chapter 13 question

[zxcvbnm12]

i purchase this house on a RENT to OWN contract last august. It stated i was to pay 1000 a month until it was paid off and we had the contract notarized.
i fell behind on my payment in November and we signed a new" RENT to Own" contract but never had it notarized.
it stated that i pay 650 a month for november, december, january, febuary and for march i was to pay it off and the amount i owed then was 3500.
i paid november, december, january and febuary.
i filed my chapter 13 bk on the first of February but we didnt have a hearing or anything yet. my last payment i made was febuary and i was to pay the house off in the amount of 3500.00 on the first of march. i told her i filed the chapter 13 and she is to speak to my attorney. i didnt hear anything from her for march or april. she contacted me last week and told me i breached my contract and you can not file any kind of bk on a RENT TO OWN contract. my question is, is she right? can she get me for breach of contract because i havent made any payments for the last 2 months? it states in both the contrats that " The parties agree that if the leasor is late for two consecutive months the leasor must vacate the property immediately and lose all intrest and equity in the said property."
i was told by someone on a RENT to own contract it can be as i was just renting, not buying.

[spidge]

Frustrating for sure, but why put all those payments at risk without finding out all your options before acting or in your case not acting. Your only option is to pay an attorney to sort it out and quick.

[HHM]

Rent to own is still a lease. Leases get treated differently in BK. See section 365 of the BK code.

Honestly, not sure the 2nd contract is even a valid contract (from a strictly legal standpoint, there may be no consideration). But that doesn't necessarily help you, that would mean the original terms come back into play. In either case, you are in breach.

Under section 362(b)(22), unless she started the eviction prior to you filing BK, she does need to get permission of the court to evict you. However, that only buys you 30 days.
You really need to look at 362(l), that tells you what you need to do. If you fail to assume the lease and cure the default per that provision, the auto stay pretty much ends within 60 days automatically.

Now, if the landlord is asleep at the wheel, you can usually push this down the road to confirmation. In chapter 13, you have up until confirmation to assume or reject a lease, but you still must follow the 362(l) procedures. The main problem here is the breach, and the questionable status of what is actually owed to cure default. (is it the two payments of 650 or is it the $1,300 + the $3,500.)

Unfortunately, leases are not like mortgages. You don't simply get to say, oops. sorry, I didn't make a few payments and I will cure it over time in the chapter 13. A lease, strictly speaking, is not a debt (at least, the future obligation is not a debt). You need to cure the default to get the plan confirmed.

[BKAttyMI]

Also note that having something "notarized" doesn't make something legally enforceable. It only certifies that the people signing the contract are who they say they are by checking identification.

[zxcvbnm12]

she just served me with a notice of eviction to move in 10 days and she is going to pad lock the doors so i cant enter,, now what do i do?

[Mayo]

If you respond to the eviction notice you can probably delay the process for a few weeks. It might be a good idea to start searching for a new place to stay and just write this off as a loss. Put the energy in getting your 13 together and get on with your life.

[zxcvbnm12]

my attorney wont call me back and he never sent her 1 letter about the bk from the start . when the whole thing started, he told her i can file on my house but never sent anything to her. it has been a total of 90 since i filed. how do i delay the eviction. i have a hearing in july and i told her i will see her in court. i also told her she can not evict me and it is against the law to lock me out of my house, what if she does that in the 10 days?

[IFCIntern]

Call another attorney, find someone who will actually work for you. When lawyers start telling you to do thing on your own, it's a pretty good sign that are lazy and not willing to work hard for what your paying them :/ - Good Luck!

[HHM]

If you read my post, I point you directly to what you need to do.

[zxcvbnm12]

?????????????? i will read it, where is it

[ValleYum]

Post #3 in this thread.

[zxcvbnm12]

oops, sorry and thank you for your information. i dont know if my attorney is out of town or what. so i guess she has every right to boot me out. i dont have the money to cure. can she keep my stuff if she locks the doors? is she aloud to lock it like that?

[zxcvbnm12]

another question,, was'nt my attorney suppose to notify my leasee ( landlord) if i was able to file against the house? i heard that attorneys dont do that anymore a (notify my debtors that i have filed until the final hearing ??? )she stated she was never informed of anything, no calls or letters of any kind.

[BKAttyMI]

Your attorney was hired to handle your bankruptcy case, not your eviction proceeding. The eviction proceeding isn't even valid unless they've filed a Motion to Lift Stay. If you are current on the lease when you file, your landlord will not receive any notification that you've filed bankruptcy (in most jurisdictions). If you want to amend your petition to add the landlord to the creditor matrix, you'll need your attorney to amend the petition with the $30 amendment fee.