The Significance of Closing an Asset Case

[angles]

Technically he does not abandon an asset until the case closes. I have heard that most Trustees don’t like to take a personal residence unless it clearly shows money to be made. The reason for this is if they do they will be putting someone’s family on the street.

I don’t know if this bit of info will help, but after we filed our house value went up about 10K and I was really worried the Trustee would take it. Our attorney advised us that the value is based off of the time we filed, not its current worth. It has since gone back down but had me a little worried for a bit.

[lowdoughshow]

thanks angles. but at what point does he walk. does he try to sell to get $1K , $10K ??? he is sending anpther RE agent, they might say its worth more than it can sell for...on the edge of my seat....very anxious ya now

[angles]

lowdoughtshow, you should already have a pretty good idea on what he will sell based on your exemptions and the value of your residence. if there is no money to be made for the BK estate he will abandon the property and move on.

[lowdoughshow]

i have an asset case that has several properties and the trustee is looking into all of them including our primary res. How do we know at what point he will try to seel our house?

[want2save]

Here's an idea of the timing in an asset case. I filed in May 2009. I was discharged in Sept 2009. (Asset case). I bought back my car and van. My motor home was sold long ago by the Trustee. In May 2010 a Final Report was filed showing my house, bank accounts and IRAS as DA. In June the Court allowed the Trustee to be paid and the creditors as well. It is now August 2010 and I am STILL waiting for closing.

[ready2puke]

Thanks I didn't know if that time frame still applied if there was assets involved and the case was still open..thanks...
BTW congrats on your closing why did it take so long? almost a year yicks..

[backtoschool]

What happens in a Chapter 7 Asset case where the property is really hard to sell, the case stays open, and then I get an inheritance the wasn't in the cards when I filed...Can they take that?
Thanks..

If the inheritance or the death that resulted in the inheritance happens within 180 days of when you filed your petition, then that inheritance is property of the bankruptcy estate, minus any exemptions you can apply to it.

[ready2puke]

What happens in a Chapter 7 Asset case where the property is really hard to sell, the case stays open, and then I get an inheritance the wasn't in the cards when I filed...Can they take that?
Thanks..

[angles]

oh ya.... what if the trustee takes a year to decide whether he wants to pursue the rental properties, and the market value goes up 100%? Do i have to buy back at a higher %??

I might have missed the response to this question, but can the Trustee decide a year or so later that the property has value and then take it? What about a personal home that was included in the BK? When would that be closed?

This is something that could be very important for planning purposes while filling out the petition and listing property values. If the actual value is not known, or close to what is owed, should the value be listed just below the loan amount or just above? Geesh, this is really starting to stress me out!

[justbroke]

So..if I declare BK before the proposed sale can close, would the proposed sale be stayed until BK was discharged?

Until the earlier of, the discharge being entered (combined with the Trustee abandoning the asset from the Estate), the case closing, a granted relief from stay motion is entered, or the case being dismissed.

Yeah, I feel sorry that you got ripped off. It is complex, but if you did Bankruptcy, you'd have a new Judge who may be willing to hear an avoidance complaint! Would certainly tie it up for a while. However, going into an adversary proceeding can get expensive.

[ColoradoBell]

JustBroke: thanks for trying to understand my pathetic case!
I want to keep the home because it is a good investment. If I owned it myself (instead of X having 40%) I could paint it, fix some problems, and sell it for $1.5-$2 million in a couple years , and live in it til then, renting out two rooms which would pay expenses.

The sale for $600k is to a Buyer that was intimately related to X. Although there was no loan or lien on the house at the time of the divorce and it was then appraised at $1.5mil, now there is a $199k HELOC and $180k of judgement liens (from X and his attonreys against me). This is all done by power of a crooked judge 5 years after teh divorce settlement which I've never gotten a penny of. But that's another story.

