My 341 experiences

[WorkinOnit]

[hhou812hh]

Oh some people are just nuts!!! Can't explain misc $556 per month? Can't find $5500? Everytime I hear these funny stories I always laugh What do they think this is a board game like Monopoly? They should spend a few months on this forum. I bet right now they are all lying awake counting sheep trying to get some sleep.

Anyway WorkinOnit good luck!

Thanks for sharing the day with us. We learn more from stories like yours then anything on this subject.

[Annika]

Our meeting was back in January. BOY, were we nervous!

To make matters worse, I use a wheelchair part of the time, and the courthouse is downtown. The only parking areas were the pay-type, and they were too far away for me to walk. So DH let me out at the courthouse, waiting (freezing!!) in my wheelchair while he parked. It's a bad part of town, and that part was a little scary. The courthouse is a very old building, and the only wheelchair-accessible door is down a ramp into the basement. We had to be buzzed in by a security guard, who asked to see our ID's. He had a wand metal detector, but didn't use it. He pointed us to the room we would be in.

There was a big conference table in the middle of the room, and chairs further out for people to wait their turn. We found a spot to wait. There were probably 35-45 other people waiting, and the trustee called people up in order of their lawyer's name. Attorney Adams' clients would go first, followed by Attorney Davidson's clients, etc. I was glad our lawyer's name started with a "W".

We watched and listened carefully as people were called up. You were sworn in (all you had to actually say was "I do"), and show your ID.

Some people were asked only a few simple questions, then the trustee would announce that he was abandoning their property.

A few were asked more detailed questions, and I can see why. One man was in the middle of a dispute over who owned "his" land, and the trustee had to have more information on that. There was a couple whose credit card debt was outrageous, and the trustee questioned them pretty intensely over it. He actually announced to the room that they had the day's record as far as credit card debt. He chuckled when he said it, so he wasn't being "ugly" (but if it had been me, I still would've crawled under the table!). I heard someone mention ahead of time that we had an "easy" trustee, and he seemed to only ask questions when something really seemed strange or unclear. He smiled occasionally and was pleasant, which helped put people more at ease. There were a couple of people who weren't organized (one didn't have ID), but most were on top of things.

Out of all the people who went before us, only one creditor showed up (someone's previous landlord, I think). The trustee determined that there was nothing for her to collect. She didn't seem happy with that decision and left the room in a bit of a huff.

Finally our turn came up, and we were sworn in. One of the first questions the trustee asked was about the 401K money that we withdrew when DH's job ended the previous year (not his fault). We explained that we used it to pay bills when I was sick for the last half of 2004, and was in the hospital 3 times, resulting in major surgery. He saw that the majority of our debt was medical bills. He didn't ask anything else about that. He did have some concerns over the value of our house, since we've lived here for 13 years, so he decided he needed to get further information on it. I was worried that he'd question us about being self-employed, but the only thing he asked was what we do (sell craft items on eBay), to confirm that we weren't selling diamonds or other expensive stuff. He chuckled when he mentioned diamonds, which helped put us more at ease. He verified that we would be reaffirming our house, truck, and furniture loans. There were a few other questions, but nothing significant that I recall. Then our interview was over. Our lawyer assured us afterwards that the house value issue wasn't unusual, because he knew that our house needed some major repairs (still does).

The actual meeting took probably 6 or 7 minutes (granted, it seemed like an eternity when we were sitting at the table). But it actually took longer to park and get inside the building than the meeting itself took.

It was kind of embarrassing to me, though, because everyone else in the room could hear the people talking at the table. It was recorded, so you had to speak clearly. I'm soft-spoken and shy anyway, though, so it probably intimidated me more than it would someone else.

It really wasn't all that bad -- the worrying was worse than the meeting itself.

As a follow-up, the trustee discharged us on 3/31, and sent a real estate guy out to determine the fair market value of the house. Even with the cost of the repairs considered, we were still a little over the exemption amount. But the trustee apparently decided it wasn't worth fooling with, and abandoned the property. Case closed 7/5.

.

Interesting "Side"-Story: We'd talked to another lawyer prior to choosing Attorney "W". The first guy was a real jerk. He actually told us we were too broke to file bankruptcy (!!), and proceeded to chew DH and me out for not having "real" jobs. Our eBay sales were doing fantastic until I got sick and couldn't keep up with things, and I was literally just a couple of weeks out of major surgery. I hadn't even been released by the doctor yet! And DH was diligently looking for other employment, but hadn't yet found anything. He treated us like lazy bums! (His exact words were that we were a "train wreck", and that there was NO WAY we could keep our home and truck!) Anyway, at the 341 meeting, that lawyer didn't even show up to represent his clients! He sent a paralegal instead! (Nothing against paralegals, but if I'm paying for a lawyer, that lawyer dang well better be sitting beside me, in person!) I was SOOOOO glad we'd hired Attorney "W" instead of him. We told Attorney "W" about him, and he actually apologized FOR the other lawyer treating us that way. And yes, we were able to keep our home and truck.