Speaking of Flashbacks

This time last year I received a 2-inch thick envelope from some court in West Georgia, letting me know I was being sued by a bank who held the mortgage to three of my former properties. Now, this was interesting because 1) my name was not on the mortgage note of any of these properties. Only Marty's, and he wasn't being sued and 2) we had included this bank in our bankruptcy--in fact, this bank was the the reason for the bankruptcy, but that is another story. This bank waited until two days after our bankruptcy closed and then started their proceedings. I am pretty sure that violates Federal law. My attorney agreed. I also complained that this was a personal assault and not standard business practices, which is what I had been saying to my attorney about this company for more than a year. The US bankruptcy trustee happened to agree and voila! A lawsuit was born.

None of this new lawsuit involved me, but once in a while I would get letters from the bankruptcy court letting me know what the trustee was doing. Unfortunately for the bank, bankruptcy laws are followed, even in West Georgia. In the end, the trustee seized the property the bank was holding me accountable for. They sold it at some heinous price and someone somewhere got a bargain. There is another reason the price might have been a low-ball, the house could have been vandalized or squatters could have been living there for the past couple of years. But that is just a theory developed from intelligence guided by experience.

After the trustee sold the house, a letter went out to all of my former creditors saying, "hey do you want some of the cash we got from the house we seized? Not you, stupid bank who caused this mess. You get none..." Anyway, one particular bank did shuffle forward and they were rewarded the trustee's purse. Of all the creditor's who could have asked for the money, I am glad it was this company. I liked them and hated to bankrupt them too.

I am told the foolish attorney who filed the claim against me has been punished for suing me personally after the bankruptcy was over with. I am also told the bank's asset manager who made my life a living hell on several occasions since 2014 is now standing in the unemployment line because of his little stunt.

I hated filing bankruptcy. It was humiliating and not the way I wanted that accidental business to end. The entire process burned at me and there ended up being a lot of charred remnants of that time, but also a few blooming flowers that came from the ashes. I am glad someone I owed was paid off.