MA Case Dismissed for Absence of Counseling
By L. Jed Berliner, Western & Central Massachusetts Bankruptcy Attorney on Oct 23, 2007 in Bankruptcy Cases & Legislation, Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure, General Bankruptcy Information
A nightmare came true for the filer in In re Falcone, 370 B.R. 462 (Bankr D MA 2007) (Hillman, J), which ruled that the absence of debt counseling before the filing was fatal to the filing even though she only had two days’ notice of the imminent foreclosure and her counsel’s paralegal misunderstood the counseling requirement.
An extension for achieving the counseling requirement can be obtained if (1) there are “exigent” circumstances, (2) the debtor unsuccessfully tried to get counseling for the five days after first making the request before filing, and (3) the court is satisfied with debtor’s certification of the first two requirements. The court ruled that there was no attempt to achieve the counseling before the filing and her circumstances were not extraordinary.
You must be logged in to post a comment.