Stranger and Stranger

[CoBelle]

I have questions cuz I filed a 13 to save my house (which had no mortgage) but then had to file a 7 when it was dismissed for being over unsecure debt limits. this was a crock, but it worked to stop me from 'reorganizing' and buying out my ex's share of my house, repairing it and selling it to pay off all my debts. Go figure.

The Trustee in the 7 first said that the house would remain in the estate but then decided to abandon it...looks like ex spread a little money around.....then, before the auto stay was up, the fam law court ordered me evicted and the house sold to the intimate friend of ex....and, I didn't get my homestead exemption.

THEN the trustee decided to come after my exempt (in this state) alimony and my retirement funds. And ex's attorney says that I still owe ex money and that i shouldn't be able to discharge prop settlement debt. So why am I in a 7 if that is the only debt I have? (other than about 3k of medical debt)

THEN I get a letter that says I should have completed the second part of my counseling course ...within 60 days of the Creditors Meeting...Dec 6...well that isn't up yet. They say they are giving me an extension to Feb 11.....WTF? And that if I don't complete it that my case will close without discharge.

So I'm wondering...should I not complete it and let it close without discharge? What happens then? What else can go wrong in my Fubar case?

Question: if ex is saying that he is still a creditor and that the sale of my house didin't satisfy his debt (when the fam law judge gave him my homestead exemption it sure did)....can I THEN bring up that my homestead exemption was used to pay him and that the homestead is protected from judgment liens. (Altho an attorney told me that the homestead is also protected in state court...and that you don't have to go bankrupt to preserve it, my judge in fam court certainly hasn't obeyed the laws yet, so I doubt he will start now.

Finally, has anyone here ever sued their bk attorney for malpractice?

[AbbeyA]

I don't even know what to say, it sounds like a movie with a plot that just keeps getting worse and worse and unbelievable. What does your bk attorney say about all of this? Where has he/she dropped the ball? If your ex is paying off the judge(s), where do you think your attorney has messed up?

I'm not trying to interrogate you, just wondering why/how you feel your attorney has failed you? It seems like you would have a much better shot at suing your ex's attorney/the family court judge for what they have done.

I'm sorry for all you are going through. Are you still staying with friends? How about your dogs?

[CoBelle]

Hi Abbey...thanks for asking about my puppy....she is living in Santa Barbara and gets to play in the ocean. She is very happy, and although I miss her something terrible, I'm really happy for her and know that she is safe and loved. I'm still staying with friends, but my 5 storage units of stuff keeps getting bigger instead of littler no matter how much I give to the Thrift store and throw away...I think it duplicates!

Ok, answer to the attorney question: my attorney for the Ch 13 took $4k up front and 6k through the plan....10k and that included EVERYTHING by the terms of her own fee agreement filed with the court. No sooner than she filed (and I did almost all of the paperwork prior to hiring her) than she billed me an extra $4k for filing to avoid judgment liens which was the point of the filing...to buy out ex's minority interest and avoid his preferential liens. Anyway, I showed her the fee agreement and she decided to withdraw! In the meantime, ex's attorney had filed voluminous motions that my attonrey did NOT answer. Then, at a hearing on ex's motion to dismiss my bk....she was either really really incompetent or she was 'bought'. For several reasons...her motion to withdraw instead of abiding by her contract and then not responding to motions and finally incompetence...I was told by several attorneys that I should file for malpractice. (Adding: when the judge ordered the case dismissed, my attonrey never told me and never offered to file reconsideration, appeal or....for a conversion to a 7. Just left me hanging and sent an email: I am no longer your attorney. There have been several divorce attonreys I should have sued, but I hate litigation. However, my attonreys incompetence did end up costing me my home.....and a lawsuit might give me enough money to try to fight to get it back.
Answer to why not sue crooked judge: google Dr. Les Sachs and 'judicial corruption' and you might understand...you can not sue a judge really...won't find a lawyer willing to do it and won't find it possible because judges protect their brethren. The media won't help because no one wants to leave themselves open to the possibility that the next time they are in court they will get 'payback'. It's pretty endemic. I thought I'd survived my crooked judge when he retired in August...but he still runs the show up here and it is pretty hopeless...trust me, I tried.

The worst of it is the injustice of it all...I think it will eat away at me until there is nothing left. Anyone have an adoptive godfather?

