Trustee is investigating me

[gettingnewstart]

Just rec'd a letter from my lawyer; the trustee is requesting more explanation into my income and expenses and she wants my credit card statements for the LAST THREE YEARS!!! Three years? Seriously? What stinks is that maybe in March I burned all the stuff I had because I never thought I would need it (never thought I'd file BK at that time in my life), and I probably had 3 yrs of statements. Now I'll have to pay whatever amount they want to get copies. But I have no money for this! What a cruel joke.
Anyone else go thru this part of the game?

[miss puff]

OMG! Wow, why are they requesting more info on your income? I just ask because I was paid cash from a friend for babysitting over the summer and I listed that I make cash. Wondering if they will be like that with mine. I have heard from research on the boards that it is hard to get those statements because they (cc companies) don't want to "help" you get your BK done. That really stinks.

[gettingnewstart]

The trustee wants documentation of my business expenses (which they already rec'd, not sure what else they want) and if my gas is inlcuded in that amount (it's not); they want to know if i have money set aside for income taxes (i don't), they want to know more about the $110 postage, business or personal, it's business. They want to know if my educational loan qualifies as a guaranteed student loan. I don't know what that means. The loan is like 10 yrs old, I went to college, I have a degree... I don't know what they're asking for here. They are confused about my income. I recently took a contract position that will be over in about 8 wks, I also sell real estate but that market has been miserably dry which is why I'm in BK. then they want 3yrs of cc statements b/c i have substantial amount of consumer debt but no correlating assests, they want to know how the credit was used, any cash advances and the amounts (and probably down the road they'll want to know what it was spent on; living, rent, food, etc) and the period of use for each credit card.
i just feel so... I don't know. I remember someone sd they had to produce 3000 documents and she thought it was more of the trustee just barking because he could because her case went on thru w/ bk. I'm hoping that's the case. But how am I supposed to pay for all these statements? I wish I could just ask him to believe me that it's all living expenses and being underemployed. There is nothing fun on the charges. Nothing.

[FoolAndHisMoney]

It's probably because you have a business or are self employed. It was wenderful that had to produce all those documents for the same reason. They want to see if you transferred any of these funds to a business account and didn't claim it on the schedules. The amount of debt usually raises red flags if you have low income at the time it was incurred or next to no assets. It doesn't always mean fraud, but I guess they want to see where it all went. Just be prepared to explain where a cash advance went to if they ask.
Is this the chapter 7 trustee or the US trustee? The US trustee usually investigates these things.

[ugh]

I am also self employed (Incorporated). Anyway, our trustee was great... he didn't ask me to provide him with any business documentation. He just took my word regarding the expenses and etc. I guess it all depends on the trustee, his/her mood and if they believe you are being honest. Who knows, every case is so different. Regardless... I'm sorry you have to jump through additional hoops, but just keep imagining how nice it well be when this is all over. Good luck!

[gettingnewstart]

I spoke w/ my lawyer and I was advised that this letter was written before the 341 mtg, by the trustee's atty. My lawyer was worried about the trustee asking more questions, but he didn't. She said that she was more worried about the trustee and not the letter and since the trustee didn't ask any detailed questions, that this should just be considered a formality. as far as getting 3 yrs worth, she said I should provide what i have and then explain that paying for 2.5 years of statments for all the cards is impossible. I am afterall bankrupt. I have no money. So, it's hard for me to trust in a situation like this, but she has been doing this for years and she's been right so far. and if trusting her helps me not worry, I will do that. I'm keeping an eye on things, but I don't want to be freaking out the next 2 months. or 7wks and 2 days.

[GoingDown]

I spoke w/ my lawyer and I was advised that this letter was written before the 341 mtg, by the trustee's atty. My lawyer was worried about the trustee asking more questions, but he didn't. She said that she was more worried about the trustee and not the letter and since the trustee didn't ask any detailed questions, that this should just be considered a formality. as far as getting 3 yrs worth, she said I should provide what i have and then explain that paying for 2.5 years of statments for all the cards is impossible. I am afterall bankrupt. I have no money. So, it's hard for me to trust in a situation like this, but she has been doing this for years and she's been right so far. and if trusting her helps me not worry, I will do that. I'm keeping an eye on things, but I don't want to be freaking out the next 2 months. or 7wks and 2 days.

I think your attorney gave you some good advice. Just explain that you didn't keep those records and that since you are bankrupt, you can't afford to get all those statements. I think he's just trying to scare you and maybe shake loose a few more coins into his pocket. When he sees you won't be intimidated or budge on the issue, he'll probably move onto easier bk filers and try to shake them down. In this case, it's probably a good thing you're filing with an attorney instead of doing it pro se.

[djk]

and as an aside try to remember when you do enter into your fresh start after you get your discharge that it is generally recommended by financial advisors to save all financial/tax documents/statements/etc for a recommended period of 5 to seven 7years. it may help you in the future to have the documents. I have 10 years of documents on file.

[gettingnewstart]

Thanks for the tip! Ironically I did have about 5yrs of credit card statements. Around March of this year I questioned why am I keeping all this paper around. I did not need to keep the documents for business expenses or tax exemptions. and I remember reading that I only needed to keep them for a month. So I burned all the statements I had and kept only 2006 statements. I'm not sure if I'll throw any financial thing away again after this experience. Except that when it's all over I was really looking forward to having a bon fire with all the 2006 statements and cards and anything credit card related. Maybe I'll have to burn newspaper in it's place

[wenderful]

Yep! That was me! We provided over 3,000 documents and it cost us $500 to produce the documentation that was asked for. From what I understand this is a standard procedure by the UST in NY State when you own your own business.

They are looking to see if you incurred personal debt for your business, or transferred personal assets to your business.

Be prepared for the UST to motion to extend your case on Day 59 -- ours did. But in the end, he dropped his investigation and did not motion to dismiss our case.

We were fully discharged in July 2006 -- but because of that investigation, we were in BK for 285 days.

PM me if you need some help, I did extensive research on this.

We provided 85% of what was asked for, because we didn't have everything -- and no issue was raised over it.