Landlord Filed for Bankruptcy, After Judgment!

[MIRAKALES]

The federal bankruptcy court needs to acknowledge the debt owed for tenant’s security deposit.
With a record of the debt owed in federal court the debt may not be discharged. As monies held is escrow should not be made apart of the bankruptcy proceeding. Tenant should discuss the matter with the federal bankruptcy clerk as a matter of process. The federal bankruptcy clerk will know whether the debt is recoverable and can direct you of the costs and about how to proceed. Whether an attorney is necessary will be dependent on how complicated the bankruptcy legal processes are to navigate. It would likely be a detailed filing of claim accompanied by the lease agreement, proof of paid security deposit, and the awarded judgment to state your claim for payment.

For the record, a federal bankruptcy court would be solely dependent on the claimants/debtors’ information and filings to locate assets. The court has legal access to all federal and state tax returns, all financial accounts and credit records associated with social security numbers, records of all deeds associated with the claimant/debtor, etc. All accounts whether opened or closed will be known to the court.

 

[nemochian]

We Won!!

Hello all. It's been a while since I have posted here, so I wanted to take a few minutes to update everyone.

In the beginning - when my previous LL's refused to return our Security Deposit, a lot of people said that there was no way that we would be able to win in Small Claims Court, for the Georgia Landlord/Tenant Laws are in favor of the LL... not the Tenant. However, we won!

30 days after we won our Judgment in Small Claims Court, our LL declared Bankruptcy... and included our $1,200 Security Deposit in the Bankruptcy. Once again, I was told by a lot of people (even quite a few people here) that we really had no chance at seeing our money again.

I spoke to BK Attorneys and they would charge 4x what we were owed, so I went at the BK Courts myself! I made sure to cover every angle that I could - I plead with the Trustees and attended the Meeting of the Creditors, along with Filing a Complaint to Determine Dischargeability of Debt with the BK Court. I hit them from the direction of BK Code § 523 (a)(4) -"for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, embezzlement, or larceny".

The Meeting of the Creditors was a complete waist of time (which I knew it would be), but it was necessary to attend. The Trustee did not conduct the Meeting as per regulations and only allowed Creditors to ask the Debtor questions - this did absolutely nothing for us. In truth - I really did not want to win anything through the Trustee, for we would only have received a very small % of the Estate... if any. I wanted to get them in BK Court - where we had a chance to get back our Full Amount!

The way that I saw it was that we had them for Violating Georgia Landlord/Tenant Laws - 44-7-32 (a) & "for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity, embezzlement, or larceny" - § 523 (a)(4). I filed the Complaint to Determine Dischargeablity of Debt, the Summons, and mailed the required copies.

In the end, the BK Judge saw it the same way that I did... for we didn't even step foot in the Court Room! The very next day, after I submitted our Exhibits/Witness Lists and confirmed our Court Date, I received a call from the LL's (Defendants) Attorney. They asked me if I had submitted our Exhibits/Witness Lists and confirmed the Court Date and when I told that I had... they said, "So you are going through with this?". I of course said, "Yes I am". Then came the talk of "Settlement"!

Apparently, the Judge had contacted their Attorney (his clerk called them the same day that I had submitted everything) and told them that he better not see this hit his Court Room... and that he wanted them to Settle with us, immediately! Guess what - we got our $1,200.00 Security Deposit Back!!! I spoke to their Attorney on a Friday. When they asked me if we would consider Settling, I of course said "yes". I informed them that I hated seeing it go this far, but that I would take it all the way; if necessary. Their Attorney asked me what I wanted and I told them that I wanted exactly what I had been asking for the entire time... my $1,200.00 Security Deposit. I had a $1,200 Cashiers Check waiting for me on Monday!

I know that there are a few of you out there that are facing this same situation. Do not let anyone tell you that you cannot win and that you might as well "kiss your money goodbye"! Take it from me - you can win! You just have to do your "homework", get ready for a fight, and be ready to put in the time.

I want to thank everyone here for your advice - it was greatly appreciated! I especially like the people that told me that I had to have a BK Attorney, that the BK Laws are way too complicated, and to be prepared to not see my money again... they just made me want to fight even more.

I've learned a lot though all of this and I will do my best to help anyone else out there - just let me know if you have any questions.