[PushRestart]

Truly very sorry for your troubles, this is one of the most raw tales I have heard here, you deserve a break for sure. I do not know if this helps, but I believe that the thngs we do have consequences and that harming others is a great way to incur unhappy payback from the universe. If folks like your ex, a lawyer, even a judge or anyone else choose to harm you, they better be prepared for the consequences. Some call it karma, some call it fate, but no matter what you call it, the wheel Does Turn and we all get paid back in one way or another for what we do. Which is why I work fairly hard to keep my side of the street clean as best I can, know what I mean? Try to live and let live But do not be anyone's doormat either, you sound like a good person who has had more than your share of unhappiness, your turn is coming, Hang in there!

[frogger]

looks like ex spread a little money around....

Are you saying that a bk trustee was bribed?????

[CoBelle]

No, while that may well be fact, I didn't say that. I believe I said that my bk attorney was most likely bribed by my ex. And I have proof by admission that my ex bribed my divorce attorney and that he bragged that he bribed the divorce judge. In re the Trustee, all I know is that first she objected to my ex's motion to abandon the house from the bk estate. Based on that objection I felt comfortable leaving the country to visit my daughter whom I hadn't seen in a year....after getting permission from the judge to have a phone hearing re the pro forma extension of th eauto stay. After I left, the trustee then, without explanation, reversed herself and advised the judge that she was now recommending that the house be abandoned. And since I was out of the country, I didn't have any way to 'fight' her change of heart. This was particularly bad because the hearing on the abandonment, since she had objected to abandonment, was to be 'fought' between her and the ex; but after her sudden change of heart....it was now me against ex and the trustee.

[frogger]

No, while that may well be fact, I didn't say that. I believe I said that my bk attorney was most likely bribed by my ex. And I have proof by admission that my ex bribed my divorce attorney and that he bragged that he bribed the divorce judge.

If you've got the proof that attorneys or judges were bribed, then you need to go to your state bar and start raising holy h3ll.......

[AbbeyA]

How long were you married to your ex? What an a$$! Was he like that when you were married to him?

I'm glad your dog is happy ... we had ours put down right before we moved when the foreclosure was completed. Her health was declining rapidly (she was 12) and it was time for us to make that decision. Had she been healthy, it would have been really hard to have her put down.

I hope there is some way to get some retribution for what you have been through. Have you had any consults with any other attorneys to see what you can do?

[CoBelle]

You guys are so sweet to offer solace and suggestions. Frog...I used to think, like you, that if you had proof of something illegal or corrupt, that surely everyone would be interested and the media would pick up on it: Senior citizen held incommunicado in jail over Xmas! Force fed medication leading to stroke and then denied medical care! Jailed so that she could be 'persuaded' to give up an appeal!
Yep....but the truth is NO ONE dares to care. Getting on the bad side of a judge makes you an outlaw. Yep, attorneys will take your money, but although they promise to fight the corruption, they really don't. Attorneys are afraid of judges...who can break their livelihood so easily. Judicial performance committees/regulatory committes...HA! If you want to read about what really happens when a law abiding citizen gets on the wrong side of a judge...google Dr. Les Sachs and read his article 'FAQ'..

Now I'll get off my soap box (and sorry for being so melodramatic, but only those who have never pissed off a judge think that you can stop the corruption if only you have proof.

I am getting up my nerve to contact an investigative reporter, but feeling him out before I bring up JUDICIAL corruption which usually results in a 'sorry, can't do that'. I'm also rewriting my politicians. But trying to sort out my belongings has been heavy on my mind. And of course there is also that paralyzing feeling sorry for myself crap that I can't seem to shake.

Nope, my ex wasn't always that way...he was always passive aggressive and unable to accept any self blame for anything. He needed to be seen as a 'nice guy' and when he wasn't , he had to find someone to blame...me. There was some shrink issues re an attachment injury from adoption, mid life crises and the desire to destroy me, 'mother image'. We were married for 25 years and had a lot of love for a lot of them; but his withholding took a big emotional toll on me and finally I kinda gave up trying to please him.

I guess the biggest problem was that when he left (2000) I was working so hard to try to save our marriage that I didn't even think to try to preserve my financial future...he was never stingy with his earnings and I was a great saver/investor so we had plenty enough and I guess I just never thought he'd change in that regard. Naive must be my middle name!!!!!