Being Sued for Debt already discharged in Bankruptcy

[bobru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

I received a show cause summons today saying I need to appear to pay damages of 112.95. This debt was already discharged in a chapt 7 bankruptcy, which I told the lawyer already. I have my bankruptcy papers, and the debt is clearly listed. I do not appreciate him continuing pursuing this debt after its discharge, and after I informed him of the discharge. What recourse do I have? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[chrismiles]

take your paperwork to court and prove it discharged...

[Proserpina]

Originally Posted by bobru

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

I received a show cause summons today saying I need to appear to pay damages of 112.95. This debt was already discharged in a chapt 7 bankruptcy, which I told the lawyer already. I have my bankruptcy papers, and the debt is clearly listed. I do not appreciate him continuing pursuing this debt after its discharge, and after I informed him of the discharge. What recourse do I have? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

What kind of debt is this?

Who filed suit?

[bigun]

Were I you, I'd contact my bk lawyer and see if he'd hande this on a contingency.

If not, respond to the summons with a copy of your bk discharge and and the creditors matrix showing this creditor has been listed. Also, get a pacer account and see if you're still in the system.

[url=http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/]PACER Service Center Home Page[/url]

One of the last entries will be a listing of creditors notified by the bk court clerk of your discharge as well as the method used . Either electronically or by mail. Include this in your responce as well.
I'd also inlude this from the bk code dealing with discharge.

(a) A discharge in a case under this title--

(1) voids any judgment at any time obtained, to the extent that such judgment is a determination of the personal liability of the debtor with respect to any debt discharged under section 727, 944, 1141, 1228, or 1328 of this title, whether or not discharge of such debt is waived;

(2) operates as an injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action, the employment of process, or an act, to collect, recover or offset any such debt as a personal liability of the debtor, whether or not discharge of such debt is waived; and

(3) operates as an injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action, the employment of process, or an act, to collect or recover from, or offset against, property of the debtor of the kind specified in section 541(a)(2) of this title that is acquired after the commencement of the case, on account of any allowable community claim, except a community claim that is excepted from discharge under section 523, 1228(a)(1), or 1328(a)(1), or that would be so excepted, determined in accordance with the provisions of sections 523(c) and 523(d) of this title, in a case concerning the debtor's spouse commenced on the date of the filing of the petition in the case concerning the debtor, whether or not discharge of the debt based on such community claim is waived.

[url=http://doney.net/bkcode/11usc0524.htm]11 U.S.C. 524[/url]

Of course, all this assumes the debt was the sort eligible for discharge.

[bobru]

It was a charge for an oil delivery that I did not order.

Aren't there penalties for continuing to pursue a debt after it is discharged in bankruptcy?

[bigun]

Yes, there can be monetary penalities at the bk judges descretion.
You'll have to file a motion to reopen your bk in order for a judge to hold a hearing on the matter.

[Proserpina]

Originally Posted by bobru

It was a charge for an oil delivery that I did not order.

Aren't there penalties for continuing to pursue a debt after it is discharged in bankruptcy?

Then yes, ditto everything bigun has said

(just wanted to make sure it wasn't a debt you'd included but wasn't actually eligible for discharge - like most taxes, child support and the like, school loans etc.)

You can of course file yourself but adversary proceedings can be a bit tricky - if you can, hire an attorney to help you at least with the initial paperwork.

(it's also not necessarily going to be cheap - you need to decide if it's actually worth the cost of pursuing specially as while there are indeed fines/penalties they are not automatically awarded, y'know?)