In re Champion-Lee, No. 05-65635, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 856 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. April 4, 2006)(Murphy)

The debtor filed a pro se Chapter 7 and failed to list an ownership interest in real property.  Upon questioning at the §341 meeting, the debtor admitted that she had a one-half interest in her residence which, after her exemption,* would yield $14,000 for creditors.  The debtor subsequently amended her schedules to include the property, and moved for conversion to a Chapter 13.  The Chapter 7 trustee opposed the conversion based upon the dad faith of the debtor.

The Court granted the motion to convert based upon the debtor’s recent employment and the possibility that she could propose a confirmable plan that would pay creditors and allow the debtor to retain her residence.  She would still be subject to the oversight of the Chapter 13 Trustee, and she is unable to propose a plan or make the payments, the case would be converted back to the Chapter 7.

* In a footnote, the Court noted that the debtor’s failure to list her residence as an asset makes her entitlement to an exemption in the property "questionable."