Going to the extreme

[gamama]

Hi,
Husband and I filed for Chapter 7 in Oct. 2010, we had our first 341 in November.

We are considered 'high income/no asset' - lost job, had business debt, etc...that forced us to file. We still pass the means test. All good...

Based on all this information in this forum and our lawyer, we felt prepared for our Nov. 341 meeting. The trustee assigned to our case is one of the toughest in our state...so, with that, we (and the lawyer) were on edge. But we were assured by our lawyer that all will be fine.

Nov. 341 meeting came, almost 2 hours of waiting for our name to be called and about 10 minutes of questions, the trustee forced a 341 reset for December, where we were to produce 2 years of bank statements & bank registers from personal and business -UGLY! We accommodated and delievered to the trustee before the 341 reset in December. We attended a Dec. 341 meeting.

In the Dec. 341 meeting, the trustee asked for amendments to the schedules and again requested a reset for January.

All the requested documents were delivered to the trustee well before the scheduled Jan. 341 and we were told by our lawyer that we didn't need to come.

Because we didn't make the Jan. 341 meeting, the trustee forced another reset for Feb. Everyone on our side attended. After 2 hours of waiting for our name to be called all he asked us for was our car registrations!

We sent those car registrations to his office within 3 days of the Feb. 341

We were on the docket for another 341 meeting in March - even though the trustee told our lawyer that he has received everything needed.

Now we are scheduled for a 5th 341 meeting! Our lawyer told us we must attend. This is ridiculous!

So...my question, since this has been dragging on for so long, will it be another 60 days for discharge?
I have also started a new job - will the new income affect our filing?

Ugly! I can't even open a new checking account with this bankruptcy hanging over our head.

ADVISE PLEASE ...

Thank You!

[oregonpilot]

gamama...WOW, thats all i can say. Not gonna be much help to you but my heart goes out to you.

[renefaye]

Seems strange to me to have THE 5TH 341 meeting. What does you lawyer say about all this??

[gamama]

Nothing really...Just to say that other trustees are much easier to deal with. THAT'S NO HELP FOR US! She did say that this trustee is abusing his power...again, how does that do me any good.

I asked if there is a higher authority to file a complaint, the lawyer is looking into a complaint...

Still that means that we will have to drive in non-rush hour :45 minutes to the 5th 341 meeting and pay $12.00 parking and loose 4 hours of pay to attend this meeting for the 5th time!

If there is rush hour traffic (atlanta area - if you know our traffic, you would understand...) it can be over 2 hours to drive to the federal building !!!

AND with the high cost of gas...

WE ARE BROKE!

[justbroke]

Not much you could do. Your attorney, however, could ask the Office of the United States Trustee (OUST) what the problem is. However, since you're over the median, you really don't want the OUST "involved" in your case. It must be an asset case because there is no way any relatively intelligent Trustee would spend this much time on your case if it's a no-asset case. They only make $60 for a no asset case and that has to include all their administrative time (office time for paralegals and staff) and conducting the 341 Meeting.

I will repeat, though, that if the Chapter 7 Panel Trustee is "that" bad -- meaning that it wasn't something warranted -- then the OUST should know. It's really touchy to go to the OUST when you are already "on the radar".

Technically, you should have already received your discharge, since it should be issued with all due haste, after the 60 days have elapsed from the first scheduled 341 Meeting. If your attorney is just "ho hum" about the whole thing, then perhaps you can motivate your attorney some more. If your attorney isn't charging you any more for this, be lucky and thank him for sticking with you since he is losing money too.

This Trustee simply keeps "doubling down" on a bad bet. The Trustee was probably sure he'd find assets and just can't find any. Thinking that if he drags it, it will all be okay. However, your discharge should have already been granted and, additionally, the Trustee (and UST) technically has issues with filing any complaint regarding dischargeability in the case. Hopefully your attorney is on top of this.

[gamama]

Thank you!

I agree that the trustee is looking for money he can recover.

The lawyer is just as frustrated. We were sent a 729 letter (not sure of I have the right #) to appear for a review with a judge to give the trustee more time to review the information - received in Jan. The 2 years of statements were like a phone book - about 2" of paper we sent to the trustee in December. We didn't need to appear, my lawyer did - the trustee didn't.

My lawyer has been very patient and hasn't asked for any more money...I think she is mostly frustrated with the trustee.
.

The March 341 meeting she appeared even after his office told my lawyer we were done.

This trustee is incompetent.

However, he doesn't know it...

