Automatic stay violation

[Hopeandpain2]

Hi,
I completed my chapter 13 in October 2022 it was a three year plan. The lawyer we used is ghosting us, so ugh.
When proof of claim came in for an energy loan for heaters with a credit union, we noticed they claimed $11,**** and unsecured. During that time they were paid say $600. Lawyer said “we will worry about that at a later date.” Well the later date is now; trying to get an equity loan during the title search it shows a UCC lien and a UCC Continuation 2021 is when the continue was filed. I called the company who called me back asking if I was on the loan. I am not, but my husband is. She said I need your husband to call me and confirm from him I can speak to you. Not 5 minutes later she calls back saying he confirmed. (I was texting him and he did not talk to anyone nobody called and he didn’t call her) anyway she says we owe $13,*** and interest is accruing $1.45 a day and we need to pay the full amount to release the lien.
This has been a huge pain to say the least and I don’t know what to do.. I asked her about the automatic stay to which she said I needed to stop playing attorney and get one.
While this lady is the same lady who filled out the proof of claim wrong in the first place.
I have a few lawyers that I have called due to the holiday, it may take a week or so to hear back. In the meantime, what can I expect and if anyone has had a similar experience?
Thank you for reading.

[justbroke]

All liens survive bankruptcy unless some action is taken to attack the lien. There is nothing you can do but pay them or negotiate some sort of settlement. There is no automatic stay after discharge; there is a permanent discharge injunction. The creditor can not personally go after a debtor that received a discharge personally (in personam). However, a secured creditor keeps their non-bankruptcy lienholder rights. In other words, they can foreclose upon their lien but not personally try to get you to pay through any sort of process (think lawsuit). So if they did foreclose then any deficiency would itself be a discharged debt.

Maybe despritfreya can shed light on what happens in the 9th Circuit when a secured creditor only files an unsecured claim in a bankruptcy. The question would be whether they retain their non-bankruptcy security (the UCC lien) after discharge. I can't answer that question because it's a legal question. I am glad that you are trying to find an attorney to answer the question.

[despritfreya]

I need to preface this by indicating that, in my state, UCC1s are typically recorded with the Secretary of State and do not become liens against real property. If they are recorded with the County Recorder they may be deemed a fixture filing and are liens against real property.

Assuming this was a lien against real property, as JB mentioned, the lien did was not removed by the Discharge unless, depending upon local procedure, the Chapter 13 Plan provided for the release (strip off) of the lien. I do not believe that the filing of an unsecured claim controls this although it could be an admission that the lien does not have any value thus allowing for the strip off of the lien without an argument from the creditor. Affirmative action probably needs to be taken to remove the lien and it is not too late to do this by way of a “506 Complaint”. While a bit time consuming, I see no problem with reopening the Chapter 13 (if closed), filing and serving the Complaint and moving forward with an attempt to strip off the lien.

Des.