Discharged but not closed

[Ematofour]

Discharged in early March 2025. I own a vehicle outright and there is approximately $2500 in equity above the exemption in Florida. I also own a house, but it is completely exempt here. The trustee has not filed a no asset distribution, so the case is still open. My attorney's office is very vague and he doesn't want to go after the trustee although I said I will pay the overage in equity in the vehicle. I want this to be closed because I would like to replace the car this year as it it's already 10 years old And I may want to sell the house and move. Has anyone had this happen? The trustee is known to be a PR***

[despritfreya]

The discharge and closing are two entirely different things. Your Trustee controls the timing of when he finishes his review and collection of assets. The case will not be closed until the Trustee has completed his "job". Further, in most instances you cannot dispose of any asset until the case is closed unless you have a court order - something you will want to discuss with your attorney. And. . . I agree. . . you do not pester the Trustee. He has a lot of files to work on and if you push him, he may get pissed off. This is a process and you need to let the process unfold in due course.

Des.

[shipo]

I could be wrong, but the discharge is the prize here, the closure is just paperwork. If you are so inclined, you should be able to trade your car today.

[Ematofour]

I'm not sure if I can trade the car now since I know there is equity that they will want, but I do want the closure so I can eventually sell my house. I would write them the check and pay the equity that KBB indicates if they ask.

I really don't like this hanging over me. I'm getting conflicting information as to how long it can stay open. Some say indefinitely and others stay up to a year. My lawyer's paralegal said they have had other cases like this, but I really think my lawyer is afraid of this trustee.

[despritfreya]

The discharge and closing are two entirely different things. Your Trustee controls the timing of when he finishes his review and collection of assets. The case will not be closed until the Trustee has completed his "job". Further, in most instances you cannot dispose of any asset until the case is closed unless you have a court order - something you will want to discuss with your attorney. And. . . I agree. . . you do not pester the Trustee. He has a lot of files to work on and if you push him, he may get pissed off. This is a process and you need to let the process unfold in due course.

Des.

[Ematofour]

Thank you, Des. I will have to be more patient, not my strongest suit lol. is there any timeframe in which it would be considered appropriate for my attorney to reach out to him? I was hoping to sell my house later this year and downsize but I guess I'm just going to have to stay put.

[despritfreya]

is there any timeframe in which it would be considered appropriate for my attorney to reach out to him? I was hoping to sell my house later this year

Timing depends upon the Trustee. There are some in my district that I would never "push". Others are just fine with a gentle nudge. If it's an asset case, I warn my people that it could take 2 years.

As to the home, since the home is exempt, there should be no issue but. . . so long as the home is "property of the estate" the title company is going to want a court order authorizing the sale. The solution is to ask the Trustee to issue a Notice of Abandonment or, if that does not work (sometimes it does / sometimes it doesn't), file a Motion to Abandon. Discuss this with your attorney.

Des.

[BxRcvor]

In respect to my CH7, my trustee had petitioned for the discharge well before all the matters regarding asset transfer had been completed. So the BK Court judge discharged, but things were far from over. I still had to make arrangements for handing over all the property and cash I was supposed to hand over in re: that discharge. Thankfully, my lawyer was able to negotiate an "all cash settlement" with the exception of my vehicle. I had to turn that over to the trustee's office, which I did. BTW, at that time, the exclusion was only $1000.00 in Florida for vehicles. But it reduced the cash I had to pay, which they also kindly allowed me to pay in 3 monthly installments. After all that, then the trustee filed for "administrative closure." But, if I'm not mistaken, the date that "counts" (i.e. in re: how long things stay on your Credit report) is the date the judge enters the discharge order.

[despritfreya]

. . . the date that "counts" (i.e. in re: how long things stay on your Credit report) is the date the judge enters the discharge order.

Not exactly. Reporting on a CR runs from the filing date. Just FYI.

Des

[BxRcvor]

Not exactly. Reporting on a CR runs from the filing date. Just FYI.

Des

Well, since my discharge date was 3 months after filing, it pretty much washes out....

[Ematofour]

Well, since my discharge date was 3 months after filing, it pretty much washes out....

[Ematofour]

I am fully prepared to pay the equity in my vehicle, but the trustee has not asked for it. There is no other property to turn over and my house is fully exempt. I'm not at all concerned about my credit score. When it's time to replace the car, we will pay cash as we did for this one. And the next home we buy will be in cash from the proceeds of our current house. Interestingly, I noticed that my credit score is in the low 700s although I have not taken up any of the offers for credit cards, nor do I plan to.

Were you in the Southern Florida BK court? My trustee has a reputation, which is not good. I'm just concerned that this is staying open without any communication from them and my attorney refuses to reach out to them. I just want this to be closed and move on. Some people say it can stay open for one to two years and others say indefinitely.

[despritfreya]

Some people say it can stay open for one to two years and others say indefinitely.

Not "indefinitely" unless you are someone like Bernie Madoff. The US Trustee does monitor the "progress" of cases. If there is no activity for an unreasonable period of time, the US Trustee will step in to push things along. The issue is: "What is an unreasonable period of time"?

Des.

[Pavetim]

I thought I read somewhere they cannot take property and that's why they sort of changed the naming so they could take money in equity but not property?

[justbroke]

I thought I read somewhere they cannot take property and that's why they sort of changed the naming so they could take money in equity but not property?

I don't understand what you're saying, but here's how the homestead exemption works in Florida.

Florida has an unlimited homestead exemption found in Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution. This protects the entire value of the principal residence of a debtor from a forced sale by a creditor. It does not protect anything other than the debtor's primary residence (homestead).

The problem with Bernie Madoff is that the Florida home was obtained by fraud. It wasn't so much about the taking property since a constructive trust can own the property. The court fashioned a constructive trust--which is not a real trust but a fiction of law--to prevent the unjust enrichment of a wrongdoer. The constructive trust is the remedy. The remedy is in equity. So technically the court found that the Florida home was held in trust for the defrauded investors, hence the constructive trust.

So if you're talking about the word "homestead" nothing was changed. Homestead is a defined term and doesn't mean just any real property.