Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: ability of trustee to sue creditor

I don't understand your question. Who did the creditors make the payments to or, who did the creditors recover payments from? (You said payments FROM creditors). I think what you are asking is whether the Trustee can recover payments made TO creditors by the debtor. The answer to that is "yes" if those payments were made to the creditor within 90 days prior to the filing of the bankruptcy on account of a pre-bankruptcy debt and which enables said creditor to receive more than he would receive in a Ch. 7 if he had not received the payment from the debtor. If the creditor is a relative of the debtor, the 90 day period I mentioned is extended to one year.

There are certain defenses the creditor may have to the Trustee's action to recover, but they are too lengthy to go into here.