We arrived at our meeting an hour before to observe how other meetings are conducted and also, to lessen our anxiety.
We ended up waiting two hours because we were the last one in our batch.
The trustee conducts a group of filers in an hour then takes a five minute break.
Anyway, there were a couple who brought their kids into the meeting and it didn't go well with the trustee and the UST. The kids were loud and they were crying. I don't think they would have minded if they were well-behaved since the trustee seems to be nice. But they were so loud that their voices may not even be heard in the recorder. It didn't help that their case was also complicated. They were filing for Chapter 7 but they have three houses and could afford $8k mortgage per month. In addition, they drove hella nice cars. I know that isn't enough to justify their situation but when they were asked by the trustee why they didn't get someone to take care of the kids, they responded they don't have money to hire a nanny for the day.
Well, his wife just have a coach purse and jewelries. Not sure why you can't afford to pay $50 for couple of hours to take care of the kids. Though I feel bad for the wife, since I am a mother myself, it didn't help their case, when they were being questioned about their expenses and questionable bank transactions prior to filing.
The trustee asked why he withdrew $6k the day before filing. He didn't have an answer and just babbled about other stuff. We were frustrated and kinda annoyed that they took 15 minutes an hour before then had another one for the next hour to wait for the UST to show up with her questions. Then they took another 30 minutes or so. Anyway, thinking about minor things we were worried about such as typo and school tuition expenses seems unimportant. They were spending $2,500 per month to put their 11 yr old kid into private school. No special needs just wanted her to go to private school which they claim they can no longer afford so she'll be going to public school next year.
Well, after waiting for so long. It was our turn and I was so sleepy. The trustee told us that he never received our documents. I told him I sent it with signature confirmation but left the signature receipt confirmation at home. Luckily, I'm always prepared. I brought all the copies, paystub, tax return and all the documents we filed with me. We handed it to him and proceeded with the interview. We were out of there in three minutes.
He asked the basic questions:
Are all of the petition/schedules true and accurate to the best of your knowledge at time of filing?
Are there any changes or errors?
Do you understand student loans aren't dischargeable?
How long before you graduate?
Why do you have a monthly tuition expense?
How long ago did you earn any income?
Are there any creditors?
You're dismissed, thank you.
After watching everyone for couple hours, we were nervous watching them but when it was our turn, we felt more relieved knowing in a couple of minutes it will be over.
If you're filing pro-se, please bring all the documents you filed and proofs with you. I think if we didn't bring our stuff, he would have dismissed our case.
Although he seems nice, he's strict.
I was agitated that he made me feel like I was lying to him about not sending him the documents on time. I told him he should have received it two weeks ago. And if he looks on pacer, the amendment schedule is included in our petition and a copy was also served to him.
He insisted he never received it and made it sound like it was our fault.
Overall, I think our case went okay. I'm not sure if he'll go over our documents again. He took our copies and made some notes then returned it to us. He just kept the most recent paystub and that's about it. Then he added, if you sent the documents to me then I should have it somewhere.
We ended up waiting two hours because we were the last one in our batch.
The trustee conducts a group of filers in an hour then takes a five minute break.
Anyway, there were a couple who brought their kids into the meeting and it didn't go well with the trustee and the UST. The kids were loud and they were crying. I don't think they would have minded if they were well-behaved since the trustee seems to be nice. But they were so loud that their voices may not even be heard in the recorder. It didn't help that their case was also complicated. They were filing for Chapter 7 but they have three houses and could afford $8k mortgage per month. In addition, they drove hella nice cars. I know that isn't enough to justify their situation but when they were asked by the trustee why they didn't get someone to take care of the kids, they responded they don't have money to hire a nanny for the day.
Well, his wife just have a coach purse and jewelries. Not sure why you can't afford to pay $50 for couple of hours to take care of the kids. Though I feel bad for the wife, since I am a mother myself, it didn't help their case, when they were being questioned about their expenses and questionable bank transactions prior to filing.
The trustee asked why he withdrew $6k the day before filing. He didn't have an answer and just babbled about other stuff. We were frustrated and kinda annoyed that they took 15 minutes an hour before then had another one for the next hour to wait for the UST to show up with her questions. Then they took another 30 minutes or so. Anyway, thinking about minor things we were worried about such as typo and school tuition expenses seems unimportant. They were spending $2,500 per month to put their 11 yr old kid into private school. No special needs just wanted her to go to private school which they claim they can no longer afford so she'll be going to public school next year.
Well, after waiting for so long. It was our turn and I was so sleepy. The trustee told us that he never received our documents. I told him I sent it with signature confirmation but left the signature receipt confirmation at home. Luckily, I'm always prepared. I brought all the copies, paystub, tax return and all the documents we filed with me. We handed it to him and proceeded with the interview. We were out of there in three minutes.
He asked the basic questions:
Are all of the petition/schedules true and accurate to the best of your knowledge at time of filing?
Are there any changes or errors?
Do you understand student loans aren't dischargeable?
How long before you graduate?
Why do you have a monthly tuition expense?
How long ago did you earn any income?
Are there any creditors?
You're dismissed, thank you.
After watching everyone for couple hours, we were nervous watching them but when it was our turn, we felt more relieved knowing in a couple of minutes it will be over.
If you're filing pro-se, please bring all the documents you filed and proofs with you. I think if we didn't bring our stuff, he would have dismissed our case.
Although he seems nice, he's strict.
I was agitated that he made me feel like I was lying to him about not sending him the documents on time. I told him he should have received it two weeks ago. And if he looks on pacer, the amendment schedule is included in our petition and a copy was also served to him.
He insisted he never received it and made it sound like it was our fault.
Overall, I think our case went okay. I'm not sure if he'll go over our documents again. He took our copies and made some notes then returned it to us. He just kept the most recent paystub and that's about it. Then he added, if you sent the documents to me then I should have it somewhere.
- Report of No Distribution 
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