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This is a common scenario.  If you receive the reaffirmation agreement and your lawyer has not signed it, you can still sign the agreement and forward it to your creditor. Your creditor can then set a court hearing. You must attend this court hearing and explain to the judge why reaffirming that particular item of debt will not be an undue burden or hardship on you.

Reaffirmation agreements are sent by creditors or their attorneys to your lawyer’s office approximately one month after your case is filed.  Once our office receives the reaffirmation agreement, we review your bankruptcy schedules to see if signing the agreement would create an “undue hardship” for you.  If a hardship exists based upon your personal financial circumstances, then your lawyer will not sign the agreement and it will be forwarded back to you.  However, you can still choose to sign the reaffirmation agreement and submit it directly to your creditor.  If your lawyer decides that signing the reaffirmation agreement will not be an “undue hardship” for you, then your lawyer will sign the agreement, forward it to you for your signature, and you again have the option of signing the agreement and sending the fully executed document to your creditor.  Bottom line, with or without your lawyer’s signature, you have the option of signing and reaffirming your debt with the creditor.

Generally, you will receive a reaffirmation agreement for vehicles and other large secured items of debt.  A reaffirmation agreement is a document that enables your secured creditor to hold you personally liable on a debt you owe them AFTER the bankruptcy.  That means if you fail to make payments in the future, or if the collateral is destroyed, the secured creditor can sue you in state court to collect the debt.  However, the advantages of signing the reaffirmation agreement are that the secured creditor will send you statements every month, may work with you if you fall slightly behind, will allow you to make payments as you did prior to filing for bankruptcy, and will report the regular payments to the credit reporting agencies.

Not necessarily.  Just because you have received a discharge order in the mail does not always mean that your bankruptcy is complete.  Your case is complete when you receive a discharge order in your case AND you have complied with any requests by the Trustee to turn over any requested documentation or information.