Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Louisiana

Dismissal from bankruptcy

Well, I am assuming that the case from which you were dismissed was a Chapter 13. Under the facts you give me, you were possibly eligible to receive a discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 1328(b). If you are certain, however, that your case was in fact dismissed and no discharge granted, the answer to your question of when you can file depends upon what the court's order dismissing the case says. If it has language prohibiting refiling for a certain period of time, then that is the answer to your question. If there was no prohibition, you should be able to re-file right away. Something seems unusual in this whole scenario though, since your plan could have been modified to allow additional time due to your illness or whatever. Without knowing more facts, or why your attorney didn't take steps to modify or have your discharge granted after 2 years of payments, I cannot be 100% sure what is going on. If you live in the greater Los Angeles area and would like a more comprehensive consultation, please visit my web page and give me a call.

mark

Dismissed Chapter 13 - now what?

When you were served with the Chapter 13 Trustee's notice ofintent to dismiss, your attorney should haveadvised you at that time to convert the 13 toChapter 7, which a debtor in a Chapter 13 maydo at any time.

Be that as it may, you may re-file a bankruptcypetition at any time unless the dismissalorder enjoins you from doing so for a specificperiod of time (generally not the case). Ofcourse, you may have to pay the filing fee andre-do all your schedules.

If I were in your shoes, I would ask my attorneyto petition the court to re-open the Chapter13 for the purpose of converting it to a Chapter 7. That would allow you to keep allyour schedules, etc. and obtain a dischargewithout significant additional expence.

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