Well after five long stressful years and just under $180,000 paid into the plan I have received my notification of discharge. A day that I thought would be such a celebration has been tainted by recently learning that filing independent of my spouse was not a good idea. I live in CA (community property state). Despite almost all of our debt being joint, I was advised by my attorney that my husband didn't need to file. One the stay was in place, and we were no longer constantly bombarded by creditors I naively thought all was well. What wasn't explained to me was that now that the discharge in place, is that collection efforts can be started against my husband once again. (I was in a non 100% plan.) I am just sick about this.
What are our options? Does my husband need to file another 13, this time without me? Some of the creditors were paid less than 100%. Does the act of the trustee making these partial payments at the end of the 60 months re-activate the statute of limitations timeline on the debt?
I can't get a clear answer from my attorney. Actually I haven't been able to speak to my attorney in years, I am only able to talk to his assistant (possibly she's a paralegal - I'm just not sure.)
Liens:
A credit card company had filed a lien against our home. My attorney successfully filed a motion to avoid lien. It was declared void and unenforceable. In an email that the attorney's office sent me yesterday, they adcised the following: "In order to finalize the process of removing the lien on your home, you must obtain a certified copy of the order extinguishing lien from the Court and have it filed into the chain of title for your home with the County Recorder’s Office in the county where your home is located." Is this necessary?
We did pay a large amount to our HELOC. (Definitely was the largest amount paid in our plan.) We were unable to strip it because we owed less on our first TD than we did on the HELOC. All but approximate $16k was paid, but my plan did pay 100% of the agreed to payoff. The $16k was fees and interest accumulated AFTER the plan was confirmed. Throughout the BK we would receive letters from the lender advising it was not an attempt to collect a debt, but what the balance was each month. Once 100% of the confirmed amount was paid through the plan, we began receiving statements with an amount owed for the interest and fees. My attorney told us not to pay those. This all happened around the time that I discovered that filing alone while married was a bad idea. I assumed that my husband would be on the hook for that amount. Then yesterday we received a letter from the lender addressed to both of us advising that they were closing the HELOC account and that they would be mailing "loan satisfaction" documents to us or the county recorder according to state guidelines. They also advised that they'd be releasing the lien on the property within the legally required timeframe. This sounds to me like we have BOTH been forgiven of this note. Am I correct?
I know this is long, but I am just so devastated about the bad legal advise that we were given and am dreading what comes next. These past 6 years have drained me emotionally and physically. I just can't stand the thought of this still going on.
What are our options? Does my husband need to file another 13, this time without me? Some of the creditors were paid less than 100%. Does the act of the trustee making these partial payments at the end of the 60 months re-activate the statute of limitations timeline on the debt?
I can't get a clear answer from my attorney. Actually I haven't been able to speak to my attorney in years, I am only able to talk to his assistant (possibly she's a paralegal - I'm just not sure.)
Liens:
A credit card company had filed a lien against our home. My attorney successfully filed a motion to avoid lien. It was declared void and unenforceable. In an email that the attorney's office sent me yesterday, they adcised the following: "In order to finalize the process of removing the lien on your home, you must obtain a certified copy of the order extinguishing lien from the Court and have it filed into the chain of title for your home with the County Recorder’s Office in the county where your home is located." Is this necessary?
We did pay a large amount to our HELOC. (Definitely was the largest amount paid in our plan.) We were unable to strip it because we owed less on our first TD than we did on the HELOC. All but approximate $16k was paid, but my plan did pay 100% of the agreed to payoff. The $16k was fees and interest accumulated AFTER the plan was confirmed. Throughout the BK we would receive letters from the lender advising it was not an attempt to collect a debt, but what the balance was each month. Once 100% of the confirmed amount was paid through the plan, we began receiving statements with an amount owed for the interest and fees. My attorney told us not to pay those. This all happened around the time that I discovered that filing alone while married was a bad idea. I assumed that my husband would be on the hook for that amount. Then yesterday we received a letter from the lender addressed to both of us advising that they were closing the HELOC account and that they would be mailing "loan satisfaction" documents to us or the county recorder according to state guidelines. They also advised that they'd be releasing the lien on the property within the legally required timeframe. This sounds to me like we have BOTH been forgiven of this note. Am I correct?
I know this is long, but I am just so devastated about the bad legal advise that we were given and am dreading what comes next. These past 6 years have drained me emotionally and physically. I just can't stand the thought of this still going on.
Bankruptcy Wizard
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