Completed 341 Meeting Today
Hello fellow worriers,
I have been reading this forum since I filed for Chapter 7 and thought that everyone would like to know what I had searched for - what happened to them at the meeting of the creditors.
Background: Michigan resident; opted to file federal rather than state because of exemptions. Under federal, $40,000 of home equity is exempt which was important to us. We were attempting to discharge unsecured debt only - visa, mastercards, american express. We wanted to reaffirm our car and home.
Hired a run of the mill attorney for $600/flat rate. I chose him over more expensive attorneys because his office was in the bankruptcy building and he had 25 years experience handling nothing but bankruptcies. I assumed he knew most of the trustees fairly well and could advise me what they were looking for during their reviews. My attorney was in attendance, not some associate. Before meeting started, talked with attorney. He stated that the only thing trustee would be looking at is the real property. Of course I did not believe him and brought my entire filing cabinet with me! I brought 3 years of 1040's, all 2005 paystubs, all paid bills and expenses, car titles (which I wanted reaffirmed), ID and social security cards, 401K statement, current mortgages, appraisal of home, home warranty deed, 3 months bank statements - you name it, I had it with me.
Meeting started with only one other debtor in room. Trustee, my attorney, another attorney and us sat at table. Meeting was recorded via cassette tape. Meeting started with my own attorney asking us questions, name, (produce ID and social security card). Did I review all schedules submitted, and are they true and correct? Do I have the title to the car (yes, produced). Other attorney spoke up and said "what condition is the car in, and is it insured"? (Figured out then that this guy represented the bank that held the lein on the car). Had us sign reaffirmation agreement for the car and we were done with him. Sidenote: car payments are current-never been late, so no problem there. Our attorney then asked questions about the house - when bought, how much, how much owed. We produced current mortgage statements for both mortgages. Sidenote: house payments are current - never been late.
Trustee then asked us: Are we working? (He is, I am not). Asked us if we anticipated a job loss (answer - no). Asked - do you believe that selling the house would clear your debt? I panicked and thought he wanted us to sell the house--no, he smiled and asked if we wanted to sell. Answer - no. He looked over current mortgage statements, warranty deed and copy of mortgage. Copy of mortgage was not the one that was stamped as being recorded - WE NEEDED TO PRODUCE THAT. Trustee agreed to give us 7 days for production of RECORDED mortgage via "fax to his office or your attorney's office". Then stated that he had no further questions, wished us good luck, and said our lives begin again today. We were adjuourned; we then went to our county of residence and got the stamped, recorded copy of mortgages (just page one of each) and faxed them over to both our attorney and the trustee.
Trustee did not ask us to produce anything else (which I had EVERYTHING with me). No questions about tax refunds, which I know from reading other posts are a concern. We have already received our refund via electronic funds over a month ago.
The trustee was kind, although professional. He was chatting with someone else when we arrived and stated that he only had 5 cases this hour, usually they schedule him 10 or more. I thought "oh, no, that means he has plenty of time to tear us apart." However, NO SUCH THING HAPPENED.
For anyone awaiting your 341 meeting, RELAX! If your schedules are completely in order and you walk in with a pile of organized paperwork proving your claim of bankruptcy, you will do just fine! I think the trustee saw that we had everything we could possibly think of with us, thereby concluding that we were, in fact, honest debtors that found ourselves in a no-win situation with creditors. Best of luck to all of you (and me too!).
I have been reading this forum since I filed for Chapter 7 and thought that everyone would like to know what I had searched for - what happened to them at the meeting of the creditors.
Background: Michigan resident; opted to file federal rather than state because of exemptions. Under federal, $40,000 of home equity is exempt which was important to us. We were attempting to discharge unsecured debt only - visa, mastercards, american express. We wanted to reaffirm our car and home.
Hired a run of the mill attorney for $600/flat rate. I chose him over more expensive attorneys because his office was in the bankruptcy building and he had 25 years experience handling nothing but bankruptcies. I assumed he knew most of the trustees fairly well and could advise me what they were looking for during their reviews. My attorney was in attendance, not some associate. Before meeting started, talked with attorney. He stated that the only thing trustee would be looking at is the real property. Of course I did not believe him and brought my entire filing cabinet with me! I brought 3 years of 1040's, all 2005 paystubs, all paid bills and expenses, car titles (which I wanted reaffirmed), ID and social security cards, 401K statement, current mortgages, appraisal of home, home warranty deed, 3 months bank statements - you name it, I had it with me.
Meeting started with only one other debtor in room. Trustee, my attorney, another attorney and us sat at table. Meeting was recorded via cassette tape. Meeting started with my own attorney asking us questions, name, (produce ID and social security card). Did I review all schedules submitted, and are they true and correct? Do I have the title to the car (yes, produced). Other attorney spoke up and said "what condition is the car in, and is it insured"? (Figured out then that this guy represented the bank that held the lein on the car). Had us sign reaffirmation agreement for the car and we were done with him. Sidenote: car payments are current-never been late, so no problem there. Our attorney then asked questions about the house - when bought, how much, how much owed. We produced current mortgage statements for both mortgages. Sidenote: house payments are current - never been late.
Trustee then asked us: Are we working? (He is, I am not). Asked us if we anticipated a job loss (answer - no). Asked - do you believe that selling the house would clear your debt? I panicked and thought he wanted us to sell the house--no, he smiled and asked if we wanted to sell. Answer - no. He looked over current mortgage statements, warranty deed and copy of mortgage. Copy of mortgage was not the one that was stamped as being recorded - WE NEEDED TO PRODUCE THAT. Trustee agreed to give us 7 days for production of RECORDED mortgage via "fax to his office or your attorney's office". Then stated that he had no further questions, wished us good luck, and said our lives begin again today. We were adjuourned; we then went to our county of residence and got the stamped, recorded copy of mortgages (just page one of each) and faxed them over to both our attorney and the trustee.
Trustee did not ask us to produce anything else (which I had EVERYTHING with me). No questions about tax refunds, which I know from reading other posts are a concern. We have already received our refund via electronic funds over a month ago.
The trustee was kind, although professional. He was chatting with someone else when we arrived and stated that he only had 5 cases this hour, usually they schedule him 10 or more. I thought "oh, no, that means he has plenty of time to tear us apart." However, NO SUCH THING HAPPENED.
For anyone awaiting your 341 meeting, RELAX! If your schedules are completely in order and you walk in with a pile of organized paperwork proving your claim of bankruptcy, you will do just fine! I think the trustee saw that we had everything we could possibly think of with us, thereby concluding that we were, in fact, honest debtors that found ourselves in a no-win situation with creditors. Best of luck to all of you (and me too!).
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