somewhat harrowing 341 experience...

[Carlysmom]

Pa,

Welcome to the 60 day club! I'm glad in the end everything turned out well! I would've been so nervous knowing the UST would be there....

[ANEWLIFE]

congratulations that your done w/ 341 and best of luck to you!!!

[Bankruptcy Atty]

Comment

Okay... so to set the stage, I should remind you that our attorney made several mistakes on our Petition which I did not find out about until a couple nights before, when he was out of town.

The thing I thought would be a problem more than anything else he screwed up was that he didn't put down that I had had a business for 2-3 years, ending last year. The business never made any money, but still, he should have asked me about it and put it in there. I know I did mention it to him.

He also checked the wrong box on the 1st page, stating that we had $100k-$1million in debt instead of $50k-$100k.

He made several other omissions and mistakes on our petition, but those were the ones I thought might be problematic.

I finally got ahold of him the night before the 341 and he said I should bring these up to the trustee during the meeting! "Gee, thanks a lot! I really have enough on my mind without having to correct your mistakes", I thought.

Not only that but he was not going to attend because he was sick. I admit he did sound very sick on the phone, coughing and such. So he was sending another guy to be there with us. Great. (I thought, "Let's see, you've screwed up my forms and are not coming to the meeting. What am I paying you for, exactly???")

So we got there about an hour early and just walked around the area outside.

We finally went in and sat to listen to other cases and they were running really late so I finally got up and went out to use the bathroom.

When I did our substitute attorney was out there and he says to me, "You know, the Trustee is upstairs and he's probably going to be down there during your meeting." Why?, I asked. I don't really know, he said, but it may be because you have so much debt (just under $100k). "What will he ask me?", I asked. I don't really know, he said. He may just want to ask how you got so deep into debt... He may not even ask you anything...

Oh, great. This is my luck. The worst case scenario. The U.S. Trustee is going to attend our meeting and interrogate me...Exactly what I was hoping would NOT happen.

So we had to wait FOREVER... They were running really late and finally they mentioned that we'd be like the 6th case to come... so we still had to sit there and wait... I don't know about any of you guys out there, but for me the worst part is WAITING when you can't get up and walk around, and you just have to sit there and wait... wait... wait... And now I was waiting with the fear of a U.S. Trustee interrogation hanging over my head... Just my luck...

So a couple cases before ours, a woman was up there and the U.S. Trustee came up and started asking her questions. He had a lot of questions and the woman's case sounded very messy. She had owned a half-million dollar home but claimed she no longer owned it but her husband did, and the whole thing sounded a bit fishy... So the Trustee interrogated her, asked her about 10 questions and then said he'd need this that and the other documents for proof of this that and the other thing. I couldn't see anything we had that was anywhere near as problematic as all that! So why would he want to get involved with our case?

A couple more easy cases went by and then it was our turn...
Finally!

Everything seemed to go very well. Even when I brought up the mistakes my attorney had made, it seemed like it was no big deal. The regular trustee who conducted all the hearings asked us the usual questions and I told him about the 3 mistakes on our petition.

He asked me a few questions about my business and I answered him and emphasized that I never made more than $300-500 in any year from it and then closed it due to lack of interest a year ago. He seemed okay with that.

Then, lo and behold, the U.S. Trustee gets up and comes over and sits down. "Oh, Sh*t!" I said to myself! I had no idea what his interest might be, everything was on the up and up but who knows what his take on it is?? My attorney just had indicated that sometimes they "get involved" when the debt is over $100k but our's was not.

So I was blown away when he didn't ask me anything, but instead started asking my wife where she worked when she last worked (a year ago) and if she had any income this year, and she answered that she had only gotten unemployment compensation this year, no work income. Then the U.S. Trustee asked her if she was looking for work and my wife said yes.

And that was IT!

Whew!

After the meeting, our substitute attorney told us that the U.S.T. was probably only interested because he had thought we had more than $100k debt but when I corrected it down to UNDER $100k, he was no longer interested. (Again, "Thanks a lot!" to my attorney for checking the wrong box on the form and making the U.S. Trustee think that!)

We guessed that once the U.S.T. realized in the beginning of my statements that there had been a mistake in the box that stated we owed more than $100k, he really wasn't interested after that, and only asked my wife questions to save face as to why he came up there. It made no sense since my wife never made much money and didn't owe as much as I did, and we were both surprised when he asked her questions and not me.

