I'm along time lurker and made a few posts. I'm looking for any type of advice/suggestions on how to handle this situation. My wife and I have been struggling with a ton of debt ($150k) for many years. We have 4 kids and live in NY. Over the years, it ballooned to its present amount and life became completely unbearable. We've tried every single which way to try and tackle this debt but nothing worked. We looked into debt consolidation plans, debt management plans, making a ton of payment plans with collection agencies and other creditors - we weren't getting anywhere, and were throwing away money we really needed. I remember the day I was served with my first lawsuit and the sheer embarrasment of having my eldest son notify me of that. The fear I had in dealing this suit. As a person of very humble means, it was just debilitating. Finally, we concluded that our only real option is to declare bankruptcy. After speaking with a bunch of attorneys, we settled on one and were ready to file a chapter 7. Our attorney instructed me that due to our combined income (180k), he could get us under the means test but this was going to be a very aggressive 7. We know that $180k combined income is a good salary, but living in Brooklyn with 4 kids, as crazy as this sounds, it's simply not as much as it sounds. I hope I am not coming off here as arrogant about this as that's the last thing I want to convey. In any event, after going through the intake form, I was introduced to the wonderful world of fraudulent transfers. Over 5 years ago, when our debts wasn't anywhere near what it is today, I was on the deed and mortgage to my parents house. My parents bought their home in 2000 and basically used my name/credit to purchase the home. After 15 years, I had enough and wanted off of the house. So, they structured a deal that I'd sell the house to my brother. As the seller, I received the sale proceeds. Obviously I realize that in the eyes of the law, I was the legal owner of that home. Bu tin reality, it was my parents' home. I barely lived in that house for a year and a half as I moved out and got married. After the transaction closed, I transferred the proceeds to my parents. The reason being, it was obviously their house and the money rightfully belonged to the,. This important fact completely derailed any chapter 7 filing as I was still in the 6 year lookback period for a trustee to sue my brother and unwind the sale. Thus, I was told my only option now is to file a chapter 13 plan. I was told that the transfer wouldn't be an issue like it was in a 7. After many months of back and forth with this attorney, with many different projected payment plans along the way, I felt that this could actually work. My case would certainly not be easy. Although I am married as stated before, I come from a very traditional family where my immigrant parents need their kids to do things that others simply do for themselves. My father today is sick and old, and my mother barely knows English. As such, I'd take care of their monthly bills. They paid for it but they'd essentially hand over the money to me to deposit in my account and I would pay their bills. My attorney advised me that as long as I can prove all of this, it would be ok. Well, after many months of agonizing, we filed our chpater 13 case over the summer. The experience was completely traumatizing and truly an emotional rollercoaster. The trustee, who's known to be a very difficult Trustee, to say the least, filed a motion to dismiss for failure to provide documents. This sort of stunned me as I provided my attorney everything I was asked. I don't know if my attorney just didn't communicate with me timely but every time I was asked for something, I was barely given a few days to provide it, and the requests for documents had many things. This happened twice over last summer. My attorney then filed an amended plan and a hearing on the motion to dismiss was held. After the hearing I was told to provide some clairty regarding this weird bill pay arrangement, to which I meticulously did. There were two hearings scheduled on the motions to dismiss, which were both adjourned due to the Trustee being sick. I understand these things happen (especially during Covid) but I felt something is amiss when the motion to dismiss hearing was adjourned for a second straight time. Finally, a third hearing was scheduled. All throughout this time, my attorney is telling me I haven't heard back from the trustee, which is a good sign, i think the plan will be confirmed etc etc. A few days before the hearing, I ask the attorney if he needs anything, why hasn't he amended some of the schedules the trustee requested to be amended, etc and I hear that I now need to provide tons of documents in a day or the case will be dismissed. After telling the attorney that nobody from his office communicated to me any of these requests, I began to work on them. I must've stayed up throughout the night making sure I have everything and some of the requests were very difficult to meet. For example, with the sale proceeds I mentioned before, my parents used that to purchase a retirement home in their home country. I was asked to provide the purchase contract, which meant tracking down relatives in a foreign country and have them e-mail me it. After providing my attorney with all of the documents and noticing how how he went from advising me that this case could not be dismissed, I started to feel impending doom. I received a call from him this past Thursday with news that has left me shocked, beyond angry, scared and almost suicidal. Although the hearing was scheduled for a motion to dismiss, the Trustee raised the fraudulent transfer issue and the judge agreed and dismissed my case. Now, after many months of agonizing whether to file even though I was being harrassed and sued by my creditors, after going through a hellish rollercoaster ride with the filing and feeling that my attorney simply filed my case to get his fee, and simply told me things I wanted to hear, I am now faced with dealing with these debt issues, constant calls, threats, potential lawsuits once again for at least another year and a half before I can file again. I apologize for this very long post but I truy have nobody to turn to or get advice from. My attorney barely gives me the time of day anymore. I'd greatly appreciate any comments/insight into all of this. Thank you.
