Please Advise me in Chapter 13!

[Desperatedays]

Really hoping someone can help me please? I live in Florida and have home abroad which currently has zero equity. When I completed Attorney paperwork before filing BK last December 08 there was 15,000 equity on the house at the that time, but this has since diminished. Two weeks ago we went to our confirmation hearing and the trustee requested the 15,000 to be paid. (I am not sure if they meant in the plan or payment up front) My attorney knew nothing of the $15,000 and had to "pass" on our case being confirmed to further investigate the matter. I do not understand how our attorney could not of known about this? He is now suggesting that we will have to give up our home we live in if we want to keep the house abroad. Does this sound correct in a Chapter 13? Is it possible that my attorney will make us give up our present home just so he can finish up our case and not have to deal with it anymore? How many times can a case be passed on before it is dismissed please? Thank you for all your help!

[lrprn]

I do not understand how our attorney could not of known about this?

Since the asset is listed on your forms, your lawyer obviously knew about it. Did you share the amount of equity you had in the house that is abroad?

How do you know the house abroad now has no equity?

He is now suggesting that we will have to give up our home we live in if we want to keep the house abroad. Does this sound correct in a Chapter 13?

The issue you are running into is that your state's bankruptcy exemptions only protect a certain amount of home equity no matter how many homes you own. What state did you file in? How much equity do you have in your U.S. home?

Is it possible that my attorney will make us give up our present home just so he can finish up our case and not have to deal with it anymore?

Your attorney asked the court for extra time to investigate the homes issue. That doesn't sound like he's ready to jump ship to me.

How many times can a case be passed on before it is dismissed please?

I'm not sure what you mean by "passed on". A Ch 13 case can go on for quite a while before being confirmed - see my signature

Your case is in the early investigative stages. Just because the trustee asks for something doesn't mean he/she will automatically get it. The ball is in you and your lawyer's court now to respond to the request - this is what your lawyer is goingn to be investigating.

It's much too soon to know yet how this is going to turn out - hang in there. Give your lawyer a chance to find out where you stand legally with both homes against your exemptions and check for related case law decisions.

[Desperatedays]

No Equity in property - Chapter 13

Dear 1rprn,
Thank you very much for helping me and giving me a little hope that there might be some light at the end of this tunnel!!
The property value of the house abroad has been constantly falling as it is almost impossible to arrange a mortgage there. The house has lost about $80,000 in equity and is expected to decline. All the property values I have are from websites.
The home we live in in Florida is worth less than what we bought it for 8 years ago. Unbeknown to us and hundreds of other purchasers is that the houses were all built on an old WW2 practise bombing range. This is in part why we ended up in this BK predicament. There is a class action lawsuit in the pipeline but may take years to come to fruition. We were quite shocked when the question of $15,000 equity arose as our attorney said that it had not been mentioned in his paperwork and blamed his paralegal for not noting the discrepancy. To be honest they were not aware that we had a confirmation hearing until I rang them to ask a question!! As our Attorney did not have the facts at our confirmation hearing he told the Judge that he would have to "pass". We are meeting Monday 17th Aug and our second confirmation meeting is on Tuesday 18th Aug.
One other question I have is that on top of all this turmoil my Mother just passed away. I have lost income helping my Dad look after her and wanted to be with her as much as possible in her final days here. I am now a payment behind to the Trustee. Do you think they may forgive the shortfall because of what happened?
Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate any thoughts you have on all of this.
All the best,
Desperate Days

[rrockinggramma]

make up the payment to the trustee as quickly as you can. I used to send in extra with the next payment. Infact if I could I divided it up into quarters and paid the regular payment (so as to not get more than 2 behind) and then one quarter or one half of the payment I missed.

[Desperatedays]

Sorry, need some more help Please....

Thanks Rockin Grandma for your reply. We went to see our Attorney today. Our confirmation meeting is tomorrow.
The problem is that I was short for the last payment because my Mother passed away and I was trying to help look after her with my Dad before she died.
The Attorney advised us to surrender our home because he said that our case would not be confirmed if we were short one payment. He said the case would be dismissed and the house would forclose within the 6 month we could refile the case again.
At the 11th hour I managed to reach my Dad and he has given me the missing payment as a Cashiers check to take with me to court in the morning. Our Attorney says he does not know what will happen now to the case, if the Trustee will take the late payment then and there and let us keep the house or make us surrender it.
The problem also concerns a house that we own abroad that does not have any equity. The Trustee is claiming $15,000 liquidity payment, even though the property value has declined since we filled out our Attorneys schedules.
What is you best Guess? Do you know if the court will be understanding in light of losing my Mum? My mistake was not telling my Attorney sooner but I was overwhelmed with Funeral arrangements.
Hope to hear from you, Thanks again for all your help,
I feel pretty down at the moment...
All the best,
Desperate Days