Testifying in bankruptcy court

I haven't done this.
Since I haven't done this, if it were me, I would rather the attorney represent the Association.

Is the HOA pursuing the foreclosure? Not sure how the Chapter 13 filing will effect that. It's rather complicated but I believe bankrupt filing does not relieve HOA dues. It does other debts. The foreclosure should still be able to go on but your most likely NOT going to get a dime. Please don't bid on the property either. You all don't want it. However, finding a possible bidder would not be a bad idea at this point. Foreclosures are done PUBLICLY so nothing wrong with letting people know about it.

I did testify in court but not for bankruptsy. It involved the home we foreclosed on. The renter sued the owner because the owner had a rent to own agreement and tried to make the renter pay the backed dues (causing the foreclosure). My testimony just consisted of testifying the records presented in court were indeed the records of the HOA's. The cross examination by their attorney just consisted of what the HOA paid for out it's dues. They tried to make it seem the HOA was to pay for water, utilities, and cable. We don't do that and it's the owner's responsibility ONLY. Had to establish we were stand alone homes and NOT condo's.

Believe me, it's not what you believe it's going to be on TV when testifying. It's kind of boring. Basically, just verifying the facts on documents. Which I would make sure to have all your documents and Treasurer reports in line. That's going to be the most of your case.

in general, it's a bad idea to volunteer to go under oath. Once you do, the other attorney can ask all kinds of questions, and be limited only by what the judge decides to limit. You could be asked about all your past troubles with the lady, and then asked how it made you feel. Did you get angry? Upset? Did you ever confront her? WHat did you say? Did you ever threaten her, use foul language, harass her? Do you harbor ill feelings towards the woman? Can you recall other members who were behind in their dues? What did the board do with each of them? Why didn't the board do X, why did they do Y instead. Did the board ever discuss her situation in a meeting? What was said? How about out of a meeting? Did you ever talk with your neighbor about her situation? Another board member, ever? In all those years, you never ever said to another board member, during a swim time, bbq, at the mail box "What are we going to do about Mrs. Smith?"

being under oath is a can of worms you should never open voluntarily.

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Our attorney will be at the hearing, along with the trustee(who’s suggested dismissing the whole thing because the homeowner hasn’t paid anything) and homeowner’s attorney (assuming she paid HIM – I believe that also became an issue when she went chapter 13 the first time). Our attorneys suggested someone from the board come and make a statement because judges sometimes takes pity on the “poor set-upon homeowner” sitting in a courtroom with the creditor’s attorneys everywhere, all looking for their pound of flesh, as it were.

And with the wretched reputation some HOAs have, he thought it would help the judge to see how it affects the HOA, as opposed to hearing those stories about the little old lady whose big bad HOA took away her house because she was only $400 behind in dues.

I don’t intent to run into court and make a slap dash statement (personally, I'd rather slap the homeowner silly and walk out!) and will be working with them on preparing it, complete with a few notes on her long, sorry history. The cross examination, if any, doesn’t really bother me (just went through my very first deposition as part of my job). In fact, this lady has such a lousy payment history, I would think she’d be hard pressed to explain herself (then again, we ARE about to go through a hearing on this mess).

I'm told the woman's mortgage company is basically controlling all this - who knows, maybe I should take them to task for doing nothing while the debt keeps piling up, forgetting the dues help keep the property in some sort of shape, which also helps protect their interests. Seems to me if they're so interested in not losing money (they did work out a loan modification with her during the first go-round), maybe they should do like another homeowner's bank recently - the account soared over $10K, but they paid it off (I guess it's being added to her mortgage)

I've noticed that in many bankruptcy cases, the homeowner doesn't have a clear idea of how things work, almost as if their attorney didn't explain things fully.

In all but perhaps one or two bankruptcy cases we've had, the homeowner filing seems to think that all the dues will be forgiven and/or paid during the course of the bankruptcy. Several years later, when they come out BK and the HOA can legally start up the collection process again, they owe several subsequent years of HOA fees as well as the multitude of legal fees that have been tacked on because of the bankruptcy.

I have heard "but that was included in the bankruptcy!" many, many times and I really believe some bankruptcy attorneys don't explain it in easy terms to understand - that the only thing paid through the bankruptcy court is what was on the books at the time of filing (pre-petition debt). The clock continues to tick and unless they pay their dues every year (excluding the year BK was filed), they will still owe a whack of money when it is all over.

Then the cycle begins again...