Are dog bites dischargeable?

[avengers]

Combination question. I filed for bankruptcy in October 2014. We received the discharge in January 2015. Our dog bit someone in September 2014. We did not include any information about this in our petition because we had no information about the person who was bitten or their attorney (they may not have even had an attorney, I don't know). Today, my wife received a call from the mother of the victim, wanting to know if we put the dog down (we did). The statute of limitations in Arizona is one year, which passes on Sunday.

From a quick Google search, it appears that negligent dog bites (where the dog hasn't bitten anyone before) are generally dischargeable.

Do we have anything to worry about? If we get sued, can we just file an answer that says it was discharged in bankruptcy?

BTW, we didn't have homeowners insurance at the time of the incident.

[LadyInTheRed]

Exceptions to discharge are listed in Bankruptcy Code Section 523 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11/523. Read it and draw your own conclusions, but I think subparagraph 6 is what could apply to your situation. The standard is "willful and malicious", not negligence.

Because you did not give notice, if your case was an asset case that resulted in distribution to unsecured creditors, then you could have a problem.

Because she called and asked if the dog was put down, I suspect she got a letter from an attorney she consulted with informing her of the expiring statute of limitations which is standard practice to avoid a malpractice claim. I bet she decided she would only sue if you hadn't put the dog down.

If you get served with a lawsuit and your case was not an asset case, immediately send a copy of your discharge order to her attorney asking that they dismiss the case. Hopefully, they will dismiss it without you having to do anything more. But, if they don't you would have to file a response stating that the claim was discharged.

[justbroke]

Perfect advice from LadyInTheRed. It's difficult to speculate what the woman -- that was bit -- will do, but they certainly seem to have brought it up just before the statute of limitations. Hopefully you were a no asset (Chapter 7) case, and that the debt was otherwise dischargeable.