Expert: Terry Leeders - 12/16/2008

Question
I & my husband are on Chapter 13 and I received a call from a lawyer in another town that they were going to sue my husband for damage done to a rented cement mixer. The company that he rented it from changed the ball on our truck and used one of theirs and then they attached the cement mixer themselves. Later in the day when my husband turned a corner, the mixer came off. Not only did it damage the mixer, it damaged our bumper. Now they are wanting to sue us for the damaged mixer.

Answer
If this happened before you filed the case, you need to talk with your attorney about amending the schedules to include this debt (and /or amend the plan to account for it).
If this happened after you filed, this will be your responsibility if you are found liable for the debt after the lawsuit.  You can then possibly petition the bankruptcy court to modify the plan based on the change of circumstances, so that you can pay that claim.   It will be a timing issue here, so talk to your lawyer as soon as you can.