Secured = 'other'

[holding on]

I have a creditor that made a claim as expected on a line of credit that was charged off (20K). They marked it as Secured and checked the OTHER box(as opposed to real estate or motor vehicle). They listed it as secured because they have a judgement against me.

Does anyone have any experience as to how this can be handled? It sounds like I would need to submit a motion to avoid lien if I want to get this thrown into unsecureds. Any personal experiences or opinions would be great.

[HHM]

Well, if they have a judgment, the debt is secured, so the proof of claim does not sound defective.

Unless this debt will be full payed in your chapter 13, then yes, you would want to file a Motion to Avoid the Lien so that there are no lingering issues after your chapter 13 is discharged.

[holding on]

Thanks HHM.

Waiting for my lawyer to get back to me on it but initial research doesn't favor me as I have more asset (equity) in the home than exemptions. Exemptions needed to put into motion to avoid lien. I'll just have to wait and see.

[rrockinggramma]

you and your attorney need to file an objection to the claim. If it was a credit card that filed the judgment against you then I believe it should be unsecured. But YOU must object and gather up your proof for the attorney to file with the objection. Then the creditor will have 30 days to respond with their proof that it is secured. If it isn't a car/boat/motorcycle/furniture then I bet they lose.

I guess first I should ask what the judgment was for? And in doing so, with a chapter 13, the motion to vacate can be done as part of the chapter 13. But in my case, saying the claim was discharge/closed won't happen until discharge.

[holding on]

yes rrockinggrama, browsing the creditor's claim again, the 'reason' for the the credit is 'money loaned', no collateral, no assets, no nothing.

as an fyi, from what more i've researched, if a creditor gets a judgement against you, its automatic approval for a judgement lien BUT the creditor must file a record of lien with the county of the property. I had already done a lien search at the courthouse and don't remember seeing them on record. Im gonna check again. boy this forum is very theraputic!

[rrockinggramma]

many times creditors are clueless as to how to fill out the forms. It could have been an oversight on their part. Sometimes the creditor is trying to get paid more than he/she should. Get a hold of your attorney today and get that objection filed asap. If this debt is not secured by anything (originally) the judgment does NOT in itself make it a secured debt. If they did attach it to your property, after discharge you have to get the lein vacated and then it will go away. But the debt itself, unless it was a secured debt to begin with, is unsecured and the claim should be filed as such. Object to this immediately!!!!!