341 on November 7th....questions

[psirasmom]

Ok I finally got the attorney to call me back - got a copy of our packet today, talked to him about reaffirmations (1st mortgage has not sent anything - Countrywide - second mortgage sent a reaffirmation agreement - HSBC, and motorcycle loan has sent nothing - Sovereign Bank) - I KNOW tonight is definitley a glass of wine and a valium evening for me though....I have copies of everything ready, but for vehicle titles (does anyone know where they are in my basement?????)....pocketbook has been cleaned out for the metal detectors (although, it says the meeting is at the trustees office, not at the court house....is there going to be a second meeting at the court or is this it?????)

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHH I CAN MAKE IT - I KNOW I CAN!!!!!!!!

If you don't hear back from me tomorrow, it's because I am in a straight jacket in a nice cozy padded room

[lrprn]

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHH I CAN MAKE IT - I KNOW I CAN!!!!!!!!

If you don't hear back from me tomorrow, it's because I am in a straight jacket in a nice cozy padded room

You're well prepared, psiramom - take a deep breath and relax as much as you can. After tomorrow's meeting you'll wonder what all the fuss was about! Be sure to come back and let us know how it goes - you'll be fine!

[psirasmom]

Actually now I am back and not feeling ANY better. We were asked the standard questions regarding inheritance, etc., explained that my husband experiences layoffs almost every year, and then I was laid off as well, etc. and then the trustee asked me about our mortgages. I mentioned that had the 2 - the first from when I bought the house in 2002, and the second from when we refinanced our second AND third mortgage and paid off cards in November 2005 - that was when we added my husband to the deed. He has now asked for a copy of the settlement statement from the closing (which my company did, but I didn't get a copy, and no longer work with them....let's hope they are nice and send me one), and he kept the copy of our 2005 tax returns (we received a refund of close to $7K, but re-did the kitchen with the cash rather than put anything else on our credit cards) - WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?????????????????????

My dumb-a** attorney showed up 5 minutes before the 11am session started, told me "this will be easy" - didn't say a word during the meeting, adn then when we left, I asked "what does this mean???" - he said, "oh it will be fine, don't worry" and left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[InLimbo]

Actually now I am back and not feeling ANY better. We were asked the standard questions regarding inheritance, etc., explained that my husband experiences layoffs almost every year, and then I was laid off as well, etc. and then the trustee asked me about our mortgages. I mentioned that had the 2 - the first from when I bought the house in 2002, and the second from when we refinanced our second AND third mortgage and paid off cards in November 2005 - that was when we added my husband to the deed. He has now asked for a copy of the settlement statement from the closing (which my company did, but I didn't get a copy, and no longer work with them....let's hope they are nice and send me one), and he kept the copy of our 2005 tax returns (we received a refund of close to $7K, but re-did the kitchen with the cash rather than put anything else on our credit cards) - WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?????????????????????

My dumb-a** attorney showed up 5 minutes before the 11am session started, told me "this will be easy" - didn't say a word during the meeting, adn then when we left, I asked "what does this mean???" - he said, "oh it will be fine, don't worry" and left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so sorry you still feel so uneasy after your 341. We felt the same way after ours actually. Our trustee brought up the value of my husbands guns and we were not expecting that at all. We were stunned when he looked over at our attorney and said he would get with him on the guns
We have a very good attorney, but he also showed up 5 mins. before the 11:00 meeting, trotting in there like he owned the place He walked us out after our meeting and we asked him about why all the questions with the guns and he more or less told us not to worry about it, that everything will be fine! I think most all attorneys must be the same psirasmom!

[psirasmom]

I guess I'm just worried about what happens next. I mean, what CAN happen next? We are like negative $2000/month at this point if you total all of the miscellaneous expenses that pop up throughout the year (i.e. kids activities, etc)....what can they do? He also asked about the motorcycle we own - the value per kbb was less than $13K, and we owe about $12,900....I dunno, I am freaking out

[lrprn]

I guess I'm just worried about what happens next. I mean, what CAN happen next? ....I dunno, I am freaking out

It may be cold comfort, psirasmom, but try to do your best to save your freak-out energy for when there is actually some known thing to freak out about. Right now you only have a trustee that is asking questions....something trustees do every day. You'll know if the trustee has a real concern because he/she will file an official objection which you can see on PACER and also will get in writing in the mail.

Let's pretend for now that you end up in the worst case scenario....you do get an objection from the trustee or a creditor. It feels very scary but truly it is not the end of the world. It was my own personal worst fear when we filed Ch 13, and sure enough, our mortgage lender filed an objection within a week of our filing, and then within a week of our 341 we ended up with three objections from our trustee (turned out that this is common in our district for higher-income, higher-debt filers). However, when all the dust settled over the next month, after a conversation with our lawyer, our mortgage company withdrew their objection because they had no grounds for saying we were a month in arrears when we filed (because we weren't and were able to give our lawyer proof of it). Then after a conversation with our lawyer, our trustee dropped one of his objections when we compromised on an interpretation of our live-in 23-year-old daughter's income and living expenses on Schedule I and J.

Most of the time these objections are just a way for the trustee to ask for further documentation. If you've been honest with your filing figures, then chances are even if you do get an objection, your lawyer will be able to handle it to your satisfaction.

At this point, try to have a little faith in your lawyer. The behavior you describe him showing before, during, and after your 341 was typical of almost every bk lawyer we saw with their clients during the approximately 30 separate 341 sessions we observed before our own 341. Hang in there!

[psirasmom]

I know I know...my personality is definitley that of a "panic first, ask questions later" type for sure lol. I am (as everyone else going through this is I am sure) just scared. I got the copy of the settlement statement today from my mortgage broker (unfortunately, he does not have a copy of the payoff addendum listing out payoffs to the third mortgage company or credit cards, so now I have to basically BEG my old boss for the copies and he and I parted ways on not so happy terms)

On a better note, our pre-discharge certificates came in the email today, so I faxed them to my attorney. Now he has the settlement statement and certificates, just need that one last page to make things whole....

[psirasmom]

WHEW - for now!

I just checked pacer - it says "awaiting discharge" - now only 2 months (a little less) until I can breathe again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!