A person who owes me money filed Bankruptcy but never gave me notice, is that fraud?
This is concerning a personal Promissory note from 2001, payments made until January 2009, which was after the BK. I had no knowledge of this BK until I went to an attorney to proceed in collection the balance owed. The address on the BK papers was a bad address and the borrower is a Realtor who knows where I live. We are a small community in Colorado. can the debtor still collect the debt owed. No notification was given to the debtor and a payment was made in January 2009? The discharge was February 2007.
Answer:
The short answer is that when the Bankruptcy Code does not require actual notice to creditors. Even if a creditor does not receive any notice at all, or is not even listed in the schedules, the discharge is effective. There are almost no exceptions to that rule. If you believe that fraud was involved in the failing to provide you with notice, then you should see an bankruptcy attorney and review the situation.
Remember, a personal promissory note is unlikely to be secured. If the debt is unsecured, then it is highly unlikely notice to you would have changed anything.
HOWEVER, your facts have one difference from the usual fact set. You note that the debtor was paying on the debt AFTER the date of filing and/or discharge. If the debtor paid you after the date of filing and/or discharge then you may have a situtation where the debtor has "reaffirmed" the debt. You should definitely contact an experienced bankruptcy attorney to check our all the facts and determine whether you can still collect on this debt.
