After filing for bankruptcy, the court will send you notice of anything that is filed in your case through the mail, and many times these notices can be very confusing. Instead of worrying about what some of those notices may mean, here is a list of common notices you may receive from the court, and an explanation of what they mean.<\/p>\n
Notice of Bankruptcy Filing and 341<\/span>:\u00a0 This notice will be sent to you almost immediately after your case is filed.\u00a0 It has important information regarding your case including your case number, when your case was filed, and when your meeting of creditors is scheduled to be. Your meeting of creditors is often referred to as \u201c341 meeting\u201d, and is extremely important to be aware of.<\/p>\n Proof of Claim:<\/span>\u00a0 If you have filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will receive notices that say \u201cproof of claim\u201d often.\u00a0 This refers to something that your creditors have to file in order to be paid through your chapter 13 plan.\u00a0 It is nothing that you need to worry about or pay attention to.<\/p>\n \u201cMotion for Relief from Automatic Stay\u201d:<\/span>\u00a0 Creditors will file a motion for relief from automatic stay for a number of reasons, and whether or not you should pay attention to it depends on your specific case.\u00a0 If you are surrendering a home or a car through your bankruptcy, the creditor who held the loan agreement with you is required to file a motion for relief to be able to take the property back from you.\u00a0 If you surrendered the property, you do not need to be concerned about a Motion for Relief being filed.\u00a0 However, if you are not surrendering property and a motion for relief is filed, you should pay close attention to that and contact your attorney.\u00a0 If you kept a house through your bankruptcy, but were not paying the current, ongoing payments on it, the creditor will most likely file a motion for relief to either foreclose or repossess.\u00a0 Some creditors are willng to work out another repayment plan, called a \u201cstipulation agreement\u201d to help you catch back up with payments, but the majority of the time once a motion for relief is filed, you will need to catch up with your payments before a hearing is held on it.\u00a0 Some motion for relief\u2019s also have hearing dates and times on them; you will not have to attend the hearing as this is something your attorney will do for you.<\/p>\n Order Discharging Debtor:<\/span>\u00a0 If you receive this in the mail, that is a good thing. It means that your case is on the track to being closed, and that your debts were discharged.<\/p>\n Motion to dismiss for Failure to make Plan Payments: <\/span>If you are not current on your plan payments by the time they are due, your trustee will file a Motion to dismiss for failure to make plan payments.\u00a0 Usually this will not be filed until you are at least two plan payments delinquent.\u00a0 If this notice is received, you should get in touch with your attorney to discuss your intentions on becoming current with your plan payments.\u00a0 Your attorney will then need to file a response to this motion, which will set the motion for hearing, giving you more time to become current with your plan payments.\u00a0 Once the motion to dismiss is set for hearing, you will need to become current with your plan payments before the date of the hearing, or your case will be dismissed.<\/p>\n Order Dismissing Case<\/span>: This is something that you will receive if your case is dismissed for some reason. Typically, this will happen in a Chapter 13 case when you have failed to do things like pay your plan payments or have failed to provide documents required by the trustee or Department of Revenue. If your case is dismissed, you have a fourteen day window to get it reinstated, or your case will be closed.<\/p>\n Notice of Default\/Notice of Breach<\/span>:\u00a0 If you had a motion for relief from stay for failure to pay ongoing mortgage payments, you were given the option of entering into a Stipulation Agreement.\u00a0 This stipulation agreement put all of your post-petition arrearage into a six month repayment plan that was due in addition to your current ongoing mortgage payments and your Chapter 13 plan payments. A notice of default, also referred to as a notice of breach, is filed when you have fallen behind on your stipulation agreement payments.\u00a0 If a notice of default is filed, you have a very limited window of time to become caught up on your payments, or the original motion for relief that was filed will be granted.\u00a0 If this happens, your mortgage company would be able to move forward with foreclosure.\u00a0 Typically, you will have 14 days from the date the notice was filed to become current on your stipulation agreement payments.\u00a0 If your attorney files a response to this motion, it will set it for a hearing.\u00a0 If the Notice of Default is set for hearing, it will give you additional time to catch up on late payments; however, you will have to be current on your payments at the time of the hearing or your case will be dismissed.<\/p>\n If you are concerned about a notice you receive in the mail from the bankruptcy court, it is always best to call your St. Louis Bankruptcy attorney<\/a> and ask him or her to clarify what the notice means.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After filing for bankruptcy, the court will send you notice of anything that is filed in your case through the mail, and many times these notices can be very confusing. Instead of worrying about what some of those notices may … Continue reading