Legal Question in Bankruptcy in New York

Bank suing after HELOC was discharged in chapt 7 case

NewYork- The bank did not report our HELCO to the county, losing there security, The Trustee discharged the debt. We would not reaffirm on an unsecured 100,00 dollar debt. Post petition they filed the loan with the counrty with out our reaffirmation and now our suing my husband 100,000 because his reported income for tax year 2003 did not match the reported income in 2007; hence the bankruptcy. They have been continueing to colect on this debt post petition although the trustee discharged the now unsecured debt. I am curious as to what right or action we can take to stop this if any at all. DO they have ligitimate grounds for the suit? DOes my husband have grounds for a counter suit? Thanks for any information you can help me with. Our lawyer is very disorganized and I am not sure I trust everything he says.


Asked on 11/25/08, 12:26 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Craig Robins Law Offices of Craig D. Robins (www.BankruptcyCanHelp.com)

Re: Bank suing after HELOC was discharged in chapt 7 case

Your mortgage debt should be considered fully discharged by virtue of the bankruptcy. It sounds like the mortgagee violated the order of discharge in several different ways. They should not have recorded the mortgage instrument after your bankruptcy filing, and they should not have brought suit against you. You have the right to immediately bring an application in the bankruptcy court to stop this and to seek costs, sanctions and damages. By the way, it was the judge assigned to your case who issued you the order of discharge; not the trustee.

I urge you to seek competent legal representation immediately. I note that you are from upstate.

However, I regularly represent people with situations such as this on Long Island and in the greater Metropolitan area.

Please see the article I wrote for the Suffolk Lawyer about how the court grants sanctions for violating the order of discharge. "Protecting Your Client from Creditors Who Ignore the Discharge." Here is the link: http://www.bankruptcycanhelp.com/pdf/2005-06-S-Discharge.pdf

Also feel free to explore my bankruptcy web site which has a wealth of other materials as well:

BankruptcyCanHelp.com

Please send me an e-mail and let me know how you end up handling this.

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Answered on 11/25/08, 12:34 pm


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