Just used PACER and found lawyer never corrected schedules

[reno2]

Hi folks,my saga continues,had my 341 meeting on Friday.Signed up for PACER this afternoon to see how it works and check status,etc. Got a shock when I looked at my petition and schedules. There were several mistakes and corrections that needed to be made before case was filed. Looking at the ones filed on PACER shows that not only did the paralegal not make the necessary corrections but she also removed one of the secured debtors altogether from the schedules and from the creditor matrix at the end. This creditor is the 1st mortgage holder on one of my properties. This explains why the creditor says they did not recieve notice of my filing. Calls to lawyer are awaste of time and apparently even showing up at their office made no difference to getting corrections made. I have trustee's phone number and e-mail,think it's time to send him a message because attorney can't get anything right. Any thoughts on how to handle this ? I have no more money to hire another attorney and doubt any would take it over now.

[lrprn]

Got a shock when I looked at my petition and schedules. There were several mistakes and corrections that needed to be made before case was filed. Looking at the ones filed on PACER shows that not only did the paralegal not make the necessary corrections but she also removed one of the secured debtors altogether from the schedules and from the creditor matrix at the end. This creditor is the 1st mortgage holder on one of my properties. This explains why the creditor says they did not recieve notice of my filing.

A question for you.....did you sign your filing forms before the changes were actually made? I'm trying to sort out how your forms were filed with mistakes you wanted corrected and how a major secured creditor was removed from the creditor list without you noticing.

Calls to lawyer are awaste of time and apparently even showing up at their office made no difference to getting corrections made.

Your lawyer has to file amended forms correcting the errors with the court, so you'll have to talk to him/her before that can happen. Camp out at the office if necessary and do not sign any forms until you actually see the corrections you need have been made. Go through the forms line by line to catch any new mistakes as well. Don't sign the amended forms until everything is right.

I have trustee's phone number and e-mail,think it's time to send him a message because attorney can't get anything right. Any thoughts on how to handle this ?

If you call the trustee at this point, he/she is only going to send you back to your attorney.

Start by going back to your attorney and stating clearly and concisely in writing what is wrong with the forms filed with the court line by line and that your forms must be corrected and refiled. Agree on a date when the new forms will be ready for your signature.

If things get corrected and refiled, then you're fine. However, if after this your lawyer or his/her staff again drop the ball, that's when you contact the trustee *and* you report your lawyer for misrepresentation to the associations in your state that deal with legal misrepresentation and ethics violations. Hopefully that won't be necessary. If it is, then let us know and we'll share the lawyer reporting links for your state with you.

Hang in there and don't take no for an answer. If you are still getting pushback or non-action from the lawyer or office staff a week after you give them the changes you need to be made, say calmly that you want to avoid reporting the lawyer to the state bar, but you will do so if necessary.

Again, hopefully it won't be necessary to use your reporting trump card - don't play it until you've tried the other routes first. Good luck!

[reno2]

A question for you.....did you sign your filing forms before the changes were actually made? I'm trying to sort out how your forms were filed with mistakes you wanted corrected and how a major secured creditor was removed from the creditor list without you noticing.

Here's what happened.Paralegal called me in to sign forms so they could file case.She flipped through forms saying sign here,sign here,etc. Then she made copies and said take these home and look them over,if you find any mistakes let me know so I can correct them and file case.I left and returned 15 minutes later because as I explained to her there is no need for me to go home you have all my files here.I circled several mistakes and she said I"ll fix it and file case. And that's how it happened.I made the mistake of not getting a revised copy before leaving and putting my trust in her to make the corrections.

[reno2]

Latest update to my case.Met with attorney to make amendments to my schedules and see that they were filed with court.

Before going into office I called the lender who had been removed from schedules and creditor matrix to see if the paralegal had ever called them like she told me she would. Representative told me no one had called from the law firm, only person who had called was me.

Went into office to meet with head of bankruptcy department who I was told by paralegal's assistant earlier in the week would be taking over my case to make sure that all the previous mistakes that were made and not corrected would be. After waiting for a half-hour a new attorney appeared who was not the person I was told would handle my case.

