Questions

What is the name of your state?
New Mexico

I am the owner of a house that a relative is renting (with an option to purchase). My relative informed me in September that he was planning on filing for bankruptcy and that our lease agreement may have to be dissolved. In November, he told me that he did not include our lease on his bankruptcy. His bankruptcy was supposed to be finalized in January. He has moved out of state and not been making rent payments to me for a few months now, but his tenants have been paying a portion of the rent, but not the full amount. I want to terminate his lease. He tells me that I cannot do this without going through the Bankruptcy court. I have never received any notification from the courts about the bankruptcy, and only have his verbal word that he was planning to file, and later that he did file but that our lease agreement was not included in the debt to be dissolved.

Questions:

1) Should I have received notice if I was listed in his bankruptcy and if so when. If I am listed in his bankruptcy but did not receive notice is that legal? What are my rights?

2) Can I terminate his contract?

Thanks for any help!

[Ladynred]

Call the bankruptcy court and find out if he actually DID file for BK - its public record..

If you received no notice thru the BK courts, then you were NOT included as a creditor. A lease of this nature isn't really a debt - rent is a normal expense.

If he has broken the terms of the lease, you are within your rights to evict for non-payment and go after him for payments owed. Unless he actually filed for CH 13, a CH 7 would likely have been discharged already and the automatic stay wouldn't apply any more.