Just My Luck - Audit

[shotgun7]

Went for meeting of the creditors the otherday, attorney (who we are less than pleased with) pulls me out in the hall and says by the way your case has been selected for a random audit...I have never had anyone get audited in all my years of doing this but it does not have anything to do with your discharge (wrong) and is no big deal (wrong again) Got on pacer tonight and it was selected right at the 10 day mark after we filed, but here we are over a month later and just now hearing about it? We will be unavailable next week so I don't know how it will all go. I have read there is a 21 day deadline to get the info in but we even called the attorney today and his assistant said she would have to get with him, needless to say she never called back and they are closed on friday and we are having a baby on Monday...needless to say we have a plate full... I do know, the attorney did not keep pay stubs and such like, so my payroll lady at work is probably going to strangle me...because my dear wife decided to throw all that stuff away (grrrrr) There is a business involved, too but no assets but quite a bit of revenue (not much net revenue) The good news, if there is any is per pacer the Trustee says no distribution and status is awaiting discharge. But looks like this audit could really mess that up.

[LadyInTheRed]

An audit has a very specific deadline by which it must be complete. It normally would not delay a discharge, as far as I understand. But, if your attorney has to request more time to respond, that could cause things to take longer.
But, I'm not sure even that would delay discharge. If you are discharged before the audit is complete and the auditor finds something that would disqualify you from a discharge, the dischrge would be revoked.

Stay on top of your attorney to make sure the auditor is provided with the required information. You have nothing to worry about as long as you were honest on your petition and at your 341.

[justbroke]

There are two types of audits; the random audit that is mandatory by law, and the UST's exception audit. Your audit reads more like an exception audit. The randomness is written in law as 1 in 250, but the UST has been doing much worse at about 1 in 1,400 or more cases (being audited). Audits were so rare that I forgot all about them. (There was a period when the United States Trustee did absolutely zero audits. They must be back!)

Just make sure the auditor receives all the requested information. They are just going to compare your documentation (pay stubs, receipts, tax returns, etc) to what is in your petition. As for notice, you should have received a notice in the mail from the bankruptcy court. Some people accidentally throw the Bankruptcy Noticing Center mailings because they don't look official.

[shotgun7]

The good news is, it was a random audit, selected 10 days post filing. The bad news is my attorneys assistant that is handling it is a completed dummy! She hasn't even started on it yet!!! I asked her what all we needed, doing my best to get things together on my end, again since they did not keep the paystubs, etc they got discarded so I have to round all them up. I thought there was a 21 day deadline to have info turned in, but we are way past 30 and still at a stand still more or less. I am really getting disgusted with the attorney. But, we did make it through our 341 meeting, Trustee reports no distribution

[avengers]

I do know, the attorney did not keep pay stubs and such like, so my payroll lady at work is probably going to strangle me...because my dear wife decided to throw all that stuff away (grrrrr) There is a business involved, too but no assets but quite a bit of revenue (not much net revenue) The good news, if there is any is per pacer the Trustee says no distribution and status is awaiting discharge. But looks like this audit could really mess that up.

There's honestly no excuse for the attorney to throw away your paystubs. That said, you should've kept copies yourself. Personally, I scanned everything in and emailed it to my attorney. Luckily, he actually kept all of my information. But if he didn't, I still have a copy anyway.

Good thing also, because I was called for a 2004 examination and the attorney wanted additional information. Since all my information is scanned in, it was a simple matter of attaching the correct documents and sending them off in an email.

[LadyInTheRed]

Have you asked the assistant about the deadline and whether they have requested an extension from the trustee? If I were you, I would ask to talk to the attorney about why this isn't be handled more quickly.

[shotgun7]

Welp, Got a letter in the mail yesterday, to sum it up since they had no info, audit company sent a report of no audit to trustee. So now, the whole thing has been extended till march. From what I can tell, discharge is still set for Feb but if audit is not handled or turns up anything, I guess they can revoke it? Funny thing is, we were only notified of the audit the day we met for our 314 meeting, but that was already past the date to have the info submitted.

The lawyer said all we needed to submit was payroll info... wrong... Apparently they want bank statements, with explanations of any deposits over 500 and 2 years worth of taxes. Whats really going to be interesting is I have a small business involved too....and it generates quite a bit of money, but not much profit.

The whole deal has really got me bothered... not because I am trying to hide anything but because our lawyer has done such a piss poor job (and continues to do so). I really don't have a good feeling about all of it.