How Long Did You Have of Bank and CC Records

[Lajazz947]

I was definitely an outlier.

UST got involved right from the start and requested 3 years of credit card statements, bank statements, hand written registers, notes, budget worksheets, car transactions, real estate transactions and applications for new credit.

Surprise. I have every transaction, receipt and statement dating back to my first check ever written in May 1980. YES I have retained every one. It took me at least 100 hours of work to organize the past three years and copy it. 2076 pages. I did not copy the receipts but piled them by date.

At the hearing, I was able to not only produce all of the statements but I also had receipts and I could remember a good percentage of the purchases.

Results are still pending but they got their answers. By the way...once this is over, I intend to destroy all of that evil credit documentation!

WOW, I am impressed. And I though MY TT was a pain in the you know what.

I had to compile as much and maybe more but at least it was not at the outset.

Wow, good luck.

[UhOh]

Hi. All weekend I just put the worries aside about BK and now it's welcome Monday: Here I am.

The main reason is that I am way over the median income. I have court ordered child and spousal support payments that bring me back down into passing the Means Test but maybe this Federal court doesn't necessarily like the orders from the State court. Anyway, the tax returns all verfify it, it is real and it does qualify me for Chapter 7.

Then you add in the large unsecured debt and the formula screams for review by the UST. I did not get in over my head over night and always banked on something getting me through it. At first I had a nice size portfolio but the NASDAQ crash in 2000 hurt me badly. I made it through vowing to me more conservative from then on. So into real estate I went. No need to tell anyone what happened there. Finally we always had inheritance that would come someday. Well guess what stocks and realty did to our parents portfolio.

Now for the real culprit: So we chose not to change our lifestyle. Acting as if we never lost anything and living that American Dream thing. Then my wife lost her job. Oh but the banks are offering 2.99% lifetime for transfers. So began the shuffle from one bank to another. Actually did fine with the 2.99 3.99 and 4.99 advances. Payments were easy and no need to "use" the card so purchase rates would apply. The longer it went, the more it became an important part of our monthly survival. Then they started cutting lines back and the transfers dried up. Started making minimum payments because I had to rather than using their low interest money. $170,000 later here I am.

Screams to be looked at. It's real and it happened because of my foolishness and banks abusing us with their marketing tactics. So even though I am truly insolvent, according to the rules, they must dig deep to ensure I am not abusing the system.

Still waiting to hear. Hopefully I won't and time will just pass.

[Bankruptcy20]

Uhoh, thanks for sharing your story.

By the way, I'm rather impressed you kept your "credit applications". I wished I did as well. I don't know whether others were asked by trustees for them, but I have only vague recollections of what I claimed years ago, which I hope won't end up biting me

[UhOh]

I was surprised they asked for them but understand when they are trying to find abuse. I had done a handful so I had them in my file.

Funny that last year I was being picky about whether I wanted them or not and then it got more like a blanket answer: YES, I'LL TAKE IT IF YOU OFFER. A sign of desperation at the end. I never want to see myself fall in that pit again.

[Frshstart09]

Uhoh,

I completely understand the sentiment. I kept waiting for my income to match my expenses. It never happened and the whole just keeps getting deeper. If I make it through this 7, I'm never financing anything again!

[Stilltheone]

Can I start a thread to share experiences on this topic?

I often read that trustees or lawyers ask for 6 months, 1 year, 2 years worth of records. I doubt many of us kept paper copies of bank and credit card statements that far back. I can imagine that CC may not be that helpful to you once you are defaulting.

I have pretty good personal records on Quicken, but I wonder whether one's own records is that acceptable. I checked some of my accounts on-line, and lo and behold, they are no longer accessible to me as I have moved my funds elsewhere.

So, here are some questions:

1) How far back did your trustee ask you for?
2) How far back were you able to provide your trustee in "paper copies"?
3) Did you have to rely on Quicken or other home spreadsheets to fill the gap? Or on-line statements?
4) What happened when you were not able to provide everything?

From what I gather from the forums, most people have been pretty good at keeping paper copies of bills and bank statements in the few months before filing. It seems rare that a TRUSTEE will ask for anything much more, except if you run into a 2004 examination or some such. Then, it seems a 2 year is often requested (though they can of course dig more years in the past).

I thought people's experiences would be helpful for all of us in the "preparation phase". Better to be prepared and honest, well ahead of the post-filing panic days...

Thanks to all who can share.

I had to supply my attorney with 6 months worth of bank statements and 3 years worth of previous tax returns. That's it. I didn't have to supply ANY credit card statements and my trustee didn't ask for them. I had both sets of papers required.