Bankruptcy question…..?
I am a commercial litigation attorney, but have very little experience with bankruptcy. Here is a situation that a family member has found herself in.
Filed for Chapter 13 in 1991.
Last week, they received a letter from NCO Financial Systems attempting to collect a debt for an account held from 1983 to 1991. The bill has almost tripled due to interest charges.
My question is wouldn’t this debt have been discharged with the bankruptcy in 1991. They can’t come collecting now can they?
any cites to bankruptcy code or caselaw would be appreciated.
For TN2vegas: Don’t be ignorant and simple. I’m a litigation attorney and don’t deal with transactional law or other non-litigation matters. It’s like a neurologist asking a podiatrist about a sore toe. Both doctors, but…….
This is a personal matter involving a family member so I did not want to involve my peers.
Thanks for being an ass. And, no prescription online pharmacy by the way, you can’t spell.
Just from personal experience having gone through a personal bankruptsy, I’d say no they can’t. The statute of limi-
tations is seven years. They have until that time, to demand
payment. After that, they no longer have the right. But there
are those who are persistant, and will try to scare the debtor
into paying, even if they don’t have the legal right to do so.
Sometimes persistance pays.
<check with bankruptcy/creditor’s rights atty>
2 things come to mind:
1. the debt would have to have been SPECIFIALLY listed and discharged on the Chap 13. A bankruptcy doesn’t get rid of ALL debts – just the ones you have listed.
2. Most states have Statutes of Limitations on collecting old debts – usually either 6 or 10 years. The creditor may simply be out of time.
LOL….your an attorney and your on Yahoo asking for advise?
First see if she listed the debt in the 13. If not, it ain’t discharged.
As someone else commented, there appears to be a stat. of limits problem if there was no judgment entered.
If this debt was included in the 1991 chapter 13 filing then the company can no longer collect on the account. They need to refer the company to their attorney. Their attorney will then contact the collector to stop all billing statments.
This could also be a scam. There are con artists out there that look at old discharged bankrupties and create old debts that appear on the surface to be correct but are really fabricated. The people being contacted say 7-10 years after the BK are told that if they do not pay the debt it will be sent to the credit bureau’s and will again ruin their credit.
The scam comes when the "collection agency" offers settlement that is within the immediate means of the people to pay. Say the total with interest is $36000. The cons offer a settlement of $23000. and pressure the victim to get a loan, since they have a clean credit history now, to pay the $23000 to satisfy the false debt. This makes sense to the people not wanting to chance their credit to be ruined again, so they pay.
This con has been around for some time and is getting worse. Of course the cons move on after a few months and start all over again in another major city having made several millions of dollars in less than 2-3 months.