apartment rental lease on schedule G?

[bkchristi]

I'm new here, about to file pro se, and need some advice from those of you who know something about this. I was filling out the bankruptcy forms and came to Schedule G, which asks for all unexpired leases to be listed.

Do I have to put my apartment lease there and list my landlord as a party to the lease? I have a yearly apartment rental lease...have lived in my apartment for five years now, current on rent, and definitely don't want to have to leave before my current lease is up in September. I read my lease and it even has a clause saying that if I file for bankruptcy, then I have in effect broken my lease and they have the right to terminate the occupancy. I live in a huge apartment complex and dealing with the "landlord" who is really just a management company in another state has never been easy because I'm practically just a number to them...but I'm comfortable here, and I don't want to take the chance of getting kicked out.

The instructions on Schedule G and the law that it states on the Statement of Intention form make it sound like I've got to list the landlord and lease, and then send a copy of the Statement of Intent to the landlord and wait on some sort of answer from them about whether I can assume the lease or have to go. Is that really true??? I had no idea that I could be kicked out of my home for filing bankruptcy to get rid of credit card debt that has nothing to do with my apartment lease. I even had a free consultation with a local lawyer who said that leases aren't included in the filing and that my landlord would probably never find out about the bankruptcy unless they looked again at my credit report on their own...but that's not what the bankruptcy forms seem to say. Please help! Thanks in advance for any advice....

[stephvgr]

I want to know this as well... Some please answer! (I'm in CA)

[Dee]

We live in Florida and we did have to list our apartment lease. Just keep paying your rent on time.

[kel9000]

The law is fairly clear for Schedule G (or it seems to be clear to me). If you were to go pro se, I don't see how you can get around the letter of the law if the Trustee questioned you on it.

HOWEVER, some attorneys do not put down apartment leases on Schedule G. Don't ask me why, don't ask me how, because all the advices I have seen say apartment leases MUST go on Schedule G and the wording is clear. But I've seen it more than once, and the trustee did not bat an eye in those cases of simple apartment renters. The trustee is generally not LOOKING for apartment leases to begin with, plus, if the trustee objected, it would simply entail amending your petition as long as you intended no fraud.

Lawyers can put down (or omit) a bunch of things the pro se filer would never consider, because we plebeians often don't know what a certain court accepts and expects or not. And they know what is likely to get called out, or let slide by, and know what the consequences are.

[bkchristi]

Thank you very much for your replies! I took your advice and we'll see what happens. I filed on Dec 22nd, so crossing my fingers now and waiting for my 341 meeting on Jan 21st. Looks like it's going to move quickly, thank goodness!