Big differences between Trustee's?

[flower04]

Based on many posts I have read in this forum, I am realizing that our trustee falls under the "hard-nosed" category. We have had to fight everything and prove our expenses with individualized receipts and statements, even if it was on our checking account statment as a debit card purchase. I even had to have one of my dr. write a letter stating why I needed the care (and expense) of a specific treatment. That was embarrasing to ask my dr. for, but I sucked it up. It has been nuts. I guess we are stuck with what we have so I can't do anything about it, but why are some more forgiving than others?

[unclerico]

I know what you mean. I had to have an affidavit and a letter proving my wife's heart condition and a letter from a neurologist stating our daughters disorder. Seems crazy to me too.

[tiredgrandma]

My husband and I are blessed after hearing the stories on some of these trustees....We have a great one...Knock on Wood (:

[lrprn]

Our legal system has been and always will be cursed with this problem because human beings - even lawyers! - are not cookie cutter copies of each other. That's how members here with very similar bk situations can end up with completely different outcomes and timelines.

Doesn't make this right - it just is what it is. I wish it wasn't because it's so unfair to those stuck with more rigid, less understanding Ch 13 trustees like yours. In this case, justice is *not* blind because bk case outcomes can depend solely on which trustee you get. Ethically it's just wrong. But it is completely human.

[JimKutkowski]

It seems like the trustee is just asking for verification, not sure what the problem is with that.

In the Eastern District, their are two regions, the Reading region and the Philadelphia region. The Reading office is excellent but tough. They send memos out in writing to lawyers explaining what issues they have with the case. They look at everything and they need verification of everything out of the ordinary. They also require attorneys to file POCs to get their attorney fee grr.

The Philadelphia office is less strict about everything but the documentation required at the 341 meeting. They don't send a memo, so you kind of need to figure out what is keeping your case from confirmation. I used to think they didn't like me (my southern accent was real thick when I first got to Philly), but its just they are so overloaded that you need to ask questions.

In the end, the trustee has to be a skeptic, and some require more documentation than others, but I wouldn't take it personally, the trustee is just doing his or her job.

[justbroke]

Because there are people out there actually gaming the system, I don't disrespect any Trustee who has the time, to perform their due diligence. It's their job to ask questions, and to have the debtor to explain anything out of the "ordinary". Unfortunately serious medical conditions, which keep individuals from working or causing increased expenses to care for someone who can't care for themselves, must be checked as well.

You can blame those who came before us... and manipulated the system. In the end, you're asking the Federal Court to relieve you of hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt (and quite possibly a million or millions). The small humility of validating that you're actually in a wheel chair and can't walk, seems a small price to pay.

However, if they dumped you out of the wheelchair because they thought you were lying... that's another story. (True story, but it was in a jail, not in a Courthouse.)

[$$only4ever]

I am been lucky. The trustee has actually been more helpful than my attorney.

[flower04]

Thanks for the input. I was started to feel like we were getting picked on. I do understand why we had to provide the documentation we did and we are not trying to "slide by" either, it just seemed over the top when it was already documented in other areas. Oh well, we will grin and bear it and think positively for the next three years!!