Comments on: My Chapter 13 Was Dismissed Two Weeks Ago – Can I Refile a Chapter 13?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:39:52 +0000

Patti, ideally both you and your husband should be there but judges do understand when someone cannot get off work. As far as testimony, I would follow your lawyer’s advice, but don’t hesitate to raise your concerns with him. In my experience, however, when witnesses ramble on during testimony it tends to hurt their cases.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:40:48 +0000

Phil, I practice in Atlanta where the rules may be different from Arizona (which I am assuming is where you filed). Here, when a lawyer files a Chapter 13, form 2016(b) – the attorney disclosure of compensation – sets out the fee that your attorney is asking the court to approve and any limitations on services. Generally, if an attorney is representing you in a case, he cannot refuse to talk to you unless you pay more money. I think that the attorney who is the attorney of record in this case owes you an explanation as to the current status of your case and what your options may be to keep your case alive and/or to convert it to Chapter 7. Here, in cases where there was a medical emergency that caused a delinquency I have been successful in asking the court for a few months of deferral (although it is best to do that before the delinquency actually happens). A Chapter 7 does require a whole new set of pleadings so I don’t think it is unreasonable for a lawyer to ask for payment. Perhaps another option would be to talk to a lawyer in California about transferring your case there, and then converting. The issues you describe are complicated and it may be that any option available to you may not be affordable, but this may be a case where a written description of your options from your current lawyer is in order. Good luck.

By: Phil;

Phil; — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:07:25 +0000

Hi I have a problem. I had a major back injury and fell behind on my payments, I count three months. According to the trustee, they say 5.5 payments behind as of August, and have filed to dismiss the case. I called my attorney and he wouldn’t even talk to me without another 2k. I continued to make the payments, in fact more so. As due in good faith. The letter I got yesterday says they have dismissed my case anyway but the trustee says that did not happen. Now they tell me I’m 7 months behind and I have the cashed bank checks in my hand to prove that is not true. no one will talk to me, not the attorney, trustee, nothing. I simply cannot afford to pay the attorney fees or the past payments, as I don’t make anything near what I did when I filed. I live on nothing I have nothing and they have been taking my payments, cashing them and dismissed my case anyway. I don’t know what to do, I thought about trying to convert to a 7 but my attorney wants another 2k, and says I have to go back to Arizona, I just started a new job in California and I simply cant do that Ill loose my job! I am pulling my hair out I don’t know what to do I’m so lost and I don’t know how much more stress I can physicality take. What do I do? There is simply no help for the poor.

By: Patti

Patti — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 05:32:46 +0000

Cory,
I am in need of some very quick advise. We filed for chapter 13 in 2009. We received notice from the trustee that we our income had increased by 20,000 from our original filing and they want to double our repayment each month, which we can not afford to do. The increase in income is from overtime that my husband has been working to try to keep us from going under. We do have an increased income from 2009 but we also have an increase in our output which leaves us still struggling each week to pay our bills and we are always paying everything a month behind. Now we are going to have to go before a judge next week and I’m scared to death. We have never missed a payment to the trustee, their total objection is that we now make more mnoey. However, after revising our monthy expenditure sheet, our attorney has come up with the figure of $100 is left of disposable cash. His advise to me was to keep my answers basically to “yes” and “no” when the judge asks a question. I feel like the judge will see that as being evassive. He has also said that it will be better if I come to court alone because he thought I did a good job answering questions in his office and we wouldn’t need my husband there. Even though, while in his office, he kept telling me that I was trying to make my answers be what I thought the judge wanted to hear and he had me in tears. I guess my question is this, should I keep my answers to yes and no? And also, would it be better for both of us to come to court, won’t the judge look at it like my husband is being disrespectful to the court by not showing up? If you could post an answer for me as soon as possible, I would be so grateful! Thank you.

By: Melana

Melana — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:33:29 +0000

Hello. I filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2009 and it was finally confirmed April of this year. I fell behind on my payments, then, got a letter stating that my case was up for dismissal. I then, contacted my attorney which informed me that my case could be modified, and that the modification would catch up any arrears.So, I paid the fee and got my case modified. Over the past couple of years, my payments increased, and I lost my job. However, I am doing a little bit better financially. Now…the trustee is stating that the first modification payment needs to process before my hearing which is in 3 days. I will have all of the money up until the day prior to the court date, and I am not certain that it will make it on time. If it doesn’t post to the trustees office in time…will they dismiss my case. My attorney told me to fax her documents on that day and she will fax it to the trustee, but will the court accept being that it was sent the day before the hearing, and they didn’t officially get it in through mail delivery or what not. Also, my payments started off at 900 dls a month, and since my case modifications it has increased to 1900 dollars, like wayyyyy too much! Until I am able to move or do better, do you think it would be better to get my case dismissed, and then reopened? In Texas, would you say that it sounds like I am eligible to have it refiled/reopened? Any advice that you can have would surely be appreciated. God Bless.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 22:46:20 +0000

Cory, I do not think it is wise to voluntarily dismiss a Chapter 13 case without the advice of a lawyer. Assuming your lawyer has been paid for your Ch. 13 I think you have the right to a sit down meeting with him to discuss your option. Otherwise, you may want to get a second opinion from another lawyer in your jurisdiction. Good luck to you.

By: Cory Chorpenning

Cory Chorpenning — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:44:14 +0000

Hello! Due to many months off from work that ended about 18 months ago, I’ve been in financial turmoil for many many months. I first turned to Debt Settlement which was working fine until my largest creditor took me to court. Last Nov, I decided to meet with an attorny to determine if a chapter 13 bankruptcy would be better for me. My attorney convinced me to do so. However, since then it’s only made my financial situation worse off due to the neglect and lack of attention I’m getting from my attorney. After 7 months of making payments, my case was dismissed because my attorny never turned in my tax return from last year. I called the attorny for several weeks after I received the letter stating my case was dismissed. Then, without notice, my case was reopened. Apparently, my attorney turned in the necessary paperwork. However, I still haven’t heard from him. Since I had not heard from him, I contacted another attorney’s firm that does both debt settlement and bankruptcy.

I’m considering having my own case dismissed and either working through debt settlement or directly with the creditors. My question is, will I be able to resubmit a bankruptcy case if I’m unable to come to agreements with the creditors and/or lose my job – even though I voluntarily dismissed the chapter 13?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:18:19 +0000

@Christy: Cristy, you can file/convert using a different attorney. I am not familiar with Michigan bankruptcy law and procedure but I suspect that the bankruptcy courts in Michigan have procedures in place to govern attorney's fees so any new attorney needs to make the proper disclosures. Generally there is no "waiting period" to refile unless there is an (unusual) provision to that effect in the Chapter 13 confirmation order. I usually look at converting as opposed to filing a new case after dismissal since you save the extra filing fee and you show only one case on your credit report, not two.

By: Christy

Christy — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:27:13 +0000

Jonathon – thank you for responding so quickly. Can you tell me, in the state of Michigan, is it possible to convert using a different attorney than the one I originally filed Chapter 13 with, or do I have to use the same one? Also I was wondering if you could tell me, if my case is dismissed, is there a waiting period of one year to re-file? (I had heard this but wanted to verify.) Thanks again.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:28:44 +0000

@Micki – you most definitely need counsel with this. It is unusual that Chapter 7 cases are dismissed (as opposed to discharged) so I would strongly suggest that you not try to deal with this yourself.