If I didn't declare BK, I wouldn't even get my homestead exemption....$90k
But after I did some research I realized that MAYBE I could avoid some of those liens because of the homestead exemption. Then my family might buy out x's share at $240k (40%) and then I'd be paying off my share of the HELOC ($120k) and we'd own a house that I could fix up and market for $1.5. (I used to do real estate and know the market here well). Alternatively, if the BK trustee marketed it, it would sell for more than $600 k on an open market. (our market here just dropped 13% so we aren't as bad off as other areas)

Of course I need a good BK and RE attonrey but it is really hard to find one and harder yet to afford one because starting after July my only income is SS at $475 a month and retirement money that X still controls. HHN has referred me to some Bk attonreys he highly recommends, but for the most part, since I have no CC or med debt, I'm a really weird case that no one quite understands. I 've called at least 50 RE attoneys, gave one $3500 retainer and he took it all just to hear the issues (5 hours...and ripped off the rest) and did nothing. It's really pathetic..if you knew the whole story, all the intrigue, it would read like a Carl Hiassen novel.

So..if I declare BK before the proposed sale can close, would the proposed sale be stayed until BK was discharged?

[kw1025]

they could be grated a stay of relief..then, if it is accepted by judge, they can repossess

[justbroke]

ColoradoBell, that's a very complex issue. The Chapter 7 would tie it up, and you'd almost certainly end up in an Adversary Proceeding (AP) to litigate the extent of the judgment. You hit the nail on the head that the Trustee might want to be substituted or added as a party in interest. This would make it much more litigious.

Forgive me if I asked before or you mentioned it before, but you really should have a really really good real estate attorney and a bankruptcy attorney for this. It could be worth the money. There are too many issues here including, but not limited to, marital dissolution issues.

Anyhow... why are you trying to save the home? All this may be for naught.

[ColoradoBell]

Well this tread, especially Ch007's sitch, is honing in on my problem and giving e a little ray of hope on an otherwise horrific Friday.

So, justbroke, another takeover of original OP's thread with my questions.

Here's the deal: I have a home I spent 5 years of my life building. In a divorce, in 2005 it was ordered fixed up and sold, but X wouldn't let me fix it up. He convinced the judge to have it sold 'as is'. A receiver was appointed. Receiver is a crook as is judge and together things have gotten FUBAR. The house appraised 'as is' at $1.5mil, but the Receiver is trying to sell it to a friend for $600k. (long story, leaving lots out) I thought I had some time to file BUT Receiver asked judge to evict me (no debt on home and I keep it in terrific shape) because buyer thinks Im gonna sue him (No, gonna sue Receiver). I got 3 days notice of this hearing to evict me and shot down when I asked for a continuance to prepare my defense. (Getting the pic here?) But my response shook them a little because I laid out the not arms length transaction in pretty stark detail...they sure didn't want me getting such juicy stuff into the record.

SO.... suddenly a new contract appeared YESTERDAY. For $600,001 (a coincidental price I'm sure, as of course new buyer shouldn't know what old buyer's contract is for) . This contract demands a closing in 30 days. Offer from a rich Denver attorney. Now hearing is moot

I don't want to sell my home for $600k. X refuses to let me buyout his share.
No money is owing on the HELOC and the judgment liens could be avoided in part due to homestead exemption.

Finally: what the answers in this post suggest to me as a strategy is that I should file a Chapter 7 asset case...to tie the house up. If the house sells, for $600k, the trustee makes nada..but if I can persuade him that it's worth a whole lot more???????????
Is there any way that I can use the $600k contract price to Avoid the judgment liens and THEN persuade the trustee that it is worth more? Heck, even if sold for $650k, it seems taht the trustee is getting a big chunk of change making it worth her while.
I have only about $10k in assets other than the house which would be no asset(my share) unless I got the liens avoided.
There's a lot more going on here that is too much and too complicated to post....but do you think I have a chance in hell of stopping that low ball sale?
And would filing Chapter 7 be my best bet? Or would a chapter 13 do something a 7 won't (again, no unpaid debt on the house or anything.....the BK is because of the low ball sale and debts coming due upon sale)

Sorry to hijack...it just seemed that someone else (Ch 007) is in a similar sitch.

[kw1025]

oh ya.... what if the trustee takes a year to decide whether he wants to pursue the rental properties, and the market value goes up 100%? Do i have to buy back at a higher %??