We went into his office and I began to show him all of the mistakes that were never corrected on my schedules by the paralegal but before I could get that far he tells me that the problem with my case is that I didn't meet the length of residency requirements of Nevada to pass the means test. I asked how could my case ever get this far after 4 months and going through 341 meeting to find this out. I also stated that all this concerns were addressed at my initial consultation with their law firm and was told I passed the means test then, how can you tell me now that I don't.

He then went on to say that he could simply use my previous state's exemptions and refile if the trustee wanted to dismiss the case. I informed him that I would pass the means test if he used the Arizona exemptions because the income level is lower than Nevada and I had barely passed Nevada income. He told me that they would get my case discharged no matter what.

I then made him reluctantly go page by page through my copy of the schedules that the paralegal never made corrections to and also presented the copies of same schedules that I printed off of PACER showing clearly that the corrections were never made. After being confronted with this, he could see I was clearly in the right with my complaints and he proceded to make the necessary corrections.

I told him I did not want to leave the office without a revised copy. He then asked me if he could email me the revisions that evening since so many mistakes were found that he wanted to go back through all my case files before filing the revised docs with the court. He will file revisions to court on Monday and also talk to the trustee to find out the status of my case since we found no notes in Pacer about it. I recieved the revised schedules that evening as promised and all need corrections were made. I replied back notifing him that all looked corrected now.

Now I have to play the waiting game and hope that he will continue to keep his word about updating me on the status and making sure my case is discharged. If this latest course of action is not followed through on, I will contact the state bar. Any legal action I can pursue against this firm other than reporting them to the bar?

I welcome any input on my situation from members here. Thanks.

[whipster1]

Luckily you found someone who saw the problem and the corrections were made. I would just keep an eye on Pacer. I wouldn't think the Trustee would want to dismiss unless there was an asset they could get under the other jurisdiction's exemptions...

Good luck.

[sassiebaz]

I have no input. I just know how frustrating it is, when you are dealing with someone that thinks they know everything. But, you are positive something is wrong, and they just try and blow you off, only to have someone else take the time to look at your side, and then realize you are right. Victorious I'd say!

[reno2]

Latest update: today was scheduled date for discharge, found trustee filed for extension on discharge and allow for him or U.S. trustee to object to discharge to Jan.31,2010. Lawyer says that my trustee is new and is confused about law concerning my residency. He says he is on top of the issue and will keep me posted. Hoping for the best and a discharge soon.

[ForTheBest]

Thank you for posting about what's happening on your case. I wish you a quick resolution and discharge!

If it's any consolation, I've been in a similar situation with my case... 10 creditors not notified, schedules amended incorrectly, etc. While I don't have the residency issue, I do have a personal injury claim issue that was exacerbated by my lawyer's incompetence.

I finally had to fire that attorney after my 341 and retain a new one to straighten out this mess. We attended my second 341 today... and now I wait to see what the trustee will decide to do about the claim.

Again if it's any consolation, I'm happy that you were able to resolve most of your problems without having to change firms. The stress is bad enough without having to add that to the mix!

Best of luck on the final leg of your journey. I look forward to reading your next update.

[reno2]

Well,it's been two weeks and no word from my lawyer. Waiting to hear what the trustee said after they sent him a letter explaining why I am eligible to use NV. exemptions. Lawyer is back to old game of ignoring my e-mail and phone calls. I have been told by another law firm in town that my lawyer is under investigation by the NV. bar and court has over 80 complaints against them. Any ideas on where to go next? Contact court or trustee? Complain to the bar?

[AngelinaCat]

Any ideas on where to go next? Contact court or trustee? Complain to the bar?

Do all of the above in writing with a cc to the attorney. Mail all copies, except the ccs to the attorney, certified with return receipt. That will get his/her attention.

We had a similar situation, and when we filed a motion to dismiss our attorney and go pro se, the work had already been largely done, and our motion was moot. Though we needed to have our papers amended, we found out that the trustee was already aware of the problem, and he was not concerned about that.