How do I fight a discharge

[burnedbyfiler]

We had a friend, who was in the home loan business. That person said that they had a loan for us. To get a better rate we needed to give him $1500- cash, which he said he gave to his friend to help us with our credit rating. Well needless to say we got scammed, big time! He would call us saying wow, your credit score is like at 720, or wow i found you this great loan now that the credit was repaired. Well needless to say, after quite some time, the loan wasn't real, our house fell out of escrow, we find out that not a thing was done to help our credt. When he felt like he couldn't explain anything any longer, he said he couldn't get the money back from the guy who was supposedly doing this. Then he promised to pay us back. It was always like by this friday, or at the end of the month, this happened for a couple of months. finally when I was fed up and just wanted the guy to pay us back, I told him that I was going to file in small claims court. Well he begged for me to not do that, and said he would pay by last friday. Well last friday I went to the mailbox, and oh, he filed bankruptcy on the scam...Oh, I thought he never even got the money. Now how can I fight this. he totally scammed us. I thought the money went to someone else. Then even after that he texted my husband saying "oh bro, that's just paper, I'll still pay you" Paper, paper, omg, he totally scammed us, I want to fight this as well maybe taking my money under false pretenses. how do I do this, he is a total fraud. I am not perfect. I have money problems too, I can understand doing this to a corporation, but I dont' have a spare 1500, that he can scam out of me. Help!!!!!!1

[gymbo]

This is complicated and I am far from an expert, but I do know there is something in the bankruptcy law that does not allow discharges due to criminal activity.
If you really feel you were scammed, I would call the police and report it. That may be the first step.

[soleprop]

ouch...well you definitely have rights; there is information on the notice of bk that you received; you'll likely need to consult an attorney, who will likely talk to you about your option to object to the discharge of the filer's debt to you. search on adversary hearing or something along those lines - but be warned, you have to be able to prove fraud or misconduct. there is a timeline, as well - noted on the notice you received.

good luck.

[BassBoy]

Welcome burnedbyfiler. I moved your post to a new thread because the thread you had originally posted in is quite old and this way, your questions may be answered.

Well, what I can suggest you do is contact an attorney regarding this matter if you feel you are a victim of fraud. That's the first suggestion. This sounds quite complex and only a qualified attorney can assist you.

I don't know how much more information we can supply you with since this forum mainly deals with helping others with the Ups and Downs of Bankruptcy and answering their questions about the BK process.

[momof5]

Its going to turn into a "he said- he said". Do you have any proof that this exchange of money happened exactly as you say? Such as a contract?

If not, even small claims court probably wont do you any good.(you cant do that now that he is in BK) There are always two sides to every story and judges only get to chose one. The person with proof will most likely win. Your problem without proof is you may end up sounding like a 'friend' who lent a 'friend' money and lost it due to this persons filing bankruptcy. While your anger is understandable, if your going to fight this persons BK you HAVE to be able to back up everything you said with something substantial to your case.

[JRScott]

You'll need a lawyer most likely. You need one willing to take a cut of the award, or open an adversarial procedure seeking the 1500 plus lawyer fees.

The good news is he's admitted to taking the money if he listed you in the bankruptcy, which could be his downfall.

The bad news is you'll have to prove the allegation that he took the money under false pretenses, honestly you're probably not the only one that he's done this too. I hope you have some sort of documentation. Without it it will be extremely or impossible to prove, but I"d still consult with a lawyer. Might even send a letter to the trustee speaking about the debt, get him digging deeper and he might find this idiot guilty of bankruptcy fraud.

[PoorGrammyinBK7]

Some "friend"! So sorry that happened to you.

As much $$$$$ as lawyers charge, it may not be worth the extra money or stress to fight it though - now that is, of course, just my opinion. Sometimes we just have to cut our losses and learn from our mistakes. We've made a bunch of them and they always cost.

Maybe you could try to file an adversary against his BK on your own (pro se). But, remember, it is possible that if you cannot PROVE it to be fraud, you could be forced to pay HIS lawyer's fees as well as your own. Just food for thought...

[Cali]

I agree you will need some proof of him taking the money for said reason and that the said reason wasn't true. The he said/she said won't work.

Good luck!!