Bank Stements or Bank Report?

[notavictim]

When the filing actually occurs do they need actual bank statements or can they use a printed out report from the bank? I would prefer to have the bank print out activity between date x and date y. I am targeting an exact six month window between Nov 15 to May 15 to file.

What did you submit/use?

[jal1129]

The way the timing works here anyway is in whole calendar months, so if you file on May 15 your look back period would be from Nov 1-April 30.

[SinkingFast]

We gave our attny our actual bank statements up until we were getting ready to file. For our last statement,........... We printed out a copy, off line, on our computer at home, from the ending date of the last bank statement up to filing day. We gave the printout copy to our attny before our 341 Meeting.

[BKTango]

We were never asked for either by our attorney or the trustee. I would think the actual statements or copies of those statements would be more to their liking.

[HenriettaHen]

"The way the timing works here anyway is in whole calendar months, so if you file on May 15 your look back period would be from Nov 1-April 30."

This is how it worked for me, too.

I brought my bank statements and tax returns for the previous five years to my 341 meeting. The trustee only looked at the latest tax return (for 2006).

However, the bankruptcy analyst from the UST office has requested copies of these documents, along with some other things - many of which either do not apply or are easy to furnish sensible answers to. Mostly looking back at the last three years of activity, going back from the filing date.

In my case, this goes back about six months before I lost my job. The activity in the next year after that reflects my panicked efforts to remain afloat by using credit cards to pay credit cards - which I did for about nine months.

Beginning about three months before my decision to file in December of '05, I never used any more credit at all. I was at over 30% interest on everything by then, and they were asking for huge payments.

I had taken the cards out of my wallet by October (went around saying "what's in YOUR wallet" to myself for a few days....) , and in mid-December I cut them all up and stopped even trying to pay.

Your checking statement is a good record of your activity, especially if it has copies of the canceled checks. This, combined with your pay stubs and tax returns, is a good picture of what you did with your money in any given period.

It took me another year to realize there was no way I would ever be able to pay for an attorney before "they" came after me. So my pre-BK period was quite prolonged, but in the end I had to hustle up and file.

In the end, it feels to me like the new laws have just added another layer of vetting to the process. The trustees do not seem "out to get me", but rather they are just doing their jobs and requiring me to document my story.

The UST office asked what i did to try to pay bills, and this is what I told them, because it is the truth.

When you get all your records in a row and study them, you can really see the whole bloody picture. Frankly, I'm surprised that I didn't develop multiple personalities.

HenriettaHen doesn't count, does it?

[demismom]

Haven't filed yet............

When the filing actually occurs do they need actual bank statements or can they use a printed out report from the bank? I would prefer to have the bank print out activity between date x and date y. I am targeting an exact six month window between Nov 15 to May 15 to file.

What did you submit/use?

But our attorney has us keep sending her copies of our bank accounts from online, she said that was sufficient for her.

[lrprn]

I am targeting an exact six month window between Nov 15 to May 15 to file.

Please note that the bankruptcy law mandates that the six month income window is in whole months. As jal already said, your six-month lookback period will be Nov 1 to April 30 or if you wait until Dec 1 to file, the lookback period will be Dec 1 to May 31. Is this going to impact your pre-filing plans?

[HenriettaHen]

I think lrprn means

"or if you wait until June 1 to file, the lookback period will be Dec 1 to May 31".

[lrprn]

I think lrprn means "or if you wait until June 1 to file, the lookback period will be Dec 1 to May 31".

Sometimes my typing fingers get way ahead of my brain - thanks for catching and correcting my goof!