Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Virginia

Re: Bankruptcy-Timeshares

I'm assuming you received a discharge and did not reaffirm your timeshare debt, and that the trustee did not administer the asset (i.e., sell the timeshare).

There are generally two types of obligations associated with a timeshare: the mortgage and the maintenance fees. As for the mortgage, it is just like the mortgage on a house: in bankruptcy, the personal liability is discharged, but you need to keep paying to avoid foreclosure. If you don't pay, they can foreclose, and you will lose the timeshare if that happens, but, due to the discharge, you will not owe any deficiency if it sells for less than you owe. As for the maintenance fees, pre-petition maintenance fees (fees incurred before the date of filing bankruptcy) are discharged, although they may be a lien on the timeshare property and thus treated like the mortgage (pay or they can sell it to satisfy the debt). Post-petition maintenance fees may still be your responsibility for as long as you own the timeshare (i.e., until you sell it or it is foreclosed), depending on the nature of your ownership interest. That would be *very* unlikely to be $14,000 since 2005, so they are probably claiming something that was discharged. The question is whether this is just a notice regarding their foreclosure rights, or an actual demand for payment. If it is a demand for payment, they have violated the discharge and you may be entitled to seek damages from them for the violation.

Re: Bankruptcy-Timeshares

Were you discharged from the debt? And, what happened to the timeshare?

When you filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, that is essentially a liquidation proceeding whereby the trustee collects all of your assets (if any) and sells them and then pays off debts in a certain order - then you are discharged from any remaining debts - but theoretically you have no assets left either.

It is unlikely that you would get to keep the timeshare without also having to pay the debt on it.

Sometimes the chapter 7 proceedings are dismissed - as opposed to debtor receiving a discharge - and if that happened, then obviously the debt would still be owed.

If you no longer own the timeshare and if the debt was discharged in bankruptcy, then the property owners appear to be trying to collect on a discharged debt, and that would be a defense you may have.