CH7 with assets, any way to speed it up

[flaguy]

I am back with more questions LOL......I am starting to think I really might file this year maybe even in the next month or two and that has brought on the next level of panic thinking. Todays ??? is I will be filing CH7 and all of my personal stuff/ vehicle will be exempted thanks to Texas $30,000 limit, besides that I have 6 or 7 LLCs left and a 15 acre tract of land (free and clear)........all I want is to keep one of the LLCs which every attorney I have met with believes that won't be an issue as my business partner is $300K+ ahead of me in our capital accounts and it could easily be argued there is no current equity and if there is, he gets the first $300k as per our operating agreement. Only reason I want to keep it, is I live onsite and pay myself a management fee (40-50K a year) to handle everything (salaries are exempt also). Anyway everyone seems to think the trustee will abandon it pretty quickly without much fuss. My concern is the vacant land and how long will it take for him to sell it (long story but its all in a flood plain along a river in southern GA and I have tried like hell to sell it (without listing it but directly contacting anyone who might be a land buyer or RE investor under "the just make me an offer" so I can get something cash wise along with a tax loss for a few years and at this point I had planned on just "losing it" to the county instead of paying the property taxes on it again and taking the write off) When I mentioned the land to the attorney I just spent 2.5 hrs with, he mentioned that the trustee, if they can't sell it after a year or so might abandon it as well if it becomes a huge PITA. That is my worst nightmare LOL, I don't want the land back and just want to get on with my life sooner than later. In fact I would borrow 5-10K from my parents to pay the trustee to keep the land if it sped things up so I could just move on (can't get licensed as a RE broker or RE inspector with outstanding judgments in Texas, and either one of those would allow me to double or triple my my current income and live an incredibly happy life at this point)..........my outstanding judgments are 2.5-3 million+ (stopped caring and they all accrue interest at 3-6% ) but all are to banks that took over failed banks and received FDIC loss share money so no one cares but me

[angles]

you cant speed up the asset process to close out your BK. it all goes at the trustee's comfortable pace.

[Drazil65]

So, let me understand what you are saying, you are planning to file chp 7 because you need to financially AND you are already considering borrowing money to payoff the trustee for the land? Obviously you might want to back up and do some soul searching or at least some research/reading on what it means to file chp 7 and the lifestyle changes that come along with it.

No easy out or expediting things, you will no longer be in control at that point. Good Luck with your journey!

[LadyInTheRed]

If you need to file BK, file BK. You will get a discharge and then the trustee will take whatever time it takes to liquidate your property or abandon it. Don't worry about how long it takes for the case to close. The discharge is the goal. Most certainly do not borrow money to buy land that you don't want! If the trustee abandons it and you want to sell it, then put it on the market. I don't know how you can say you "have tried like hell to sell it" without putting it on the market. If you truly can't sell it for any price, maybe you can find a land conservancy who will accept it as a donation.

[flaguy]

I contacted 15-20 brokers or agents directly and said make me an offer any offer.....I offered to finance it, I contacted mobile home dealers, builders, rv dealers and ATV dealer ( I would take a trade)....nothing

I had decided this summer that I was done trying to sell it and would just take the tax loss when ever the property taxes fell behind far enough to force a sale......like a moron I coughed up $1400 this March to stop the sale ( which is what got me motivated to try an sale it again) had I just waved good bye then this would all be a non issue

[despritfreya]

I have 6 or 7 LLCs left and a 15 acre tract of land (free and clear)........all I want is to keep one of the LLCs which every attorney I have met with believes that won't be an issue. . . My concern is the vacant land and how long will it take for him to sell it. . . The attorney. . . mentioned that the trustee, if they can't sell it after a year or so might abandon it . . . I don't want the land back and just want to get on with my life sooner than later. . .

As others have stated, you cannot “speed up” the closing of the case. I am sure your attny has already told you that the land is not what is going to delay the closing of the case. You have operated “6 or 7 LLCs”. Your Trustee is going to want a lot of documentation from you. He/she will most likely hire his/her own attny to investigate your financial affairs. You are not a “cookie-cutter” case and therefore should not expect a closing of the case anytime before the 2 year mark. However, as stated, you can move on with your life once the discharge is entered and, assuming no one seeks to deny you a discharge, that will be within about 4 months after filing.

As to keeping the one LLC. . . if the Trustee thinks your partner is willing to purchase your membership interest he/she will attempt to sell it. You certainly could offer to buy back the interest. In my experience, so long as my client’s partner is cooperative (meaning a good friend of my client and not looking to take over the LLC for some token payment) calling the Trustee’s bluff by not offering anything can lead to an abandonment of the membership interest in due course. Listen to the attny. It sounds like he/she is comfortable with a more complex bk such as yours.

As to the land, if you don’t want it why would you even think of offering to “buy it back”? If the Trustee cannot sell it he/she will abandon it. Once abandoned it is returned to you however, if you are not paying the property taxes I must assume that at some point the property will be foreclosed due to back taxes. What I do not know is if you have a personal obligation as it relates to real property tax. In most places but not all, real property tax “runs with the land” and is not a personal obligation of the owner.

