Summary Judgement After Ch. 7 Filing
My attorney filed my chapter 7 bankruptcy one day before a creditor's summary judgment hearing, but somehow the hearing still went through and was granted. I did not show up for the hearing because my attorney's secretary said she would call me if I still needed to attend. She didn't call me. I'm not certain if the other party was adequately contacted. We used the attorney contact info listed on the Notice of Hearing. My question is should I begin to aggressively move to have the judgment set aside? My attorney has told me that he would take care of it, but I suspect by his repeated failure to follow up on the matter, that his work load is excessive . I definitely do not want a civil judgment AND a bankruptcy on my credit file - especially since my file date is one day prior to the summary judgment. I not sure if I should personally contact the suing party and request that they somehow vacate the judgment, or if I should request a reconsideration from the judge, or whatever. I guess what I really need to know is what is the best way to remove the summary judgment knowing that it was granted one day after my chapter 7 bankruptcy was filed, but with the possibility that the suing party may not have been contacted in time. I reside in Texas.
Answer:
The suing party will not be able to speak to you because you are represented by an attorney. Your attorney should follow-up immediately with the suing party to ensure that nothing is filed with the court. Anything done past the filing of your bankruptcy is in violation of the bankruptcy code, and it is up to the violating party to make sure that things are put on hold and set aside once they are aware of the bankruptcy filing. There has not been enough time for the bankruptcy notice to reach the suing party by mail; but your attorney, if he was aware of the summary judgment hearing, should have contacted the court and the suing party of the bankruptcy filing immediately to cancel the hearing. Also, a notice of the bankruptcy filing should be filed in that civil court case by your attorney. The judgment may have been granted; but it may not have been filed yet with the court, so it wouldn't be of record yet in that case. Your attorney needs to find this out.
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