I knew it was too Good to be True - HELP!!

[nojusticehere]

oK, What the heck is this? What does this mean? I just checked PACER and found this. I didn't receive this notice. Does the court file this or was my atty supposed to do this? My atty died!! HELP please


"PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: Under Local Rule 4004−3(A)(8), upon the filing by the trustee of the Notice
of Completion of Plan Payments, the debtor is required to file and serve the attached Local Form "Debtor's
Certificate of Compliance, Motion for Issuance of Discharge and Notice of Deadline to Object" on all
parties of record. The trustee filed the notice of completion of plan payments and the debtor has failed to
timely file the Local Form "Debtor's Certificate of Compliance, Motion for Issuance of Discharge and Notice
of Deadline to Object."
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the debtor must serve and file the Certificate and Motion within 30
days of the date of this notice or the above case may be closed without entry of a discharge and notice will
be provided to all parties of record that the case was closed without entry of a discharge. If the debtor is
appearing pro se, the clerk's office will provide notice of this Certificate and Motion to all parties of record
after it has been filed with the court. If the case is closed without entry of a discharge and the debtor
subsequently moves to reopen the case for the purpose of obtaining a discharge, the debtor will be
required to pay a reopening fee and file the Local Form "Debtor's Certificate of Compliance, Motion for
Issuance of Discharge and Notice of Deadline to Object" and serve it (unless the debtor is pro se whereby
the clerk shall provide service) as required by Local Rule 4004−3(A)(8)."

It said I failed to file this motion and the case is going to be closed without entry of a discharge.....

[justbroke]

Are you a pro se filer? If not, contact your lawyer immediately. They need to file a Certificate of Compliance which basically states that you are current on domestic support obligations (DSOs) amongst other things. Then, you have to file a Motion to Discharge Debtor. In Chapter 13s, you have to actually "ask" for a discharge.

This is very nice of the Trustee to let you know that they received all payments for the Plan, but that you haven't complied with certifying compliance and then asking for a discharge.

[nojusticehere]

no, I'm not Pro Se, and the atty that I hired has since passed. So, now what? Do I have to hire another atty? Ugh!!! I haven't received this notice in the mail yet, I found it on PACER!

OMG, now I'm really stressing. I thought it was over and things would go smoothly from here on out. I guess I shouldn't have expected it to be soooo easy.

[woeisme]

Ok, calm down, it said you had 30 days to file the needed paperwork. When was the notice put in? Call the trustee's office, explain that you don't have a lawyer because yours died (by the way, is there anyone who is taking over his active cases? if in a big firm, there should be, if a single operator, maybe not.) Anyhow, ask the trustee's office for the forms you need to file, sounds like a simple clerical thing. Did you take your 2nd debtor education class? If not, you'll want to be sure you file that paperwork too. But it really doesn't sound like there is a real problem, just that routine paperwork needs to be filed for them to properly discharge your case.

[justbroke]

Yes, woeisme is correct. Contact the Trustee and see if they'll help. If not, seek some assistance from the Local Legal Aid and explain that your lawyer passed away and you don't know where his case files went. Someone took the money from your Plan -- as you pay "monitoring fees" throughout your Plan duration.

Worse case, the forms are pretty simple. First, go through the Trustee... then go through Legal Aid. If in the end, that all fails, we'll help you figure out what you need to do. You need to get moving on this, because 30 days will disappear on you real quick. I would be calling the Trustee today. I would pester them on Monday and Tuesday as well if you don't reach them. I'd simultaneously reach out to Legal Aid to see who took your lawyer's cases.

In the end, you can get this done yourself, so relax for now.