341 in Rockford IL - anybody else???

[drowningNIL]

We filed early September and have our 341 mid October in Rockford. Does anybody have any Rockford, Illinois 341 experiences to share? Of course I'm nervous about it. I've been reading how they are so fast and easy but still....

About 2 weeks after we filed we received a list of about a dozen questions to be answered. This was from the UST directed to our attny's office and passed on to us saying they were doing a "707b Review" on our case.

By the time these questions got to us in the mail we had only 2 nights to answer them before the two week deadline was up. We did the best we could but honestly had no "proof" with so little notice. They asked questions ranging from why don't I work and how did I qualify for all the credit cards if I haven't worked in X years, to a question about documenting the amount we claimed we spend on a couple things each month. I had no receipts, but just broke the totals down as an explanation. I hope that was good enough.

So now I really don't know what to expect of that issue. Our lawyer acted like this is common procedure, but I haven't read about it here. So is he just a fast talker and trying to get us off his back? I don't know. Anybody???

FYI We are over median income and have a ton of CC debt. The reason we are filing is due to a huge percentage drop in income and CC's getting nasty with lawsuits. So maybe the UST should ask the credit card companies why they GAVE me all that credit. We had a great income and good credit history for 20+ years. I guess they nor us saw the bottom ready to fall out of our picture.

Anyway - anybody out there willing to post about Rockford IL 341 meeting experiences? Anybody else have those pre meeting questions from UST?

Thanks!

[oregonpilot]

I also had a questionaire that came to me thru my attorney. Was about 5 pages, and along with it was the request for all my income statements from wallpapering business,tax return for 09 and bank statments. I did get a couple of weeks to fill it out though. I also included all my medical receipts w/ cancelled check copies. I was claiming $550. a month for dental/medical monthly expenses. It was actually averaged $860. a month since jan 2010 so i claimed less than it actually was. No medical insurance. So explained that was the reason for the high medical.

In his request form he wanted to have a cover sheet showing my case # along with date, time and place of the 341.
I also included on the cover sheet exactly what i had included in the "thick" package/envelope.

[drowningNIL]

WOW. They wanted tons of specific info from you. They asked us questions more like they were looking for explanations for the most part. I guess the fact that they even wanted this extra info makes me cringe. I hoped to stay under the radar and slide through.

Anybody have any 341 meeting in Rockford? I am interested in how it went...fast? easy? awful?

Thanks

[suek]

This is my first post - so hopefully it comes through OK!
Had my 341 today in Rockford. It was quick and painless. Most "hearings" were over in 2-3 minutes. There was only one complicated case that took 10-15 minutes. Other than that case, no creditors showed up.

Questions were, Name, where do you live, how long, what do you do, have you read the petition, is it correct, do you owe anyone else, do you expect any income other than work. The trustee was actually quite friendly, and seemed to want to put people at ease.

GLAD IT IS OVER..what next?

Sue

[drowningNIL]

Sue, thank you for the reply. Ours is at 930 am in a few weeks. It's actually 7 weeks + from the date we filed. They must be busy.

We had a list of questions to complete and turn in to the US trustee. That concerns me.

Was the place in Rockford hard to find or any difficulty with parking? Did you wait long today for your meeting?

Sorry more questions!

Good luck. I hope everything all works out for you.

Thanks for the reply.

[suek]

Hi Drowning,
I was very nervous and of course to make matters worse, my attorney arrived 1/2 hour late! And he warned ME to be on time!!!

I would print out a map of downtown Rockford if you don't know the area, as there is some construction and the roads get a bit confusing. Route 20 is confusing!!! The city of Rockford is a LOT nicer than I expected...There are parking garages, but also outside free lots about a block away. You can also park on the street, and it is not that hard to find a spot. I parked in a big outdoor lot about 1/2 block away - plenty of spaces - all the attorneys were parking there. I think it was Elm st.

The building itself is called Stewart Center and is 308 W. State. I think it has green awning. Once you find it, you go to the lower level and there will be signs to the bankruptcy court.
Most attorneys ----the ones that showed up on time --- met their clients outside the courtroom. There is a hallway with a few benches and a public restroom right outside. The court had plenty of seating, and people were called one by one to the table.

The trustee called people by their last name to the front. You will sit at a table, your attorney will be at the table, but further away. The trustee will address you directly, and was very nice really.

If you have more questions, please ask....glad to help & glad this is over with for now!!!

Good luck!

Sue

[suek]

Sorry forgot to answer one question - nope - didn't wait long at all. We waited about 15 minutes, lawyer played games on his laptop, and was out in 45 minutes total.

