How likely is an objection?

[slappy]

Hello, I met with an attorney yesterday and he didn't seem very concerned about this, but I thought I'd throw it out to the forum. I have approximately $120,000 (I make about 1/3 of that amount is salary)in unsecured debt. ALL big charges are at least a year old and by the time I file, they will all be about 16 months old. My question is, how likely is it that I face objections from creditors if the charges are that old, even if they are big charges($2000---7000)? Also, what extra questions can I expect from the trustee due to the large amount of debt? Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[keepmine]

The longer you wait to file, the less chance of an issue. Unless there is some evidence of fraud, debts that are 16 months from last usage will likley get a pass.
The trustee may just ask for an explanation of how you got 6 figures worth of debt and debt at that level may {or may not} attract the interest of your Master Trustee.

[PaKettle]

I'd say you are very unlikely to get objections, especially if you made at least 2 payments on each of the debts in question.

I had some cash advances that I took out only 5-6 months before I quit making payments. I had taken like $5k from one, $6k from another and $7k from another, transferred the balances into my checking account and used them for paying off other cards, and god knows what, also some medical stuff.

I was very concerned that I'd be drilled: "Where did the money go? Why did you take out so much money?" and possibly get objections.

My attorney's advice was this:
Wait another few months before filing, to put close to a year in between those "cash advances" and my filing. I did that.

He also said this:
"Most banks will not file an objection on less than $7k in recent loans (from one card) because it costs them a couple thousand dollars in attorney fees to file an objection. And usually they only get you to pay about half of what you owe if they file an objection. So you can see the futility of objecting to say $5k, getting $2500 back on that, and paying the attorney $2k to handle it. They are left with about $500 profit.

Also, with that much time in between the balance transfers and the filing, there is very little chance they could win an objection because they would have to prove you knew you were going bankrupt and should not have taken the loans. Most of us do not have clairvoyance into the future...

See the Sticky on OBJECTIONS HERE:
http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=20081

As to what questions you would get from the Trustee, that is impossible to answer because Trustees vary widely. Some just don't care, others are a-holes.

When you owe over $100k the U.S. Trustee often looks at your case, and he may ask questions to you about where the money went and try to determine that you are not hiding assets that you used the money for.

As long as you can come up with a decent explanation (not necessarily a detailed one with facts and figures - though that wouldn't hurt, either, if you care to put it together) then you are not likely to be harrassed too much. They MIGHT want to see bank statements further back than normal to see "where the money went". It's hard to say for sure.

But if you are not hiding assets and simply "spent too much money on credit" then you probably have nothing to worry about - just plead stupidity and say you did not handle your credit well. That's how most of us got here!

[slappy]

Thanks for the response. I did make payments on all cards for at least 5 months, with the exception of home depot and lowes cards with had no payments/no interest for a year and they just came due last month. I stopped paying on all cards in December, so I won't be making any payments to Home depot or Lowes. I don't know if that will hurt me, or not(HD card is $12,000 and Lowes is $5000). Again, thanks for the previous responses.

[halloweendmb1]

How did it turn out?

[Cali]

slappy - you should be fine. My total debt is 162k, and I had two 10k purchases. All payments were stopped in February, filed in June, and 341 was in July. I didn't have any creditors there.

[slappy]

Thanks for the response. I will be filing next month, so 341 should be in October. That makes all my charges at least 16 months old. I do have some unexempt equity in my house and car; $5000 in house and $2000 in car. I don't know how that will play out. As the process moves along, I will let people know, just in case the info may help someone else out. Again, thanks!

[Cali]

I will send you good luck vibes slappy.