Can the Trustee reopen Ch7 BK 7 mos after discharge?
Hi all! I'm hoping that someone here can shed some light on a new issue that just came up about our Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
We had our 341 meeting in June of 2007. We were upside down on our house, had just paid off our car, and reaffirmed on our first and second mortgages. The only asset of concern on our schedules was 8 shares of company stock my husband purchased through an employee stock purchase plan. This is privately held stock, which was valued at $493/share at the time we filed. We were pretty sure that the Trustee would ask us to liquidate the stock. We provided documentation to him for his consideration, noting that being a 'part owner' of the company allows my husband to avoid winter layoffs, and accords other benefits not available to non-stock-owning employees.
The trustee asked for a letter from my husband's employer, laying out the increased benefits that my husband would lose if he had to liquidate the stock. We got that letter for the trustee, and also submitted a copy of the stock valuation report that showed the per-share value of the stock. The stock (at its full value) was definitely present on our BK schedules. All documentation was presented to the trustee through our attorneys.
After submitting the requested documentation, we heard nothing more. We received notice of Discharge on August 21, 2007, as well as notice that the BK was closed as of August 27, 2007. The notice of Discharge that we received mentioned that our case was judged by the trustee to be a 'no asset' case, and that any interest in any assets was thereby abandoned. It also relieved the trustee of further oversight on the case.
This past week, on March 5, 2008, my husband's EMPLOYER received a letter from the Trustee's office. The letter did not go through our attorney, nor was a copy sent to us. The letter was written by a lawyer who said she was writing it 'on behalf of' the trustee, who (she said) is the 'duly-appointed and acting trustee of the ... bankruptcy estate.' The letter goes on to inquire (again) about the value of the stock we held last May, as well as the current value of those shares, and goes on to inquire if there is a 'minimally acceptable number of shares of stock for each employee to own in order to receive the benefits' which were outlined in the original letter the employer wrote to the Trustee last July.
My question is -- what the heck? I thought that after the discharge was received and the case was closed, we were done with the whole mess! I checked the automated case history information at the US Bankruptcy Court, and it still says our case is discharged and closed. No further filings have been made or received, as far as we know. Can a trustee who has been discharged by the court, start sending letters like this seven months past discharge?
This whole thing has us really upset. I would be so grateful if anyone can shed some light on this matter for us. Thanks so much in advance!
(PS -- we are in Indiana, and that is where our case was filed and discharged.)
Thanks again!
Jenny
We had our 341 meeting in June of 2007. We were upside down on our house, had just paid off our car, and reaffirmed on our first and second mortgages. The only asset of concern on our schedules was 8 shares of company stock my husband purchased through an employee stock purchase plan. This is privately held stock, which was valued at $493/share at the time we filed. We were pretty sure that the Trustee would ask us to liquidate the stock. We provided documentation to him for his consideration, noting that being a 'part owner' of the company allows my husband to avoid winter layoffs, and accords other benefits not available to non-stock-owning employees.
The trustee asked for a letter from my husband's employer, laying out the increased benefits that my husband would lose if he had to liquidate the stock. We got that letter for the trustee, and also submitted a copy of the stock valuation report that showed the per-share value of the stock. The stock (at its full value) was definitely present on our BK schedules. All documentation was presented to the trustee through our attorneys.
After submitting the requested documentation, we heard nothing more. We received notice of Discharge on August 21, 2007, as well as notice that the BK was closed as of August 27, 2007. The notice of Discharge that we received mentioned that our case was judged by the trustee to be a 'no asset' case, and that any interest in any assets was thereby abandoned. It also relieved the trustee of further oversight on the case.
This past week, on March 5, 2008, my husband's EMPLOYER received a letter from the Trustee's office. The letter did not go through our attorney, nor was a copy sent to us. The letter was written by a lawyer who said she was writing it 'on behalf of' the trustee, who (she said) is the 'duly-appointed and acting trustee of the ... bankruptcy estate.' The letter goes on to inquire (again) about the value of the stock we held last May, as well as the current value of those shares, and goes on to inquire if there is a 'minimally acceptable number of shares of stock for each employee to own in order to receive the benefits' which were outlined in the original letter the employer wrote to the Trustee last July.
My question is -- what the heck? I thought that after the discharge was received and the case was closed, we were done with the whole mess! I checked the automated case history information at the US Bankruptcy Court, and it still says our case is discharged and closed. No further filings have been made or received, as far as we know. Can a trustee who has been discharged by the court, start sending letters like this seven months past discharge?
This whole thing has us really upset. I would be so grateful if anyone can shed some light on this matter for us. Thanks so much in advance!
(PS -- we are in Indiana, and that is where our case was filed and discharged.)
Thanks again!
Jenny
Comment