Furniture

[SobStory]

I just had a consult on filing and the atty advises that it will be Chapter 7. It's some big numbers. The atty said that they won't bother with our furniture. (No recent purchases.) OK, dopey, question but: how intrusive are they?
Does someone come out & look at your furniture and furnishings? We have a storage bin. Will they ask to look at that? I have a safe deposit. Nothing much in there but is it likely that they will ask me to open it up & look at it?
We are located in Maine and would like to know what to expect. Thank you in advance for any information that you can share with us.

[Never_Again]

As one who is also from Maine, hopefully I can help.

Maybe it depends on which district you are in (there are only 2), but I will speak for my own experience.

They generally will not come out and look at furnishings, household contents, etc. They simply do not have the resources to do that with every filing. After all, what is a house full of used furniture worth?

They will not generally ask you to open a safe deposit box. Again, not enough resources.

The important thing is how do all of the numbers look on your filing. They can tell more from that, and can pretty quickly tell what is going on. Remember, these people are not stupid, and have a pretty good grasp of reality, and you generally can't put one over on them.

I think that a great deal has to do with your lawyer as well. Some lawyers, how do I say this, have a better reputation than others. Some lawyers will crank out more bankruptcies than others, usually at a lower price. So, while they can not do anything illegal, let's just say that some lawyers have more credibility with the court, in that their filings look better, have fewer problems, and just plain make more sense.

At any rate, feel free to PM me for specific information, or ask here for more general comments.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Generally speaking unless you raise some sort of red flag, no one will visit you. When I closed out my safe deposit box, I had listed having one, I wrote a note to the Trustee telling him they raised the yearly price and I closed it and listed what was in it. Papers, one old watch about it. I also sent him the unpaid bill. He said nothing. They won't bother you and it will all go fine. 'Hub

[SobStory]

Thank you both for replies. That was very helpful.
During the consult, I really pushed to go Chapter 13 but the atty says no choice but to go Chapter 7. We have a small business that is decimated in this economy, and we owe too much and don't have enough income, to go Chapter 13. So I think the numbers unfortunately will look appropriate to the situation.

[jribe]

i asked an attorney about this- they basically said that they have had 2 cases where houses were searched. And these people were hiding things- basically the trustee was either tipped off that they were hiding assets or things just looked fishy. Your furniture is typically an exemption anyway- unless it was recently purchased on your CC, then you may either have to pay for them or give them back.

I just had a consult on filing and the atty advises that it will be Chapter 7. It's some big numbers. The atty said that they won't bother with our furniture. (No recent purchases.) OK, dopey, question but: how intrusive are they?
Does someone come out & look at your furniture and furnishings? We have a storage bin. Will they ask to look at that? I have a safe deposit. Nothing much in there but is it likely that they will ask me to open it up & look at it?
We are located in Maine and would like to know what to expect. Thank you in advance for any information that you can share with us.