HOA comes after me after the discharge

[stanpendula]

When I filed for Ch 7 in February I also included the HOA bill for 2011 for $374.00. On July 7th I got the Discharge and now I got a new bill from HOA, nicely prorated and with late fees and all, for $332. 61.

My question is obvious: wasn't all this bill discharged? Is this an abuse from HOA or they have the right to do this?

Thank you,
SP

[keepmine]

HOA fees after filing are post petition debt and you are still responsible until the lender foresloses and gets the deed out of your name.

[stanpendula]

You are perfectly right and I totally understand this.

But the new bill is for an old debt, discharged in ch 7. Let me try to be more clear:
- on 2/15 HOA billed me $374.00
- on 2/23 I filled for ch 7 and the whole $374 were included
- on 7/17 I got the discharge (to my understanding the $374 were discharged)
- on 7/25 they generated a new bill for $332.00 in regards to the old $374.00

I can compare this with a credit card debt of $5,000.00, discharged, and after discharge, the CC company continues billing me for the same $5,000 + late fees like nothing happened and the whole BK was just a small unpleasant delay for them in collecting the debt.

Please make me understand how can they do this.

SP

[stanpendula]

OK, I'm answering myself , maybe other readers are having the same problem.

I found this:

"Your answer is located in section 523(a)(16) of the Bankruptcy Code. You are responsible for the HOA dues that accrued after you filed your bankruptcy until the foreclosure sale. Section 523 has a list of debts that are not discharged in Chapter 7 cases and HOA dues are specifically addressed there.

HOAs are becoming more aggressive as more owners become delinquent as a result of the economy. Your best bet is to work out a repayment plan as soon as possible. The HOA can recover legal fees as well if you don't reach a settlement them".

... and this:

"Your problem is that after your bankruptcy was filed, you continued to own the property and run up HOA dues. Bankruptcy doesn't work like that! You get to eliminate the debts you had before you filed, but you don't get to keep running up debt afterwards & include it in the bankruptcy. You also don't get to keep running up debts between the time you filed & the time you were discharged and eliminate the new debts. You are protected from any collection efforts while the bankruptcy is open, but you can't eliminate any debts you run up after your case is filed. "