[Whistle Blower]

What a GREAT Forum! Here is my question:

I filed Bankruptcy on Aug 31, 2007 and it was discharged in March of 2008. Apparently, a creditor contacted a Collection Agency and the agency filed a complaint against me in court on August 28, 2007, which I did not discover until a few days ago.

During the BK, I informed all my creditors and called and spoke to anyone who sent me a letter and told everyone I was in BK. My attorney filed the proper paperwork to let my creditors know, but not this particular collection agency, as we did not know the debt had been given over to a collection agency. (The attorney is no longer available due to a losing battle with cancer.)

Apparently, when I thought I was protected by Federal Law and Bankruptcy proceedings, this collection agency continued with the process against me and obtained a Default judgment against me in January of 2008.

I do not know if I received a summons, but what I do know, is that I was every responsible and did not dodge any letters or phone calls and informed everyone I had filed Chapter 7 and sent them the paper work through my attorney or via fax, when requested.

This collection agency filed Proof of Service on Sept. 9, 2007, Notice of Returned Document on Oct 5, 2007, Request for Default Judgment on Oct 10, 2007, and a Default Judgment by the Clerk Oct 10, 2007, and the last Court Docket Entry reads "Payment Received by for 42- Abstract of Judgment in the amount of $15.00" on January 22, 2008.

All of this action happened during my Federal Bankruptcy proceedings, and it is only by accident that I discovered this online.

I do recall once JERK that I called when I received a letter in the mail (possibly a summons?) and I remember his vicious taunting of me. However, my BK paperwork is up in the rafters and I am unable to get to it at this time.

1)Once the original creditor received my Notice of Bankruptcy proceedings, was the original creditor responsible to take me out of collections once they received the notification of my Bankruptcy filing?

2) Should I call the original creditor for help, or the collection agency to resolve this matter? The original creditor actually told me they are no longer responsible, and I am more nervous calling the collection agency and getting the run around rather than filing and showing up in court.

3) Should I file my own Motion to Vacate and by pass having them give me the runaround and deal with all of this strictly through the court?

4) Should I simply sue them in small claims court for violating my right to protection under the Bankruptcy code?

5) If I need to give them a chance to remedy this, which I really do not want to do because we all know they WILL NOT, do I need to start with a Beasley Letter to the Collection Agency/Law Firm who may not have been notified with the original filing, or will at least claim they did not know?

6) If my property was in Foreclosure and that was stayed because of the BK filing, and this Collection Agency Attorney received an Abstract Judgment, will he be able to collect this debt when they sell my house at auction real soon? (The collection agency should have already been ruled out because of my BK filing.

Thank you ahead of time for any information or guidance, and please note, I am not afraid to file my own motions in court and go before a judge.

[progunr]

Once the debt was sold or transferred, the original creditor no longer has the ability to collect it, unless they re-purchase it back. Once they sold it, it was no longer their debt, the collection agency is the new owner of your obligation.

Did your attorney pull all of your credit reports, or just take your word on who you owed?

The collection agency, having never been notified of the BK, has every right to continue to collect this debt. It is in no way their fault that they were not notified of the BK.

Since they were never notified, they have not violated any law in the pursuit of this debt.

Since it has already been discharged, I don't believe you have any way of amending it now.

If there has been a lien placed against you home, yes, it will have to be satisfied before the property could be sold or transferred.

Sorry to hear about your luck on this one.

[Fr_Chuck]

If the debtor was listed on the list of debtors then you are protected, if the debtor was not listed on the bankrutpcy filing, it was not included in the bankrutpy and there is not protectoin.