch to 7 later?
how will the forclousere effect my bankruptcy and credit when discharged,thanks so much

[coma]

You could stay in the 13 if you need to, but you would have to adjust your expenses for your new rental payment, if itis not the same as your house payment.

We're kind of in the same boat. Our problem is that we filed a 7, converted to a 13 to keep the car. We can no longer keep it and want to let it go, so we're trying to convert back...there'll be a hearing of course, but we lost half of our income after a move, so we should be able to do it...who knows The thing is, sometimes it's difficult getting another attorney to take the case, so be careful of that, if you are going to fire your old one and get a new one like bige1030 said. We can't find anyone to take ours. One attorney told me it was flat out not worth it to him. YMMV

[bige1030]

mia111 - coma is right - you can give up the house, but you'll have to adjust your plan payment based on your budget with your new housing payment. Also, lenders will view the foreclosure and the bankruptcy as one event - so it won't really matter in terms of your credit that you had a foreclosure while in bankruptcy.

[mia111]

thanks, coma ,and bige1030
we will probally, hopefully be able to switch before we start renting,because
the forcluseres in Ohio usually take awhile( or is it faster in bankrutcy chapter 13)
but we will adjust if needed to by then,thanks so much
also can I keep the same lawyer to switch?

[coma]

I'm not sure about foreclosures, but you can keep the same lawyer...just have to pay more fees.