Texas Bankruptcy Legal Questions

Criminal restitution is nondischargeable. However, your judgement in civil court is not criminal restitution. It is ordered by the criminal courts. You may still have a nondischargeability claim against her under another argument, such a willful destruction of personal property or conversion. There are deadlines to being these claims.... Read More

If you obtained a judgment in small claims court that is a civil judgment for money damages, not criminal restitution. Criminal restitution must be imposed by a court as a part of a criminal prosecution. Be very careful here. Trying to collect on a debt while a bankruptcy Automatic Stay is in place, or trying to collect on a discharged debt will create significant problems for you. You would be violating a Federal Court Order and there can be real consequences for that.... Read More

To have the bankruptcy information removed from your credit report, you need to submit a dispute to the credit bureaus who are currently reporting that information. The dismissal paperwork that you should have received from the court and/or your bankruptcy attorney will serve as proof that you in fact did not receive a bankruptcy discharge and simply filed a petition for bankruptcy protection that was later dismissed. Your written disputes should be sumitted to the credit bureaus at the addresses found on their websites (they generally have a contact us tab on their websites). They will have 30 days to investigate your claim and update the information, so the change to your credit information may not happen over night, so the sooner you get this information corrected, the better. ... Read More

I'm afraid I am not understanding your question. But, I'll try to give you what information I can. Trustees are paid a sliding scale percentage on the money they disburse out of the bankruptcy estate to creditors. However, Trustees who are attorneys also frequently hire themselves as attorneys to represent the estate. So, in their capacity as trustees, they handle the basic numbers administration of the estate and certain other duties, and are paid their percentage. But, when they need to do actual legal work, like going to court and filing certain documents with the court, they are wearing their "attorney" hat and charge separately for that. So, you can get two different fees from the same person. Finally, the Trustee may have been somehow involved in settling the car accident claim. In that case, he may be entitled to a fee for that.   All trustee and attorney fees must be approved by the bankruptcy court. So, if you have a complaint about the fees, you should consult with your bankruptcy attorney about possibly filing an objection with the court.... Read More

Yes, stopping foreclosures of houses by homeowner's associations is a common purpose for filing chapter 13. Get my free special report on What You Need to Stop Your Texas Foreclosure Now! Once a chapter 13 is filed, an "automatic stay" or federal court injunction stops the HOA from continuing with the foreclosure, at least as long as you comply with the plan. Your attorney should make sure that the HOA is promptly and properly notified of the filing of the chapter 13 to be sure that the foreclosure is stopped. The amount that you owe the HOA is typically paid as a secured claim through the chapter 13 plan with some interest, over the 36-60 month period of the plan, which usually makes it very affordable. Consult an experienced bankruptcy attorney that actively handles chapter 13 cases in your area.... Read More

If the lien is in fact illegal, I don't understand why you would file bankruptcy to get rid of it rather than challenging the lien directly. Either way, you either will have trouble or will not have trouble getting the lienholder to remove it. I sometimes see where people have been sued, for example, by credit card companies and a judgment is taken against them. Then, the credit card company files an "abstract of judgment" in the county records. Later, if a title company is looking at approving a loan or sale for title insurance, they may list this judgment as something that has to be cleared in order to issue title insurance. If something like this is what is happening to you, there is a far simpler way to resolve the problem than through bankruptcy. Here is some information about how to remove such a lien: http://www.armstrongattorneys.com/cannot-get-a-home-loan-because-of-an-old-judgment/   There is nothing in bankruptcy that would prohibit you from eventually borrowing against your home equity. But, of course, your credit score may well be hurt by the bankruptcy filing and you may need some time after your discharge to rebuild your credit enough to qualify for a loan.... Read More

Once your case is dismissed, you can refile unless the Order dismissing your case contains a prohibition on refiling for 180 days. In the new case you will only have the benefit of the automatic stay, which prevents your creditors from taking collection actions against you, for 30 days unless you file a motion and have the court grant an extension WITHIN that 30 days of that 30 day period.   You've already discovered one of the many reasons why you need an experienced attorney to represent you.  This is yet another.  Click here for my article on the importance of having a bankruptcy attorney. As far as WHERE your case can be filed, it can be filed in the district where you have resided OR had your principal assets located for the greater part of the 180 days prior to the filing of the case.  Usually this is 91 days unless you have moved a lot. Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau. ... Read More

Unfortunately, the Bankruptcy Code now provides in Section 523(a)(16) that HOA fees are not discharged for time periods after the bankruptcy, and so long as the debtor (the person that filed bankruptcy) has a "legal, equitable, or possessory interest" in the home. The amount that you owed in HOA fees when you filed bankruptcy can be discharged in bankruptcy but the amounts that accrue after the filing are not discharged, so long as the title to the home is in your name, or you live there, or you have an "equitable interest" in the home. This has become a big problem for some people. We are calling them "zombie houses" because they keep coming back. Mortgage companies used to foreclose on houses quickly, but particularly in Northern states, it can take a long time and be expensive to foreclose on a house. We are recommending to many of our clients that they try for a "short sale" to at least get the house out of their name, so that they don't incur any additional expense for HOA fees, taxes, or fines or municipal tickets for not doing maintenance on the house.... Read More

I'm assuming, although you don't state, that this is a Chapter 7 case.  Your question examplifies a common misunderstanding of the law. In a Chapter 7 case, the Trustee steps into the shoes of the debtor in bankruptcy and, as of the date the case is filed, becomes the owner of any and all assets of the debtor.  If you were on title to a bank account on the date your case was filed, then the Trustee has the sames rights and interest in the money in that account as you do.  Any subsequent transfers of those funds without the Trustee's approval (if it occurred after the bankruptcy case was filed) would be problematic, as you have discovered. Ask yourself this simple question:  Could you have withdrawn money from that joint account legally?  If so, then so can your Trustee. That having been said, your boyfriend had rights in those funds as well, so I don't think it's as cut and dried as the Trustee may think.  Your boyfriend should hire an experienced bankruptcy attorney to represent him at this point. Probably the best thing would have been for your boyfriend to withdraw the money prior to you filing your case and that should have been OK, particularly if he can prove that he is the one who had deposited all the money into the account. Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau. ... Read More

You can file bankruptcy any time you want (assuming you are eligible to file under a given chapter). Whether it is "too late" or not depends on what it is you're trying to accomplish, and you don't provide enough information to even begin answering that question. For example, if your goal is to stop the foreclosure sale and use bankruptcy to catch up on the payments, then it is too late to file after the foreclosure sale has taken place. If your goal is to discharge any deficiency you owe under applicable state law after the foreclosure sale, then it's never too late to file, although there can be significant tax consequences depending on when you file your case.  You would need to discuss that with a tax attorney who has bankruptcy experience. Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991.  He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization,  AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau.  ... Read More