Possible modify/dismissal of Chapter 13? Not confirmed yet..

[kmccoleman]

So my life is the literal definition of "when it rains it pours." Rain as in flood. Flood as in my house. Two of the three levels of my townhouse.

Needless to say, it just happened a little over a week ago so the aftermath is just seven shades of terrible. My garage is right below the kitchen that flooded. And as the old saying goes "as above, so below." Not only did the garage flood, but it took out most of the things in it with water, mold..all that jazz. Many things that can't be replaced were destroyed. Some of my son's baby clothes. A few or most of his toys when he was little. Pictures. My husband and sister's military bags (and everything in them). So basically everything.

My kitchen, living room, dining room were all affected. Demos are forthcoming on floors, stairs, ceilings..everything that insurance is going to cover. The cause..supply valves burst. Off and on valves in my kitchen sink didn't work. Enter spraying water. In the middle of the night. While we slept. So who knows how long it was flooding before my dog did his best Lassie impression and alerted us about the flood.

My deductible is high. The homeowner's insurance claims they pay for the damage and aftermath and not the actual reason for the flood. So the plumbing issues are all out of my pocket. And the $2000.00 deductible. Did I also mention that my husband can't work the 2nd job the Trustee is fighting our "expenses" and "DLI" on because he was sick for over a month with a stomach condition and very recently his brother passed away so he not only missed work from his 2nd job, but his primary job as well. So basically my whole life is exploding. With no end in sight.

Basically this ventfest leads to a question. The Trustee is fighting or objecting rather confirmation and has since a month after I filed and I wonder if it's even worth the trouble of fighting this current bankruptcy or just re-filing and trying again with a brand new lookback full of all this crap!

No word from my attorney yet, but I'm exploring my options now given the world clearly wants me to explode or end up in a loony bin from all of this stuff. Any suggestions? I'm out of suggestions. Out of answers. Just out of everything..

[justbroke]

The only issue will be the serial filing, but there are first day motions that your attorney will file to deal with those. You'll have to work through the numbers to see what works. You'll probably pay your attorney almost as much as you did in the first filed case.

It's probably a good strategy -- to refile -- but I just don't know if it's the best for you overall. I think I conveyed, before, that I had hurricane damage and a broken sewer main after filing. Neither was easy to deal with. I deferred a bunch of maintenance, ran my large home on only 1 5-ton A/C unit (when it had 2 3-ton A/C units), needed to replace all 3 A/Cs (2 x 3-ton and 1 x 2-ton), cars.... uggg. When it rains it does pour.

I'm sure you have already started, but make an assessment of what it will take to get back to some sort of normal (house repairs, etc). That way you can help your attorney decide whether to ask for payment abatements or modification. Since you are not confirmed, you can change your plan by just filing a new "revision" of the plan without the headache of modification.

I would keep bothering the attorney twice a day until they respond. It's really an emergency.

[kmccoleman]

The only issue will be the serial filing, but there are first day motions that your attorney will file to deal with those. You'll have to work through the numbers to see what works. You'll probably pay your attorney almost as much as you did in the first filed case.

It's probably a good strategy -- to refile -- but I just don't know if it's the best for you overall. I think I conveyed, before, that I had hurricane damage and a broken sewer main after filing. Neither was easy to deal with. I deferred a bunch of maintenance, ran my large home on only 1 5-ton A/C unit (when it had 2 3-ton A/C units), needed to replace all 3 A/Cs (2 x 3-ton and 1 x 2-ton), cars.... uggg. When it rains it does pour.

I'm sure you have already started, but make an assessment of what it will take to get back to some sort of normal (house repairs, etc). That way you can help your attorney decide whether to ask for payment abatements or modification. Since you are not confirmed, you can change your plan by just filing a new "revision" of the plan without the headache of modification.

I would keep bothering the attorney twice a day until they respond. It's really an emergency.

I don't want to be a serial filer but I don't really have much choice in the matter if they want me to enter into a plan I can't feasibly get through, especially now.

I also don't want to spend more money to re-file with an attorney I don't like for her to just screw me over and piss me off a second time.

I can't even imagine a whole house worth of damage. I have about 75% of my house affected right now plus issues now to get mold removed and plumbing repairs so additional stuff right now would just skyrocket my stress levels to maximum capacity. I'm already about as high to the brim of stress, so at this point it's just overflow.

The assessment already has us in the red. We don't have a full estimate on anything yet because they are still doing the packing up and removal of everything on all of these levels plus they have to estimate the loss of everything affected in the flood and then come up with a number. They'll of course low ball us because they are an insurance company but we'll have to roll with whatever we end up getting to recoup some of the loss for money expended for the deductible and repairs that are all on us. So basically it's a sh**show.

