My wife received letter to clean property, but property is an asset case?

[telco95]

My wife and I filed on 7/10, discharged on 10/10. We are an asset case. It has been over a year since we filed, our case is still open. The Truestee took possession of a unliveable house my wife owned that is probably worth less than $9k. My wife's mother received a letter saying that she had 10 days to clean the property, or they would hire someone to clean it or demolish it and she would be billed or sued for the money. Is she liable for this since technically it's not in her possession? Is the city not aware that the property is in the Trustees possession? We'd like to move on, but can't until a decision is made on the house. I'm not sure what the Trustee is thinking, but the house is unliveable and will not sale in my opinion. My wife is going to call the city and probably our paralegal. Thanks for any information that you can give. I did learn a lot from this site during our BK7 process. Thanks!

[justbroke]

First, if the property is still titled in the wife's name, then it is still "her" property and she is responsible for complying with all laws and HOA rules, if applicable. The bad thing is, that if she is still the true owner, then any fines levied by the City, Town, State, or other municipality, are non-dischargeable post-petition debt and she would be responsible to pay. Remember, the City/Town goes by what's recorded in the public record... not the bankruptcy.

I would contact my attorney first thing tomorrow (Friday) and ask the attorney to speak with the Trustee. Are you sure the Trustee hasn't abandoned the property? (I don't mean the literal abandonment, which appears to have happened anyhow, but mean that legal abandonment of the property from the Bankruptcy Estate.)

[telco95]

Ok, thanks for the info. Does this apply to taxes also. She has been receiving letters that she is behind on taxes. Our attorney told us to ignore these letters a while back. Thanks

[justbroke]

For property taxes, the municipality would sell a tax certificate/deed and/or foreclose on the tax debt. In other words, the property would be taken to pay the back taxes. However, for fines and especially for upkeep issues -- e.g. nuisance issues -- this remains a public fine and that you are responsible for.