Trustee pushing for 707 dismissal

[Radioman777]

What is the name of your state? PA

My wife and I filed for chapter 7. At the meeting of creditors, the trustee was in my opinion, abusive and biased.

Some background:
1. Our combined income is almost $90k
2. We own our home, 2 cars, and a motorcycle. Equity in the home falls well under the exemption limits. The cars and motorcycle are upside down loans.
3. Our unsecured credit card debt is around $110k, spread out amond a dozen or so cards, most of which is due to cash advances for gambling losses. There was over 180 days between the last use of credit, and our filing. We are no longer gambling, and are enrolled in counseling. The trustee was made aware of this.
4. Our attorney felt our case was clearly qualified a No Asset Discharge.
5. We intend to reaffirm all the secured debt.

The trustee feels (in his words), we're in "The hall of fame" for abuse. He's pushing for a 707 dismissal. I don't like the idea of filing bankruptcy, but am buried so far I don't see any alternative. Of course my attorney is suggesting we file chapter 13, but if I could afford payments on a chapter 13 case, I would have been able to make payment arrangements on the credit cards. My back is against the wall here.

My questions are:
1. Can I appeal the trustee's opinion? He kept making comments to our owneship of 2 SUV's and a motorcycle. If I could sell them for enough to pay them off, I would. I can't. I honestly feel he was biased against us from the beginning.

2. What if I simply accept the dismissal and don't pay the credit cards? I understand in PA they can't garnish our wages or put leins on our home. Do I just wait out the cc companies until the statute of limitations expires?

3. Would filing a chapter 13 have any advantages to the above?

[bigun]

What is the specific reason being given that this substantial abuse? What sort of disposable income are you showing? Are you still having money deducted for a 401K?

[Radioman777]

Yes, I have about $100 per month still going in to my 401k. My attorney said that amount shouldn't throw up any red flags. The primary reason the trustee gave was he felt I knew my financial situation was bleak last June when I bought the motorcycle. To the contrary, at that time, everything was being paid on time. Even with the gambling, I was holding my own until a few unforseen things came up that caused a couple of payments to be late on the cards. They jacked the interest rates up and it all snowballed from there. He also seemed to have a problem with my wife and I both driving SUV's. I do field service work, and 4 wheel drive is required by my employer. My car by the way, a Chevy Avalanche, has over 102k miles on it. My wife's SUV is a Ford Escape...a far cry from a luxury vehicle. The last major problem he had was that our home is appraised at $162k. The balance on the mortgage is presently over $152k, and in this area, it's by no means a high end home. From the research I've done, it falls right in the median home value in this county.

[bigun]

The problem is, the trustee likely sees that $100 as disposable income. It also so sounds like you were current on stuff right up until you filed. What sort of disposable income were you showing?

[Radioman777]

Our disposable income shows as around $50. I know he's scoffing at the overall amounts, and feels we're trying to pull a fast one. This isn't the case. Yes, I was holding my own until around October of last year. Between some very high gasoline bills, and heating bills, that was where I got behind and the bottom fell out. As a matter of fact, the first attorney we spoke to in April, said my best plan of action involved a bottle of tequila and a .38! Needless to say... we found a different attorney.