I've sent her two emails in the past 24 hours to get an idea of what to do and where to go as far as this case is concerned. She's one of those attorneys with no staff and it's just her and she basically works when she wants or when there's a deadline or notice or motion she has to involve herself on. Zero hands on. Just does the bare minimum. So I shudder to even consider having to refile with her again if necessary.

[sophieanne]

Kim - I can't say anything other than, I'm so sorry for everything you're going through. I hope you are able to take care of the damage in your home and everything else comes together for you.

[kmccoleman]

sophieanne Thank you. It's a lot. My death, death, disaster cup runneth over.

[BrokeinCA]

I wish I had some great insight for you, but I don't. I just really wanted you to know that I'm wishing only good things begin coming your way.

[kmccoleman]

I wish I had some great insight for you, but I don't. I just really wanted you to know that I'm wishing only good things begin coming your way.

BrokeinCA thank you. I'm hoping for better and less rocky days ahead but it's not likely with all of the construction and demo about to occur in my house. This on top of everything else is just a lot. I really would just like SOMETHING to pan out.

[NoMoney30]

What the what?!? Seriously? OMG woman that's crazy... I'm so sorry. If I were in your shoes, I might let the case get dismissed... hell you know I wanted to do the same thing but I only wanted to do it strictly because of my lawyer. You have all these circumstances and such as well as a shitty lawyer. If the trustee questions a refile, you certainly have probable cause for it. The only thing is you would get 2 bankruptcies on your credit then. Even though one of them gets dismissed, it still stays on your credit report. There are ways to remove things though.... Sending my biggest virtual hugs! Shoot me an IM when you have time.

[kmccoleman]

NoMoney30 I'm not sure what to do at this point because if I try to explore that option before the confirmation hearing, I don't know if that will result in a continuance being filed and more money having to be shelled out at a time where I don't have any real disposable money to spare with all this stuff happening in my house. This entire process was already exhausting but add this to the equation and it's become impossible. If I let it be dismissed, I don't know the procedure for that. If I refuse the confirmation hearing, I'd have to inform my attorney and after several emails over the past two days, that seems to be a moot point. I don't really call her because honestly I want a paper trail of communications (or lack thereof) so I do find another attorney willing to accept the case pre-confirmation, I can provide evidence of my attorney not communicating with me effectively or at all.

I just don't want to end up dismissing, refiling then ending up with the same Trustee with the same BS. And maybe the grass wouldn't be greener on another side. I work for attorneys and they are all terrible at communication, which is why they have paralegals to do their dirty work.

[NoMoney30]

Apparently we can't IM people anymore? I can't find the option. Why don't you do a free consultation with another attorney and just ask them your questions .... it can't hurt? You can explain how everything has been handled and then see what they say. Don't mention the name of your attorney but just explain how frustrated you are and your circumstances... ask what would happen if your case got dismissed... if its even possible to refile.

If it is something they can help you with, then maybe you can delay refiling a bit and use some of your money to get some things done first. Course I do believe if you hire another attorney you'd have to pay them all over again. But, at least you would have a second opinion and if they say you should stay the course...then at least you got some additional advice.

[kmccoleman]

NoMoney30 yeah I noticed that and that my notifications don't appear when I get a new message on a post either. I have to go to the message itself and scroll down to respond. My desktop just notes I have a message but won't show me from who or where. Thankfully at least the email notifications still work okay.

I'm going to make some calls to see if the process of transferring or removing my current attorney is super detailed and/or super costly. I have mold to remove, repairs to my sink to do and I'm not sure what insurance is covering. I've been told everything will be covered with the exception of the mold remediation and the reason for the flood (plumbing) but I don't trust insurance companies anymore than I trust my attorney right now so I am treading lightly and letting the communications go through the proper channels between the companies and the adjuster. I only step in if something needs to be signed or specifically needs to my call as the homeowner. All the rest is State Farm.

[Carmella]

kmccoleman I am sorry to hear about all this crap going on. I am sending you good thoughts and prayers that it will all work out in the end.

[kmccoleman]

Carmella thank you. Still a ****show but I'm trying to press through. I just hope we don't have to vacate the house during construction. A hotel room isn't my idea of fun with two grown men sharing it with me.

[NoMoney30]

Hey girl, how's things going? I guess I need to figure out how to give you my email address since we can't send messages anymore...

[justbroke]

NoMoney30 you should be able to send a PM message. It just blocks them for the first 5 posts (I think).