Please Help! Discharged But Getting Harassed

[thelitman]

Someone please help me. with this question

I filled for Bankruptcy Sept of 2005, before the new laws took affect. My Bankruptcy was discharged in Feb of 2006... I have recently been getting letters from the attorney general, I usually throw them away but the recent one caught my eye because they said they where going to take legal action... You see I graduated from the university of Akon, and still owed around $1,000 this was in 2003. I guess I never paid it I completly forgot about it, as I did not live where they where sending this bill. This was not a student loan, this was just money owed to the school because I paid out of pocket... Anyways when I filled for bankruptcy I didnt know I had this debt so never listed it in my bankruptcy.... well 1 year after it is discharged I see these letters.... I am about to inform them I filled BK and was discharged, but what if they want to see the list of creditors and see that they where not listed? Will this attorney be able to force me to pay this debt sense I didn't know I had it and forgot to list it? What is going to happen? Do I still owes this debt? I can't afford it. I have heard 2 different stories, I have heard they can force you to pay it if you didn't list it to hide from it (how do they prove that) but I have also heard they wont try because everything was discharged.... if this helps anyone with their response this discharge was a no asset case.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[niteflytes]

if it wasn't listed in your BK you are still responsible for the debt.

[thelitman]

if it wasn't listed in your BK you are still responsible for the debt.

Can anyone else verify that he is correct, because I just located my bk papers, and under the dischrage paper it says....

"Debts not dischargable"
1 Some Debts that where not listed are not dischargable, while others are.


what is the diference, why are some that are not listed, while others that are not listed can be?

Many people have told me that it is still dischargable even if you do forget to list it, so I would like as many opinons on this as I can get.

Also if I am still responseable, can I re-open the case and amend it so that I can list a change of creditors?

[HHM]

Since I no longer have a ready reference for the OLD LAW, it is hard to say. However, it is not just education loans that are not dischargeable, so is "an obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit, scholarship, or stipend, meaning, possibly,...past due tuition (especially for state schools).

What you should do is send a copy of your discharge order to the attorney general's office, and see what happens.

[thelitman]

Since I no longer have a ready reference for the OLD LAW, it is hard to say. However, it is not just education loans that are not dischargeable, so is "an obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit, scholarship, or stipend, meaning, possibly,...past due tuition (especially for state schools).

What you should do is send a copy of your discharge order to the attorney general's office, and see what happens.

Ya i know what you mean, however; I do no that in reference to things not dis-charagable with education things, past due tuition is not one of them. They are not loans, and they where no scholarships given to me by the state. It was simply a payment plan they gave me kind of like a credit card.

[HHM]

Ya i know what you mean, however; I do no that in reference to things not dis-charagable with education things, past due tuition is not one of them. They are not loans, and they where no scholarships given to me by the state. It was simply a payment plan they gave me kind of like a credit card.

There is some dispute about if, unpaid tuition is an "obligation to repay for education benefits received". However, you are correct, past due tuition will generally be considered unsecured debt.

In any event, your course of action is the same, send a copy of your discharge order to whoever is attempting to collect.

[thelitman]

There is some dispute about if, unpaid tuition is an "obligation to repay for education benefits received". However, you are correct, past due tuition will generally be considered unsecured debt.

In any event, your course of action is the same, send a copy of your discharge order to whoever is attempting to collect.

I found this article, please HHM read this and give me your interpatation, remember I filled before the new law took effect so mine should be the same... anyone else willing to read this and give me there interpatation is welcome to.

http://www.heag.us/news13.html

[LostOne0069]

Bottom line... call an attorney... none of us are going to be able to give you a "real" answer. I'm sure no one on here is going to tell you to just keep ignoring the attorney general. You can try sending him a copy of your discharge... that may make them go away... then if it doesn't... call an attorney.

good luck!

[HHM]

Bottom line... call an attorney... none of us are going to be able to give you a "real" answer. I'm sure no one on here is going to tell you to just keep ignoring the attorney general. You can try sending him a copy of your discharge... that may make them go away... then if it doesn't... call an attorney.

good luck!

Good advice, and thank you for the article. I think you are on solid footing...so I think you sending a copy of your discharge will probably quiet the issue.

[thelitman]

Bottom line... call an attorney... none of us are going to be able to give you a "real" answer. I'm sure no one on here is going to tell you to just keep ignoring the attorney general. You can try sending him a copy of your discharge... that may make them go away... then if it doesn't... call an attorney.

good luck!

thanks for the advise, but you need to relax. I wasn't asking for a real answer, I simply stated I wanted peoples opinion, that is what this forum is about. No one can give a real answer to anyones questions unless they are an atorney and still it would't be a real answer as each trustee or judge can interpet the laws differently, they give examples, opinions, and maybe some first hand experience, which is what I was looking for.

but thanks for your harsh advise, I already new I needed to contact an attorney

[BassBoy]

Hmmm, let's see if I can offer an "opinion". It's not the same scinerio, but it relates to your situation. We filed in Oct. 05 (OLD LAW) and was discharged Feb, 06. Well, we had a medical bill show up recently that was for services rendered a few months before we filed our BK. Our atty. said to send a copy of the discharge and see what the creditor does. We haven't heard a word, or received anything from them since. Granted, it was only a $150.00 bill, but still, it was incurred before we filed, however the creditor didn't bill us for over a year.

You could do the same thing thelitman and see how the AG responds. He/She could reply that the debt was not listed, therefore you may responsible for it. You're not breaking any rules/laws by doing so, so it couldn't hurt to try.

BTW, my wife and I have made sure that we will be able to pay that $150.00 bill just in case the creditor replies that the debt was not listed and we'd be responsible to pay it. This may be something you'll want to try to plan for until you hear a reply.

[wrinkleigh]

Educational debt is a grey area, especially to the university AR department.

Let me give you the perspective of the University. In their opinion, any debt that you incurr to the university, is considered educational debt, and the university WILL try to collect it, whether it is a student loan or simply a tuition receivable.

The question is, is it permissable by law. Maybe, maybe not. The only way you are going to find out is to challenge them on it. You are going to get nowhere with the AR department at the school, so dont even talk to them. Get the number to the Vice President of Business and Finance, or some schools have a VP of Administrative services. Go straight to that office, bypass the AR dept completely.

Get your lawyer involved, and the university will send it to their lawyer for review, and the two lawyers can hack it out.

Good luck to you.

[LostOne0069]

thanks for the advise, but you need to relax. I wasn't asking for a real answer, I simply stated I wanted peoples opinion, that is what this forum is about. No one can give a real answer to anyones questions unless they are an atorney and still it would't be a real answer as each trustee or judge can interpet the laws differently, they give examples, opinions, and maybe some first hand experience, which is what I was looking for.

but thanks for your harsh advise, I already new I needed to contact an attorney

My apologies, it wasn't intended as harsh. I'm sorry it came out that way.

I really was just trying to say that it seemed pretty cut and dried to me... if you were discharged, sending the attorney general a copy of the discharge notice should make them go away... or explain why they feel the debt wasn't discharged... if it doesn't make them go away, I can't think of ANYTHING that will that doesn't require a lawyer.

Good luck!