Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Can I convert my Chapter 13 to Chapter 7?

We filed Chapter 13 in April 2003. We decided to sell our home in March 2004 because we could not afford to keep up with payments and it was sold May 2004. Our attorney did NOT advise us to update our budget after selling the property. We were advised by our accountant to we would need to update our budget to reflect the additional taxes we will owe this year. Due to our financial hardship, we have not paid our trustee our monthly payment this year for June, August & Sept. We recently received a letter from our trustee that he is seeking dismissal of our Chapter 13 and our court hearing date is 10/13/04. We have since updated our monthly budget and would like to know if we can convert our Chapter 13 to Chapter 7? If so, we will hire a new attorney to handle this for us.


Asked on 9/13/04, 4:59 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys
Mark Markus Law Office of Mark J. Markus

Re: Can I convert my Chapter 13 to Chapter 7?

Yes, of course you can convert to Ch. 7 assuming your budget is showing no surplus income. Presumably the court approved the sale of your real property in the Ch. 13 case so that shouldn't be an issue. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please visit my webpage at http://www.bklaw.com/consult.html and then contact me to schedule an appointment.

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Answered on 9/13/04, 5:16 pm
Lauren Ross Lauren Ross

Re: Can I convert my Chapter 13 to Chapter 7?

Yes you can convert. It will most likely require you to file new documents, but it is possible to convert.

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Answered on 9/13/04, 5:32 pm
Gary Fraley California Bankruptcy Attorneys

Re: Can I convert my Chapter 13 to Chapter 7?

Hello, I am Gary Fraley founder and owner California Bankruptcy Attorneys. I have been practicing bankruptcy law for 27 years. I am one of only 93 state bar certified bankruptcy specialists in the whole state. My office is in Sacramento but I do bankruptcy cases statewide. I regularly handle cases in the Northern District where you are located. I do a free attorney consultation by phone. There is no charge, no pressure and no obligation for me to look at your situation and advise you of all your options. You can find out more about me and my firm at ca-bankruptcy-attorneys.com.

Yes you can convert from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7. However, first you must show you have inadequate income to support a plan to pay any significant portion of your debts in a Chapter 13 over 36 months.

I am concerned about whether selling the house was with court approval. If not, you may have one very unhappy buyer or title company as you do not have the legal ability to sell the home without a court order. This sale, even if approved, may have caused you to not qualify for Chapter 7. What I need to know is what the amended income and expense schedules reflect as disposable income. To understand the issue go to my web site and click on "do I qualify"

If your case gets dismissed you can still file a Chapter 7 if you qualify. The one advantage to converting from Chapter 23 to Chapter 7 is that you will only pay a $15 increase in the filing fee rather than paying the full $209 for filing a new case.

If you want me to give you a free attorney consultation just call my staff at 1-800-675-1005 and they will be happy to set up the appointment

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Answered on 9/27/04, 12:46 am


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