BK Lawyer should lose his license...Does nothing!!!

[vikings4mags]

This is my first time posting so it will be a little involved to share my nightmare!!

I co-owned a home with my boyfriend for the last 10 years. I lost my job in 2003, started getting behind on mortgage etc... My loan company was foreclosing on me, but decided they would work with me. I went from being $1500 behind to about $7000 due to the loan company charging all these fees and lawyer fees to do a forebearance plan they came up with for me.

I was doing fairly good making it work (the increased monthly mortgage payments) but everything else was falling behind now. Car, utilities no food to eat really many times. This was not working for me after many months so I was trying to work with them to stay in my home not be foreclosed etc..

To make a long story short I was about to be foreclosed so I filed a chapter 13 in dec 2005. I was doing good with my plan then I had to go out on medical leave from work. I had already paid 11,000 into the plan out of the 39,000 but was unable to make the monthly payments, so my lawyer says that due to my being out of work 3 months we should let my plan get dismissed without prejudice for failure to make payments then he would refile and my payments would lower because my income changed so much. (I work in a 100% commmission sales job.)

So my case gets dismissed had to wait 3 weeks to refile my lawyer charges me another $3500 but good news my payment is $200 cheaper a month but now I have to start over for another 36 months. A few months go by then out of the blue there is a letter in my door saying effective the 1st of the month I need to pay rent to live in this house or leave. the county had obtained title to the property for the 2456 back taxes that where in my 1st bk plan before refile. So when my case got dismissed they acted quickly and took my house.

My lawyer says they can't do that but they did 3 weeks of being in between dismissal and refile is all it took. So I lose my house for 2400 bucks to the county! My lawyer files some motion the county agrees to sell me the property back for the back taxes, plus $1000 sellback and interest. My lawyer says this was a blessing in disguise, because when the mortgage company failed to protect their interest and the county took it it means when I pay the $$ to the county to buy the house back it will not have a mortgage anymore that the leins get stripped. Wow could I have any better luck.

So now here we are in my refiled bk my mortgage balance is listed as unsecured. Takes a few months but I get my deed sent to me from the county. When a dismissal happens then a refile alot of time in between screws up creditors and they start jumping on you cause they think you are not in a bankruptcy and haven't been notified yet of the refile. The mortgage company posts a sale date for auction. I contact my lawyer and say how can they foreclose on a property that they lost their interest in? He says don't worry they can't. I ask repeated how to I fight them, do they understand that when the county took the house they lost their interst? What proof do I have that it is mine except this deed issued 7/2008.

They conduct a auction in November 2008 someone bids on the property then here we are in Feb of 2009 and I am being giving a cash for keys option by this place that says they bought the property. My lawyer files some papers for motion of sanctions against this company for violating the stay. Sends me a letter saying there is a 30 day timeframe for them to repsond before the judge enters an order.

Well here it is months go by no returned phone calls no letters from my lawyer, mean time I am still making my plan payments through payroll deduction but have had a behind balance when I couldnt pay for a few months last summer. My trustee sends me a letter saying my case is being dismissed for failing to make plan payments. I explain to my lawyer that balance was behind before confirmation why did they confirm me, then order payroll deduction let me pay another 10,000 into plan now wanna dismiss me.

I was set to be dismissed July 2, 2009 my lawyer says maybe we can modify the plan to have the past due added as additional months at the end. His paralegal says we will contact you when we know. well here it is no correspondance , no retuerned phone calls except a letter from the trustee dated July 16 that the judge dismissed my case. My lawyer still hasn't returned my call. I guess he got his $$$ and figures who cares about me or my house he told me I owned.

Well now everyone in my bk is starting again to come after me. I even have another foreclosure sale date set for Sept 19,2009 on a property the mortgage company still thinks they have interest in. Does anyone know how I find out if they can foreclose? Did they lose their interest when the county did in rem foreclosure? I have had 3 1/2 years of craziness and I feel I am no better off then i was in December 2005. How do I make my lawyer answer my calls and questions? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I have 1 month to get this right, so could use any help available! Thanks you for reading and I look forward to feedback. Mags

[lrprn]

Sounds like you've had a complicated course for sure. However, from your comments, it's look like your lawyer did a lot for you. He certainly went way beyond what normally is covered by the typical Ch 13 retainer fee.

Now that your case is dismissed, of course all your creditors are going to come out of the woodwork - you owe the original debt (and then some) again.

Since your 13 has been dismissed, your current lawyer may believe you are no longer his client - thus he has no reason to return phone calls, emails, etc. I must warn you though - finding a new, good Ch 13 lawyer who will take on a problem-filled Ch 13 case that's already been filed once, had a history of late payments, major mortgage issues, and has been dismissed is going to be tough. It's going to cost you a pretty penny to find your way out of this mess.

Since you don't think your first lawyer did a good job for you, then it's time to get started finding lawyer #2. Your case is so complicated now, you really need solid legal representation to re-file your 13 (or see now without the house if you qualify for Ch 7).

[Flamingo]

I got lost reading your posting as it is all over the place and I am a bit confused since you stated you co-owned the house with your boyfriend in your first paragraph. Were the deed and mortgage in both names or just your name? No info is posted as to finances and I am assuming your boyfriend's finances were involved here also as to your first Chapter 13 and that you wanted to keep the house. It appears in the long run you just could not really afford to keep the house but wanted to. Whatever the circumcstances, it appeared your attorney tried to help you keep the house but then you started to miss payments during yoru second 13 which is the worst thing anyone can do in a Chapter 13.

what I got out of your confusing posting is that you wanted to keep your house but really could not afford to do so and you and your attorney tried to make it happen and it got to the point where it just exploded. You should have let the house go long ago but then you have the issue of co-owning with your boyfriend which is not mentioned again after your first paragraph...

[vikings4mags]

Yes the loan and title where in both our names. When I filed chp 13 they included his income in my plan. He was protected also even though he didnt file. When the county sold the house back to me they did not put him on the deed, only myself. I can afford my house just couldn't afford all the extra thousands in expenses to keep it. I should have walked away 3 years ago you're right. I paid alot of money to have my lawyer do the extra things he had to do. I paid over 9000 in lawyer expense and right back to square one. Chapter 13 is not really set up have success, its just to give people hope. I never expected anything more from my lawyer than honesty and communication. I got neither!!! I told my bankruptcy lawyer that I was gonna have trouble with the past due payments when my boyfriend lost his job and car sales for myself slowed down last fall. He is the one who found it unnecessary to worry about modifying the plan. He just wanted this case dismissed I believe so he didnt have to ever answer the real questions about the county stripping the mortgage lien.

[rrockinggramma]

wow what a mess. Do you qualify for a chapter 7? If so, I would list EVERYONE and walk away fro it all and start over. GL and I hope you can find a new attorney to sort it all out.

[vikings4mags]

Thank you! I have my brothers funeral tomorrow but plan on looking into all avenues in the next few days. I thought I would even consider calling a realtor to see if I can put it on the market seeing I had a balance of $39k due on mortgage and have equity in the home. Seeing I am not in an active bk I don't need to get trustee permission. Atleast I could walk away with something better than nothing right after all the $$ I have spent to save it!

[vikings4mags]

You say he went beyond a typical retainer fee. $9475 is not a typical cost to end up right where I was before. Plus don't forget I paid $23k into the plan out of the $39k. I could have rented a place to stay for less than $32k for the last 3 1/2 years!!!