Filing Chapter 7 with civil suit pending...HELP!

[spooby72]

We are being sued over two repos we had about 4 months back. We contested the civil claim at our first appearance and have a court date near the end of this month.

My question is this....if I file our chapter 7 before our court date and send notification to the plaintiff's attorney, what happens then? Will the attorney still want to obtain the judgment or will they drop the suit?

If I still have to appear at court, can I just bring proof of the federal filing and that will most likely put an end to this civil proceeding....right?

Any help would be appreciated...we cannot afford an attorney and we could use all the advice we can get!!! Thanks so much!

[mymymy]

The good news is.. Yes, the lawsuit will be brought to a screeching halt when you file. I was in a similar situation.. not car repo related.. but, with a pending lawsuit from a CC co. The amount was fairly substantial.. but, as soon as I answered my summons with a Suggestion of Bankruptcy, the creditor immediately withdrew the suit. When I say immediately.. it was instant! I sent my answer on a Monday and received the withdrawl by Thursday.

Your case seems to be a little further along. I say, file before the court date. If you do have to appear for this hearing, your positive defense will be that you have filed BK and you are under the courts protection. IF the paperwork and notices go out before your court date and everything is processed.. chances are, the hearing will be canceled. It seems that TIME will be the factor here.

Even if, for some reason, you can't file before the hearing and the creditor gets the judgements- you can still file CH 7 and wipe out the underlying debt BUT, you will have to take the extra step (and extra $$$) of having the judgement vacated. Best to do it all before the judgements are granted, if you can.

Good Luck.. Go for it!