Help...I MESSED up!!!

[LuckyPersey]

So we have been awaiting our Chapter 7 discharge it was due 5 days ago. Today I checked pacer and saw that the Chapter 7 Case was closed today without Discharge because we did not file our Debtors Certification of Completion of Instructional Course Concerning Personal Financial Management, which I had thought I did. I brought it with us to the 341 hearing, but I guess I was so overwheled that I forgot to file it. Does anyone know a way to fix this? I am so sick to my stomach. Can't believe how stupid I am.

[tcreegan]

Are you pro-se?
Immediately contact the clerk of the BK court. Tell them you have a procedural question and ask if you can still file the certificate or do you have to reopen the case.
The court may have some sort of cover letter to file with the certificates, and if you have to reopen, ask what documents need to be filed.

If you have an attorney, call them ASAP

If you don't have an attorney, this might be a good time to find one...

Good luck with this!

Tom in Colo

[AngelinaCat]

We filed Ch7 on December 28, 2007. The date of our Discharge should have been sometime in April 2008, but we were ruled an Asset Case, and the trustee expanded the period of time for creditors to object by about 30 more days. So we should have been discharged the middle of June. Mid June came and went, then July, then the middle of August. So my husband called the Clerk of the BK Court and asked our case worker what was up. It turns out our Discharge was held up by the lack of a copy of our Marriage License in the file. We had it with us when we went to the 341, but the trustee said he didn't need it when we tried to give it to him. Once the copy was emailed to the court, we were Discharged that very day.

Good luck to you!

I should add, that as an Asset case, we were not closed until after all the administrative paperwork was done, and that took another 14 months.

[LuckyPersey]

Hi all, thank you for advice, the morning cannot come quick enough so that I can call the court clerk. I am a Pro Se filer. I hope I can smooth it out tomorrow morning and do not need to completly re-file, if I will even be aloud.

[tcreegan]

Hi all, Hi LuckyPersey,

I am not sure, but I don't think you have to re-file the whole case, just re-open it and amend.

Tom in Colo

[blankslate]

You will have to motion to reopen and file the certificate. You should have had a notice of deficiency before it was closed, though some courts just seem to automatically close the case. It will cost you to reopen your case but if it is found that it was closed due to clerical error they will refund the fee for reopening. I was lucky enough to have that refunded to me. Check with your local court website for a schedule of fees and hopefully they will have a form for the motion. Good luck! Feel free to IM me with any questions as I went through something similar as a pro-se'r.

[LuckyPersey]

Hello all! So I went down to the BK Court this morning with my Certifiacte in hand to show that the course was taken prior to the 341 hearing (so they know I didn't try and take the course last minute). I had to file a motion to re-open the case which was appx. 10 pages to complete (just names and case # info really) and then pay the $260.00 fee. I filed the Credit Counseling Certificates and now everything is off to the judge to approve it or deny it. Hope this helps anyone else out who may ever have to do this. Thanks!

[justbroke]

Sorry so late for joining, but what happened at the court is exactly the process.

However, you probably could have filed a Motion to Vacate Order Dismissing Case if the case was dismissed within the last 10 days. Unfortunately the Motion to Re-Open is used when the case is really closed. Any Order can be procedurally "vacated" if done so within the time period (which I think is still 10 days and was unaffected by the recent "time calculation" changes).

If you're lucky, the Judge will deny the motion, and just vacate the order closing the case. Then the judge will allow the filing of the certificate and hopefully, simultaneously, grant a discharge.

Sorry I couldn't be here earlier. However, having filed a Motion to Re-Open is not a "bad" thing. I just think you could have vacated the order dismissing the case, without paying a dime.

Best of luck to you.