Expert: Mark J. Markus- California Bankruptcy Attorney - 3/27/2009

Question
I filed a chapter 7 in May 2008 that was discharged September 2008 and just recieved a summons from the home owners association for an amount owed from September 2007...we lost our house to forclosure in October 2007. I did not include the amount in the bankruptcy...I forgot to list the debt because we had lost the house. Question..do I owe the amount I am being sued for or is it also discharged even thoe it was not listed.

Answer
That depends on the case law the court in your jurisdiction follows.  You didn't specify where your case was filed, but in most jurisdictions, if it was a no-asset chapter 7 case, the failure to list the HOA doesn't affect the discharge of the debt.   In other words, you should be able to just send them a copy of your discharge notice, and that's the end of it.  However, if your jurisdiction doesn't follow that line of cases, you may need to reopen your case and amend to add them as a creditor.   You need to discuss this with an attorney in your court's district.