Good luck,
Sue

[drowningNIL]

thanks for all that great info, Sue. Our meeting is still over 2 weeks away. Plenty of time to get my what ifs and wheels spinning with worry.

I appreciate the replies. I feel a little more comfortable about it all now. They sent us a map with the meeting date/time info but with our luck (we are probably about an hour away) something would go wrong...knock on wood it doesn't. I am also worried about the US Trustee being there and grilling us.

Your comment re ROckford being nicer than you expected - LOL I always thought it would be run down.

Thank you!!

[suek]

Hi Drowning,
Good luck to you. Downtown Rockford near the court seemed very nice. I drove through an "iffy" area on Hwy 2, but was relieved to see how nice the downtown was. I was very comfortable walking around and parking the car etc....

The trustee seemed very nice. The questions were very routine.

One thing I just remembered was that a couple of the attorneys forgot to send schedule A with the tax returns. That was the trustee's pet peeve. So maybe bring a copy of your schedule A, or remind your attorney to include it in the file.

Sue

[ariley0917]

Hi everyone! I will more than likely be going through Chapter 7 in Rockford in the near future. Can you tell me how many months bank statements you had to provide? Thank you!!

[mrskal]

Did you have your meeting DrowningNIL? Mine is Nov 15th in Rockford. It was scheduled exactly 5 weeks from the day of filing. I plan on getting there early and ours is in the afternoon at 1:30. Rockford is actually pretty nice, my brother lived there and his wife grew up there. I am sure there are some not so great areas.

@ariley- we gave our lawyer 6 months of bank statements, and 3 years of tax returns and 6 months of pay stubs. I am not sure that all of that is required, but that is what our lawyer wanted.

[ariley0917]

mrskal-thank you for the info.

[drowningNIL]

Hi, yes we had our meeting earlier this week. It wasn't the quick in and out that many have posted theirs was. We had about a half hour wait from the time ours was scheduled to happen until it did. We had already arrived about 45 min early because we live 90 minutes from Rockford and were concerned about getting there on time/road construction etc. So when we got there it looked like nothing was happening and we were nervous that the whole thing was postponed and we never were notified!! But right about 5 minutes prior to our scheduled "meeting" time a few people arrived including the trustee.

The trustee spent about 10 minutes with each set of people before us. It was to our benefit that we got to sit and listen and get a feel for his attitude and what he would ask. He snapped at a couple people for answering the questions before he finished asking (nerves I am sure) so we bit our tongues and held back until he completely finished speaking. He also postponed somebody's for a couple weeks due to them not having something filed. I didn't see an attorney with that person.

For everybody the routine was show drivers license and ss card and be sworn in. State name and address. Then the questions.

He pretty much asked everybody the same questions. Ours took over 15 minutes. He was probing for assets on everybody. Nothing about expenses was mentioned on anybody we saw. It was all about asset values. He had our 6 mo paystubs, no bank statements, and then 2 years tax returns. He combed over the tax returns and asked us several things re those. He asked about our house value and what I thought we could get for it if we were to sell it. He chose to ask me all the questions and stared me down when he did. Probably hoping I'd crack lol. I was close! Then afterward he spoke to my husband and asked him a few minor things about his employment and if he agreed with my answers. In between asking us things, he kept looking at the computer and clicking things on it. I wonder what. And if we passed.

Our meeting was in the morning and it was not crowded when we got there but when we left the room was filling up.

We saw a lot of parking on the street for an hour or two but we were so darn early that we were concerned we'd be ticketed haha while in our 341 so we wound up parking down the street in the lot at the courthouse. (I think it was the court house?? Or correctional center?) Lots of parking there and it was about a 5 or so minute walk.

Rockford was nicer than I thought it would be from what I've heard but we saw several homeless people. Sad.

Anyway, it's over and I am starting to feel some relief. I don't yet though. I guess once we get past the hump for any objections I will feel better, but I feel almost post traumatic stress actually LOL. This whole experience with the BK has been surreal.

Good luck to everybody. If I can answer anything else I will.

[SunkShip]

I am glad your 341 went well. No major objections at the hearing is a good sign.

Our trustee seemed to ask me everything too, what's with that? The girl will crumple? Nope, save that for later!
I know what you mean about being nervous until the objection period is over, and the PTSD. I am still worrying about all of it, 45 days to go for objections, by then I will need a trip to Tahiti to unwind. We may need a BK forum group trip.

[mrskal]

Thanks for the reply. I am worried about them asking my hubby, I dont think he really knows the value of anything we have( which is not much) Not to sound condecnding to him, I am talking as far as real value for BK purposes. I hope our lawyer will have some sort of meeting with us first.
Is there more than one trustee there? I hope whoever we have only does the 2-3 minute routine!