Asset case to No Asset case

[sol1899]

Hello all,
I havn't posted in a while but after 4 yrs I'm still dealing with my case.

I filed my case as a no asset. The Trustee said I undervalued my house and made the case an Asset case and proceeded to list my house for sale. The house has not sold and now with the decline in property values, the Trustee as lowered the listing price dramatically. The new listed sale price (which is very close to my original schedules) would only cover the mortgage, sale costs, and a part of my exemption. There would not be any money left for the trustee or unsecured creditors. She is still trying to sell the house. Why would they continue to try to sell the property as opposed to abandoning it? What motion can I file to have the court change the case back to a No Asset?

[lrprn]

Why would they continue to try to sell the property as opposed to abandoning it? What motion can I file to have the court change the case back to a No Asset?

If you filed with a lawyer, get your lawyer on this. If you filed pro se, then sounds like it's time to make appointments with 3-4 experienced bk lawyers for free or low-cost initial consultations.

If you just don't want to use a lawyer, then a trip to the courthouse to ask the bankruptcy clerk very nicely which motion to file and how to do it may prove helpful. If you have Legal Aid in your town, that's a low cost alternative as well.

Four years for a Ch 7 case is ridiculous. You can file a complaint with the US Trustee's office regarding the length of time it has taken for your trustee to get off the dime - send your letter to the address at the bottom of the page here - http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/ust_org/about_ustp.htm

You can also bring suit to move your trustee off the dime - http://www.wjfa.net/pp/bankruptcy_trustees.html (this is pretty extreme - not what I would recommend unless you can prove the trustee is delaying the closing of your case for personal gain).

Hope that you find relief from this terrible situation very soon.

[sol1899]

Thank for the reply, i did file pro se thinking this would be a no asset case. I have looked for lawyers in the past but when they see it is not a straight forward case they just run and hide. The civil "servants" at the court are not helpful at all and no matter nice you ask they get upset because you interrupted them doing their nails.

Don't the trustees have to petition the court for approval to actually complete the sale even though their motion to list and sell the property was approved over a year ago? Also the approval to list and sell was approved on a 330,000 listing price but now the listing is just less than 100,000 less.

After research it looks as though I may be able to file a "motion to request an order to reclassify as a no asset case and compell trustee to proceed accordingly" but since this is not a standard motion the judge could just toss it out. I am preparing the motion but I hope that the trustee and her attorney (yes, her own firm) would just wan't to cut their losses and abandon the property, not that I would be able to keep it anymore due to the mrotgage "crisis".

I have also found out that trustees have been able to surcharge homestead exemptions where fraudulent transfers, criminal activity, attempts to hide assets, or attempts to fraudulently delay proceedings have been proved. There is none of that here and the only delays are the fault of the trustee and her attorney but I am still worried that I might not get my full exemption or none at all.

[HHM]

I think you have answered your own question. Granted, the technicalities of the motion may be beyond you...but judges tend to lenient on pro se debtors in that regard.

Essentially you would file a Motion to Order the Trustee to Abandon Property (or you can use the title you have), but you would need to argue and make the case that the property in question, in this case, the house, has no value to the BK estate. But to do so convincingly, you may have to do some leg work, and a certified appraisal wouldn't hurt.

The judge needs to see facts, and those facts have to admissible evidence. So, you would need to get the an accurate payoff amount from all the mortgage holders, and a certified appraisal of the house that demonstrates that after paying of the Mortgage holders in full, reasonable sale costs, and your exemption, there would be NOTHING left for the BK estate.