HELP! Motion to dismiss!

[lgfrog]

I posted last month because we had filed in 9/2005 and had not yet received confirmation. (See http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...t=confirmation)

I contacted out lawyer and she told me again not to worry about it, that they are probably just behind.

THEN I open the mail today and have a notice from the trustee's office:

"Motion to Dismiss with Certificate of Service and Notice of Hearing Thereon (Delay). Trustee files this motion pursuant to section 1307 of the bankruptcy code and bankruptcy rules 9014 and would respectfully show unto the court as follows:

This case be dismissed for the following cause: Debtor failed to comply with the following bankruptcy rules which caused an unreasonable dealy prejudical to creditors per 11 USC 1307.

DEBTOR FAILURE TO OBTAIN TIMELY CONFIRMATION OF THE PLAN

Wherefore your trustee prays that after notice and hearing, this Chapter 13 case be dismissed."

We have made every single payment on time, and have kept in contact with our lawyer, checked PACER religiously, etc. What the hell?!?! They have a hearing date there. I don't understand what it means to say that "debtor failed to obtain timely confirmation of the plan" ...I thought that was what the trustee does (confirm the plan with the judge?). I'm SO worried about this now...my husband reenlisted in the Army THIS WEEK and is going to leave for training in a month!

I have to wait till tomorrow to call the lawyer and I'll be chewing my nails between now and then... any advice???

[Interlaw]

I posted last month because we had filed in 9/2005 and had not yet received confirmation. (See http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...t=confirmation)

I contacted out lawyer and she told me again not to worry about it, that they are probably just behind.

THEN I open the mail today and have a notice from the trustee's office:

"Motion to Dismiss with Certificate of Service and Notice of Hearing Thereon (Delay). Trustee files this motion pursuant to section 1307 of the bankruptcy code and bankruptcy rules 9014 and would respectfully show unto the court as follows:

This case be dismissed for the following cause: Debtor failed to comply with the following bankruptcy rules which caused an unreasonable dealy prejudical to creditors per 11 USC 1307.

DEBTOR FAILURE TO OBTAIN TIMELY CONFIRMATION OF THE PLAN

Wherefore your trustee prays that after notice and hearing, this Chapter 13 case be dismissed."

We have made every single payment on time, and have kept in contact with our lawyer, checked PACER religiously, etc. What the hell?!?! They have a hearing date there. I don't understand what it means to say that "debtor failed to obtain timely confirmation of the plan" ...I thought that was what the trustee does (confirm the plan with the judge?). I'm SO worried about this now...my husband reenlisted in the Army THIS WEEK and is going to leave for training in a month!

I have to wait till tomorrow to call the lawyer and I'll be chewing my nails between now and then... any advice???

Unfortunately, there's no way to tell whether this is just a standard form that the Trustee files in all cases that haven't been confirmed within 90/120/? days or a serious problem. It appears to be a local practice; the Trustees in MD don't file them, and I have one case that's been open without confirmation for 2 years now.

Call your attorney tomorrow, and he or she can explain what's happening. You do have the ability to appear at the hearing and tell the judge that you've done everything asked of you, and you don't know what the problem is.

Brett Weiss
[email protected]

https://www.brettweiss.com/bankruptcy

Maryland, DC and Federal bars
Member, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys

--> Read our Bankruptcy FAQ at www.brettweiss.com/bankruptcy/FAQ/br_faq.htmwww.brettweiss.com/faq/br_faq.htm.

************************************************** ***************
The Small Print: This response is for discussion purposes only.
It isn't meant to be legal advice and you shouldn't treat it as
such. If you want legal advice, speak with a local lawyer
familiar with your state's laws who can review *all* of the
facts and the law applicable to your situation.
************************************************** ***************

[Jman30]

Let us know how this turned out for you??

[rrockinggramma]

Cool Brett, good to see you are posting here as well.

[anonymuse]

Is this what was actually in the letter:

Wherefore your trustee prays that after notice and hearing, this Chapter 13 case be dismissed

[Jman30]

Is this what was actually in the letter:

Wherefore your trustee prays that after notice and hearing, this Chapter 13 case be dismissed

That is accurate and true! It is part of the legal mumbo-jumbo that they use.

[anonymuse]

That is accurate and true! It is part of the legal mumbo-jumbo that they use.

Gotta love that separation of church and state.

[SinkingFast]

Is this what was actually in the letter:

Wherefore your trustee prays that after notice and hearing, this Chapter 13 case be dismissed

A lot of American legaleeze is from the way people spoke and wrote when the country was first formed and the style has not changed.

Pink explained this "trustee prays" a while back. Here's a link to that thread:

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...ighlight=prays

[anonymuse]

A lot of American legaleeze is from the way people spoke and wrote when the country was first formed and the style has not changed.

Pink explained this "trustee prays" a while back. Here's a link to that thread:

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...ighlight=prays

Thanks for the link. I think a lot of people, whether religious or not, start praying for their 341. ;)

[JusticeForAll]

My Trustee didn't pray for anything! (that particular legal phrase was never used in any of my documentation)

I was the one praying BIG TIME!

[JusticeForAll]

LOL! GMTA!!

Thanks for the link. I think a lot of people, whether religious or not, start praying for their 341. ;)

[aa06a47]

lgfrog, not many of us actually get confirmed without some motion to dismiss. Try and save a few of them nails for making it the 36 or 60 months in the plan. Here is the general rule for motions to dismiss (but may not be the case in your bk district).

The trustee files a motion to dismiss. If your attorney files a timely response, the motion to dismiss is "terminated".

What has probably happened is the trustee doesn't like some figure in one of your expenses or something. Could be as simple as the attorney has not contacted them or returned there calls concerning something.

This motion could be an attempt to get your attorney off his/her butt and contact them so they can get your case off there desk.

I would not worry so much about it. After I got my 3rd motion to dismiss, I quit stressing over it. All 3 motions were terminated when my attorney filed a response.

Hope this helps you sleep better tonight.

[lgfrog]

Here is the reply I got from my attorney...

"The Trustee issues these notices automatically when I case has not been finalized as of a certain date....They are behind a little bit on some cases but I have submitted all the information required for the Trustee to set this case for a confirmation hearing and am waiting for court date...they will not dismiss the case unless the case is not confirmed for some reason (which won't happen because we will resolve any outstanding issues that would be prevent it from confirming when the court date arrives). Keep making your payments and confirmation will be set shortly."

I wrote her back to ask if we need to attend the hearing listed in the notice. She said "No...I will attend on your behalf if necessary...I expect a final date for confirmation to be set sometime in November and you may need to attend that hearing but I'll keep you posted..."

So, I'm trying not to worry about it...but it still do!

[Jman30]

Sounds like your attorney has things in order. I would just keep a close eye on it....most BK lawyers deal with quantity of clients over quality of cases and even with the best intentions, things can slip through the cracks.

But it sounds like your attorney knows what she is talking about.