Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Michigan

In 2004, my spouse and I filed for a Chapter 14 which took 5 years to finalize. We were released as of August, 2009. Unfortunately due to mismanagement on the trustees part, we were released and found ourselves immediately 3 months behind on our mortgage. We are not in the position to file another Chapter 13 for another year based on time limits but wondered if we could file a Chapter 7 so soon after the Chapter 13? Is the requirement 'six years' based on the filing date of the Chapter 13 or the release/discharge date?


Asked on 8/11/10, 1:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kimberly Redd Redd Law, PLC

Some mortgage companies don't properly apply payments sent by the trustee. This might be what happened in your case. When you make mortgage payments through the trustee, you're mortgage is supposed to be current when you receive your Chapter 13 discharge. Some mortgage companies don't correctly apply payments and add late charges and other fees that they're not supposed to add during your case. Also, they're supposed to notify the court and trustee if your payment changes. You should request detailed information about the payments and how they were applied from the mortgage company. If they didn't apply them correctly, you can file a complaint against them with the bankruptcy court.

You can file another Chapter 13 bankruptcy in order to get caught up on the mortgage payments now. You just won't receive a discharge at the end of your case because it's too soon. Under the new bankruptcy law, you can't get a discharge except once every 8 years. This is based on the filing date.

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Answered on 8/16/10, 8:55 pm


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