Bancruptcy Information

Hi everyone:

Been a while since I posted a question, but I guess it's about that time again.

We have an owner in our community who was supposed to be foreclosed on on 02/02/2010. We heard from our attorney that the sale was stopped because that bastard filed chapter 13 (bancruptcy)

His total debt was around $18,000.00 including interest and reasonable attorney fees. Yes and please don't ask how it could get that high. Too long of a story, it is what it is.

Anyways ... he filed on 01/20/2010 for Chapter 13 and now he is running around in the community telling everybody that he doesn't have to pay a dime anymore. After a few payments his current debt is around $9,000.00.

My question is, is there a way to stop chapter 13. Even if I personally have to testify and produce something that I can send to the court. This guy is buying new things left and right, but doesn't pay his association fees. That pissed me off really bad.

Secondly, is there a web site (such as public records site of the county court), where I can see what he filed and who he put on the bankruptcy application. We have the suspicion that our association is not mentioned on the papers he filed and we would like to find out if our suspicion is correct.

So anybody who can give me some information on Chapter 13 and how to find out more about a filing, please post away.

I live in Broward County, Florida.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
Karl Artner

Ah, the joy of bankruptcies - but at least he filed chapter 13, where you might stand a chance of getting your money back.

We've had homeowners do this and our attorney made sure we were listed as a creditor. As I understand it, chapter 13 is a reorganization of debt, meaning a plan is prepared to pay off the creditors (whether they get all their money back is another story), and the plan is approved and supervised by the court.

I don't know if there's a website for the bankruptcy courts, but once upon a time the court in Indy had an automated number where you could enter a name (a cause number was even better, if you had it) and if there was a pending case, you could receive basic information on it, including the next court date. Check the white pages in your phone book - or better yet, have the attorney do it. I would think these are public records, so your attorney should be able to get the documents that should list the creditors.

Another thing I just thought of - if the guy is buying a lot of things and not paying his fees despite the HOA being listed as a creditor, it's possible he may have lied to the court about how much he really has. Talk to your attorney - if there's proof he hasn't been honest with the court, your attorney needs to let them know (and they won't be happy!)

In my community, we had a homeowner declare chapter 13 and we did get our money back, plus 8% interest - I believe he originally owed $7K, so large amounts owed to the HOA don't surprise me, especially when you include late fees, attorneys fees and other costs. The one to watch for are chapter 7 filings because those can cancel out nearly everyone (the homeowner usually has to give up the home, as well). When we've had chapter 7, our only option was to write off the debt (I don't think you can go after the debtor if it's discharged) or pray the court dismissed the filing and then sue.

Good luck!

Shelia and Glen,

thanks for your information. Our attorney has not been informed by the court about the filing of chapter 13. She received an email from somebody and called the court. So we (or our representative) has not been informed yet. I do believe our attorney is working on this case to get more detailed paperwork on the filing. I was hoping that I could find a source here, where I could do my own research as well.

I will check our county clerks web site, which I have been doing daily for the last few days. Until this morning, there was nothing posted about a chapter 13 for this person. Does anybody maybe know how long it would take the court to post these kind of filings online? I understand there is a delay, but how long is this delay?

Thanks again for your advice.

Cheers
Karl

Carol,

final judgment resulting in the sale of the property was scheduled. The sale was scheduled for 02/02/2010.
He filed Chapter 13 on 01/20/2010. I did Google on Chapter 13 and found a lot of useful information, but since we don't know what exactly he filed (not yet), all this information does not do a lot for us right now.

We hope, since we have not been informed, that he did not mention the association on his filing. Or as has happened before, his attorney put the wrong association on the papers. We have to assn's in very close proximity with very similar names. Many times we have received notification of foreclosure with the wrong assn's name on the papers. We are Woodlake Villas, Inc. and the other assn is Woodlake Isles. So if that happened, then I believe that we can request the full amount owed to us, since we have not been mentioned in the Chapter 13 filing.

Carol,

thank you for your tip. I found that web site called PACER Service Center

They charge you $0.08 per page (max $2.40 per document) but it was well worth it. I found out that this said H/O did add us as a creditor, but didn't file an address for our association, nor did he give the information for our attorney, even though he has received like 25 to 30 letters in the last year from the assn or from our attorney. And I'm actually glad I did do the research, because our attorney said it would take him about a week to research the application and if that would have been the case, we would have missed an important deadline.

So thanks for the tip, you probably saved our assn a lot of money.

I printed the full application, and then some information. Found out that the amount owed to the assn was reported with $0.00. He thinks he can get away with it.

We are trying to go for fraudulent filing of Chapter 13. I hope this guy goes to jail for this.

So again THANKS CAROL ... THANKS CAROL ... THANKS CAROL!!!!!!
If you are ever in my area, I'll take you out for coffee ... HeHe ... hope the assn will reimburse me for it ... LOL

As Glen points out. In view of the economic situation of the times and the resource is there; why not use it, the on-line information provided by the counties and states are underutilized, it asppears.

It used to be common practices for bank managers to check the obituries daily for information about customers. Data collection has improved since then but the principal holds true. Court filings could be easily scanned for liens, bankruptcies, property transfers, foreclosures, criminal activity, etc.

Our county site offer a listing called Multi Court Docket. Just plug in a name. It is also true that to really do more than scratch the surface you need some expertise in how to search court records.

Small HOA's and condo's may find the effort could save them some bucks in the long haul. Large organizations may find it cost effective to farm the job out.

Karl - this is a good site to learn more about FL bankruptcy.

http://bankruptcyflorida.wordpress.com/