The lawyer told us the same you did...the trustee gets a set fee for his services. I have enough knowledge (KUDOS TO THIS FORUM)http://www.bkforum.com/images/smilies/smile.gif To know that he can also get a percentage of any assets he recovers.

We don't have any -
our income is high, but after mortgage, kids, food, insurance...(four walls), we have none extra. Our mortgage is 52% of our take home pay (A second mortgage that we took out to fund a failing franchise business is why it is so high). We are trying to save our house due to kids.

Now that I have a job, the mortgage will be down to 35%...yeah!

Its just unreal...

Thanks so much for your advise.

We've been trying to stay nicy-nice to the trustee.. but I think he's an idiot !!

I just want this to be done. I'm sick about it and so unsure of how to get on with our life.

At first, it was a relief to make the decision of bk. our initial consult with the lawyer really made the decision a peace of mind. This forum...GREAT....

now, this bk has hung over our heads for so long with so many uncertainties that it has caused much discord with our relationship. We can't move on. It's been so EMOTIONAL. Making a small purchase has caused an argument. (Our TV went out and we needed to buy a new on...bought one through goodwill and it was a fear that the trustee would take it away.)

I can't open a checking account
I started a new job - what will happen to our bk?
Can't start with re-establishing new credit

Our children has recognized the stress in our relationship (we haven't told them of the bk)



Thanks again

[gamama]

Update -
We arrived at our 5th 341 meeting on April 19 on time.
When we arrived, our lawyer was there and greeted us with good news! Our name was not on the docket.
Lawyer was able to go online for live information about our case -
our 341 has been concluded, but not closed.

We were on the 11:00 schedule and we hung around just in case. The trustee was 1 hour behind and when he called the names on the docket (at 12), we were not called.

Our lawyer thinks our 341 status was changed by a higher authority because our case was taking so long. We are still in limbo though - not sure if this 341 is concluded, closed and dismissed or the next step. Our lawyer is researching the status of our bankruptcy. Lawyer thinks that we are final with the bankruptcy due to the timeline.

I asked our lawyers what can be done about this trustee, since he seems so incompetent. When we were coming into our first 341 and found this trustee was assigned, our lawyer hinted that this trustee is the worst and every lawyer complains about him.

The lawyer can't file a complaint - we have to. The lawyer will help us author a letter - apparently if they were to complain, it makes their job harder as any future cases with this trustee will be more difficult.

[Pandora]

I thought there was a "3 strikes" rule to continuing / objections in BK - or is that just for CH. 13 cases?

[AtlBkAtty]

Just read the posts in this thread... if you have to come back, park for free in Castleberry Hills and walk across the bridge to the Fed Bldg. There's also a great pub with deli sandwiches over here. Let's hope you're done, though.

[gamama]

I just hope we are done. Thanks for the advise for free parking & deli.

I'm not familiar with the '3 strikes' rule.

Lawyer did reference that we are way past any creditor objections. The trustee we have assigned is Paul Anderson, just for anyone out there that may face him - watch out! He always takes long with everyone - even people I would think is a slam-down, grills everyone that comes through. Be prepared for a full day. We had an 11:00 and he didn't call the docket until 12 - at lunch, I can only imagine, it would have been 1:00 by the time we would have had to sit in front of him. Thankfully, we left once he did a roll-call and our name was not called.

[limonrod]

Wow gamama! I'm so sorry for all that you have been through! I am also in GA and will be filing next month! I haven't even begun to do my paperwork yet and every time I think of the 341 meeting the butterflies start to fly around my stomach! I think about 25 more butterflies were added after reading your post! Thanks so much for posting the trustees' name, at least I'll know who to look out for!

Good luck with your case and hopefully this will all be behind you SOON!

[Pandora]

I'm not familiar with the '3 strikes' rule.

This is what I was referring to:

"A. Trustee's Goals: The Trustee's goals during this crucial period between the creditors' meeting and case confirmation are as follows:

1. Confirm cases at the original confirmation hearing if at all possible, or as soon as possible thereafter. In any event, a case should be confirmed within six months of filing unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

...If the case is still not ready at the third scheduled confirmation hearing, unless there are extraordinary circumstances presented to the Trustee justifying the continuation of the case, the Trustee will report the case to the Court as not ready and ask for dismissal of the case, and the debtors and their attorney should present to the Court their reasons why the case should not be dismissed. It is the Trustee's expectation that, absent extraordinary circumstances, all cases should be confirmed within six months of filing, so the third scheduled confirmation should take place within that six-month time frame."


However it just may be that this might only apply if the attorney isnt ready vs. the trustee continuing at their own request.