Need help recieved chapter 7 case closed notice.

[rocker01]

I have overlooked the fact that I needed to file an form 23. The due date passed and I got a notice saying my chpter 7 case in closed without discharge. Can anyone tell me if I can submit the form and request the court to reopen the case? Thanks.

[dingdong]

What are the dates of the notice of closure.

You can motion the court to reopen, however you usually only have 10 days after an order has been served to do it w/o having to pay reopening fees.

[rocker01]

Thanks, for the reply. The date of the notice is Feb 25th. Thanks.

[dingdong]

Do you have a lawyer?

IF you do, get his/her butt on the phone ASAP! You need to file a motion before tomorrow, today preferably.

Let us know if you have a lawyer.

[dingdong]

Oops, forgot Feb has 28 days.

You have 10 days from the notice date, but I wouldn't wait.

[rocker01]

No I do not have a lawyer...it is pro se case

[rocker01]

Appreciate all the help. Will go to court tomorrow.

[dingdong]

OK,

.

You need to file a motion to vacate the order of closing and reopen your BK case.


You need to also file an order for the judge to sign allowing the reinstatement.

I am not entirely sure if you just must file the motion to reopen and pay the fee again if it is already closed or if motioning before the 10 days is up will allow a reopen. I wll check in a sec and report back.

You might try PMing Justbroke, he is very knowledgable on this procedural stuff. But I will check for you.

Which state/district did you file in?

[rocker01]

Besides filling the form 23, do I also need to petition the court to reopen the Chpter 7 case? Thanks

[rocker01]

My BK filling id in Maryland/Greenbelt. Thanks

[dingdong]

Since your case is closed, you can't just file the missing form, basically you have no BK case anymore.

You have to motion the court to reopen and then once it is reopened, file the missing form.

You can attach the missing form to your motion to reopen, but you need to get it reopened first.

Did you check PACER and see if it is dismissed and closed or do you just have an order of dismissal?

If it is the latter, than you should not have to pay the reopening fees.

IF you are closed, then you may, depending on your local court rules.

Check PACER and see if you have a motion to dismiss filed before the order to close and post the dates of the motion to dismiss.

[rocker01]

Thanks. I have a notice I got in the mail, it reads

"Notice Of Chapter 7 Case Closed Without Discharge"

So it appears I will have to petition to reopen the case. Right?

[dingdong]

Looks that way.

Are you pretty savvy with the BK laws?

I am pretty sure you will have to pay the 260.00 to reopen.

There is a 10 day rule, which allows you to motion the court to vacate an order within the 10 days. I am not 100% sure if you motion the court to reopen a closed case within the 10 days, if you are off the hook for the refiling fee.

If you are pretty savvy with the law, check your local court's BK rules and see what they say about motioning to reopen within the 10 days.

Hopefully Mr Justbroke will chime in soon and help, he helped me alot when my case was dismissed ( just an order of dismissal, not closed) and I was reinstated very quickly, but I acted very fast.

YOu should really consider getting a PACER account since you filed Pro Se, and you don't have a lawyer checking on things for you or getting PACER notices . IF you had checked PACER and had seen the motion to dismiss, you could have simply filed an ex parte motion to vacate the order of dismissal and your case wouldn't have been closed if you motioned timely.

[rocker01]

Thanks for the input.

I am not savvy with the local BK laws.

Hope I do not have to pay $260.00 as I do not have it.

Hope Mr. Justbroke can shed more light on this.

I am so happy to have found this forum. Again, thanks for all the help.

[dingdong]

Search under my name for a post , I think it was "Need major Guru help" or something similar.


It will give you some insight on the motion I filed.

There are usually no fees to file the motion to vacate.

Someone else recently had the same problem, they forgot to file the last Debt Ed certificate. Their lawyer motioned to reopen, you might want to post under that thread and see if they were required to pay the reopening fee after closure. I believe they beat the 10 day limit, and filed the motion on day 10.

Ask them if they had to pay to reopen with their motion ( or if the lawyer paid)

IF they didn't have to pay, get to working on your motion to reopen and get it to the court right away. And don't forget your order for the judge to sign.