So all we have to do (unless something changes, and hopefully it won't) is to file the new paperwork with the corrected info later this week.

The substitute attorney said he really was pretty sure the Trustee was no longer interested in our case. I can only hope he's right!

So whew! We made it through.

I'd have been much less nervous had my attorney NOT warned me that the U.S. Trustee was probably going to interrogate us. It did no good for me to know that, only made me nervous for the next 30-40 minutes!

Anyway, all's well that ends well, and it at least APPEARS that this step ended well. Since the U.S.T. requested no documents I assume it did end well. Certainly it could have been worse if the U.S. Trutee had gotten out the rubber hose and started beating on me or something... Yeah, I know they don't do that. I am being facetious. But you know what I mean, he didn't ask a lot of difficult or pointed questions or anything...

So, I feel like we're over one big hurdle...

So thanks for all the support here, and hopefully I WILL NOT have ANY issues in the next 60 days that I will have to come here to ask questions about!

ASK FOR A REFUND.

[CindyLou]

its when the high debt numbers are a result of unsecured credit card/consumer debt....that's when they start to dig....

[PaKettle]

ASK FOR A REFUND.

Bankruptcy Atty, are you serious? And are you really a bankrutpcy attorney?

I definitely felt his mistakes were cause enough for me to tell him he shouldn't charge me for any other minor services he has to perform for me... But asking for a refund?

[rivercityatty]

Bankruptcy Atty, are you serious? And are you really a bankrutpcy attorney?

I definitely felt his mistakes were cause enough for me to tell him he shouldn't charge me for any other minor services he has to perform for me... But asking for a refund?

Didn't you review the information on the petition and schedules before signing it? Most attorneys try to prepare the petition and schedules carefully, but mistakes or omissions can happen. In the case of the latter, it is often because the client provides insufficient (or wrong) information on their questionnaire packet.

Even when you have an attorney, it is always important to remember that when sign legal documents, you are the one certifying everything is true and correct.

[PaKettle]

Didn't you review the information on the petition and schedules before signing it? Most attorneys try to prepare the petition and schedules carefully, but mistakes or omissions can happen. In the case of the latter, it is often because the client provides insufficient (or wrong) information on their questionnaire packet.

Even when you have an attorney, it is always important to remember that when sign legal documents, you are the one certifying everything is true and correct.

No, I think this is the mistake of our attorney.
I WANTED him to let me review it before sending it in but he did not give me that opportunity. He had us sign everything and THEN he submitted it. Now that I think about it, this might even be malpractice.

He only had me review the list of creditors.

Then, 2 nights before the 341 I realized I had never reviewed it and downloaded a copy from PACER. As soon as I looked it over, I discovered 3-4 mistakes but my attorney was out of town and I was not able to correct it on the forms, so when he did call me the night before the 341, I told him about it and he told me I'd have to tell the Trustee during my meeting about the mistakes. He didn't show up at the 341 because he was sick, but he sent an alternate attorney.

[6ftladycop]

I,m so happy for you. I read your post about the 341 meeting and I was so taken with it, that I thought I was right there with you. Glad things worked out. That was one of the reasons I filed Pro Se because after reading all the post here and comparing them, a lot of folks did mention that their attorneys screwed up their cases. Attorneys are people too and people make mistakes. I figure that if a mistake was going to be made, it was going to be mine. I,m glad I filed pro se cause things worked out just fine. Case Closed Case Discharged.

[PaKettle]

I,m so happy for you. I read your post about the 341 meeting and I was so taken with it, that I thought I was right there with you. Glad things worked out. That was one of the reasons I filed Pro Se because after reading all the post here and comparing them, a lot of folks did mention that their attorneys screwed up their cases. Attorneys are people too and people make mistakes. I figure that if a mistake was going to be made, it was going to be mine. I,m glad I filed pro se cause things worked out just fine. Case Closed Case Discharged.

If I knew in the beginning what I know now (how sloppy and uncommunicative my attorney was going to be; how easy it is - more or less - to fill out the paperwork (with help from people here); how relatively simple my case turned out to be (knock on wood, as it isn't over completely yet) then I would have filed pro se.

I now think that the only people who should not file pro se are people who have more complex cases with property or businesses, things like that. But simple "no asset" cases should probably just do it themselves. I admire those who have succcesfully done it themselves.