Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California
I filed a chapter 7 petition last week and after going through all the documents several times to make sure everything was in order, low and behold I realized I left a creditor out.
I have read that in a chapter 7 this really doesn't matter because all the debt gets discharged anyways. I have also read that I need to file an amendment.
I am filing in the Northern District of California and I am wondering if anybody can advise me what the best course here is for me. Can anyone tell me if I should file the amendment, or just leave it since all debt would be discharged anyways.
--Thanks in advance
4 Answers from Attorneys
I recommend filing the amendment. Although unlisted debts are still generally discharged in a "no asset" are generally discharged if the debt is not fraudulently incurred, the better policy is to put the creditor on formal notice of the bankruptcy. They will receive notice of the strict time deadlines and notice of the discharge too.
Before you amend -- and you should amend -- pull your credit report from annualcreditreport.com and make sure there aren't other debts about which you might have forgotten, or that might be claiming a debt. Also, make sure that you schedule all debts, if any, to relatives and friends. Once you have exercised appropriate diligence, then file your amendment and send notice of your bankruptcy to the newly-listed creditor(s).
You should definitely amend to include the creditor so that they have proper notice. You should also check your credit report to make sure that you are not missing any other creditors. The court does charge a fee to add additional creditors, so I would recommend that you definitely ensure that your missing any other creditors - add them all at once on the amendment.
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