Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: Value of an Abstract of Judgment after Bankruptcy

The lien is clearly valid after the bankruptcy is completed unless it is avoided by noticed motion during the bankruptcy case.

Re: Value of an Abstract of Judgment after Bankruptcy

An abstract of judgment is still viable after discharge in chapter 7 bk. You have been told wrong. The judgment was discharged, the lien was not. You should have filed a motion to avoid lien. By not doing so, you screwed up. What you need to do now is either file a motion to reopen your chapter 7 so you can avoid the lien, or file a chapter 13 and then file a motion to avoid lien. Reopening is better, but sometimes you cannot do this if you did not claim enough exemption in your real property; so then you will have to file a chapter 13 with a new exemption schedule.

Re: Value of an Abstract of Judgment after Bankruptcy

A judgment lien is not discharged in a chapter 7 bankruptcy. While the underlying debt is discharged, a judgment can be renewed every 10 years under California law, and so the debt can be resurrected long after the bankruptcy.

There is a motion available in Bankruptcy Court that can be filed, that can remove the lien, under the strict guidelines of the law.

I hope that this helps, but if you have further questions, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. I'm happy to help you in any way that I can.