Expert: Mark J. Markus- California Bankruptcy Attorney - 8/5/2008

Question
QUESTION: my bankruptcy in michigan was discharged in June 2008.  Our creditor meeting was in April 2008.  We closed a business due to the ecomony and we were forced to file due to overwellming debt from the business.  All of our personal and business debt was combined into a chapter 7. We did not file chapter 11 since there was nothing to reorganize at t he business. (we were evicted from the leased building). We recently recieved notice from the phone company (business line) threatening to garnish our bank accounts. They were listed in the bankruptcy filing.  The phone was held in the business name.  All of our paperwork for the filing is in our names/not the incorporated name.  Will I be liable for this $7000 bill since we were discharged already.

ANSWER: If the phone company was listed as a creditor on your bankruptcy papers and you received a discharge, then you have no legal obligation to pay them.  Moreover, if they are threatening collection, they are in violation of the post discharge injunction under 11 USC 524 and you can receive contempt of court sanctions against them.

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QUESTION: Thank you so much, would this still hold true due to the fact that the business name itself was not listed or discharged.  That is what the phone company is saying - we did not backrupt the business. The business is closed.  All of the other business creditors have gone away.

Answer
I don't have enough facts to answer that question.  Was this business a dba of yours, or was it a corporation or partnership?  If the latter, then it doesn't have anything to do with you personally.  If they are seeking to collect from you personally and your debt to them was discharged, then they are violating the bankruptcy injunction.   The phone company can of course sue the corporation (if it was a corporation) and seize its bank accounts, but that has nothing to do with you personally.