You have substantial debt. You need to do something about it. Stop second guessing the decision and just do it.

Des.

[justbroke]

I was going to respond, but Desprifreya has provided salient and sage advice.

[flaguy]

Thanks for the advice so far (to everyone)……..thought I might add a few things and then ask a couple of questions. My attorney seems to think that my case will go quickly. Besides the LLC that owns the building that I live in and operate all the other LLCs are what I call “zombie companies” they were/are all single asset LLCs that held RE that has been foreclosed out or in the process of being foreclosed out (some case have dragged on for 5 years as of this month). None of them have any assets (that aren’t secured by a first mortgage that is in default) or personal property other than maybe a checking with a few hundred dollars in it at best. The only reason they still “exist” is because the banks/ courts are taking their sweet time to do the paperwork. I have been dragging my feet for years on filing for a number of reasons but one of them was things were always so complicated that it didn’t even seem possible. But slowly over the past 24-36 months things have been whittle down to just a few things left and it is easy to show. (heck if one just reads my old posts and looks at the dates, one can see it )

In regards to the only LLC I have left that is solvent (besides a single member LLC that is a Florida Real Estate Brokerage that I own ( $50 in a checking account, no activity or income for 3+ years just exists because I plan on moving back one day and it is easier/ cheaper to keep my license “active”). I am not that worried about the Trustee trying that hard as the value of my interest is 0, and arguably negative as my partner is about $300K ahead of me per our capital accounts and we are suppose to be equal. The bank that has the 1st mortgage on this property has had in its loan agreements for years that we aren’t allowed to make distributions or really do anything without their direct permission (and they won’t give it) or we are in default and they could call the note and its game over. In the 9.5 years we have owned this LLC/ property we have never been able to pull any money out, (only put money in) so again it is kind of easy to prove to the Trustee that this isn’t some cash flow machine that stopped making distributions when I filed. I literally had to beg the bank to be allowed to pay myself to manage, repair and operate it when I moved out here. I take right around 40K a year which is less than half of what I should be paid for what “we” (my fiancée who is not on anything) do but the money just isn’t there, as the bank has the LLC on a very aggressive repayment plan (our mortgage payment is roughly 50/50 interest to principal) and they won’t budge on that. Without us doing everything we do this place would fail in 6 months or less if managed by a true 3rd party.

My questions go back to the timeline of everything. Let’s say this does drag on for 2 years but my discharge is done in 3-4 months (or whatever is “normal”). Everything I have seen for getting a new mortgage for a personal residence is 2 years after bankruptcy assuming everything else is good, is that 2 years from case closed or discharged? What about say getting an inheritance (there is nothing in the foreseeable future but again if my case is left open for 2 years and my 90 year old grandmother passes in 2 years and 2 months from today what happens (I don’t know if I am even in her will). I just can’t stop thinking about 1-2 years from today and I hate that I might still be frozen just kicking rocks and killing time.

I know I need to file and I am going to as my life has been stuck on hold for the last 5-6 years and I can’t move forward anything with all the existing baggage weighing me down. I was just hoping to be able to do so in 6-7 months vs 2+ more years. If it meant I had to find some small amount of money to buy back that land than I would do it in a heartbeat to end this sooner than later so that I can go back to being excited about my future vs the last 5-6 years where I knew I was fighting an impossible battle and just stalling the inevitable.

[LadyInTheRed]

The inheritance from your grandmother would only be an issue if she dies within 6 months of your BK filing date. This is a good argument for filing asap.

I don't know the answer to the mortgage questions, but I believe FHA guidelines are 2 years from discharge.

As Des points out, the Trustee's investigation of the LLCs is likely to take longer than deciding whether to sell or abandon the real estate. Your interests in the LLCs may not be worth anything, but the trustee will want to be sure that is true.

Even if you did have money to buy back the land, it would be better spent towards a down payment on that house you want to buy. If you have to wait longer to get a mortgage due to the delay in closing your BK estate, that is more time to save a larger down payment.

One thing is for sure, delaying filing BK is not going to help make it close sooner! Get your case filed and start gathering as much documentation regarding the LLCs as you can so you are ready to respond quickly to the trustee's requests.

[flaguy]

thanks Ladyinthered, the 6 months from filing makes sense and I am moving forward, just waiting on my 2013 personal tax return to be finished (was suppose to be last week with today as my filing date but that has come and gone) and for the bank out here to get my loan paperwork together so I can pay my attorney. Talk about an awkward conversation to have with your banker

me: "can I please borrow xxxx dollars, I can offer my truck as collateral as it is currently free and clear "
banker: "what do you need that much money for"
me: "this may sound weird but hear me out, I need to pay my bankruptcy attorney........................"

LOL a little more in depth than that and it took an hour or so but they were understanding and agreed to help me.........they have been watching my financials for 9.5 yrs and know the whole story.

having to answer random (every 3-6 months for the last 3-4 years) interrogatory and discovery requests for other banks, I have pretty much everything together and ready to go.

and thanks again to everyone for being out there to answer questions