My 341 didn't happen...stupid me! HELP!!!

[bethgould]

My trustee said that she wouldn't see my case this morning, because I failed to send documentation to her office. I didn't know that there was another step between filing and the 341 meeting!

I did receive one thing in the mail, a notice that the court didn't have the correct address for one creditor (collection agency). It actually was the correct mailing address, I verified with the CA, but I was able to obtain another mailing address and mailed them (certified mail with receipt) the letter/notice of BK filing. Is this what she's needing? I had brought it with me to the 341 to give to her.

The letter I received in the mail about the bad address, states "To correct a creditor's address listed below you must, pursuant to (blah blah blah), amend the appropriate schedule(s) by filing an amendment and paying a $26.00 filing fee."

Should I do this now??!! I've got a couple hours before I'm scheduled to be at work...

[bethgould]

I'm going to go over to legal aid society a few blocks from here, and hope they can get me a lawyer referal. I'm thinking I bit off too much trying to file pro se.

[Meatstick]

I wouldn't say you bit off more than you can chew but you certainly didn't follow directions that the TT's office sent you regarding the creditor's address and schedule(s) amendments.

Sounds like your 341 was cancelled over a $26 fee and schedule amendment.

[mtbc]

Did she tell you what you were missing? You may want to call her office and make sure. Probably what's happening is you just have to get them the information ASAP and then go to a continued 341? You may have courted disaster and made them roll their eyes, but probably not too badly yet. Don't delay, though, you don't want to have to figure out a response if they move for dismissal -- it might just be a very fixable bump if you get on top of things now.

My trustee's office didn't mail out anything to me; I did contact them twice expressing willingness to send them whatever they wanted. Many trustees do, but you never know if something got lost in the post, so it's often worth double-checking. But, title 11 requires you to provide things like tax return and recent pay advices, they're not required to remind you, you're supposed to know what the debtor's duties are, they're plainly there in the statute. My court's pro se law clerk actually forgot those requirements in speaking with me, I had to remind her! It varies by district what they want filed with the court, what they want mailed to the trustee, etc., and of course there tend to be rules about redaction.

Don't necessarily give up on pro se yet, but: check with the trustee's office to make sure of what they want, check with your court's clerk about what they know about what must be filed -- many have checklists and the like that pro se filers can use. Make sure you have studied a good source on the nationwide issues, a recent Nolo book at the very least, and that you have also looked through your district's local rules (which may not be exactly up to date!).

The resources are out there, but I'm afraid that the onus is very much on you to stay informed and keep on top of your case. ): If you're pro se, there are sources of help, but you have to be proactive. Of course, it's your choice, but be warned that many lawyers will be reluctant to take on an already active case.

[bethgould]

I got free legal advice...

I lucked out with calling an attorney who, instead of taking a retainer, advised me to send the trustee the docs I missed. He was so nice! I verified with the Trustee's office that I just need to send them a) copies of the last 40 days worth of paystubs, b) copy of my 2009 tax return, and c) a letter stating that I had my 341 scheduled today, that the 341 was cancelled because I had failed to submit proper docs on time, and request a continuance for my 341.

I'm calling FedEx right now to pick up my overnight pkg to the Trustee!

[bethgould]

I scheduled the FedEx priority overnight pickup, and now I'm going to type up a Certificate of Service. The lawyer who gave me free advice, also gave me a copy of what his office sends out (with corrections written in so I get it right, isn't he nice?!), so I'll type one up just like it and file it at the courthouse tomorrow. I'll have lots of assorted bills so provide exact change, because I'm sure there will be a fee to file the Cert. of Service!

[bethgould]

new 341 date, but maybe should cancel & wait instead

I just got a new 341 date: 5/24 at 9am. I emptied my small retirement account on 4/1 ($1,550; on the same day as orig 341 date) to pay other bills I didn't include in my BK, and I'm going to have to account for that. I'm a Pro-Se filer, and don't know if that's even possible to amend in my paperwork.

Because of the new date, I'm supposed to re-notice all my creditors, the new date of the 341 meeting. I'm not sure how to do that. They had all been mailed a notice from the courthouse, and it was two-sided with tons of info on it. I don't know if I can just white-out the date/time & hand-write in the new one, or WHAT!

I don't know if I should just (somehow, don't know how) cancel my BK, save up for an attorney's fees, then start over from scratch.

I don't know if the OC's & CA's who were notified & already wrote off my accounts with them, will re-open my accounts & continue collection ---I don't know if they would somehow be notified that I cancelled my BK.

ACK! I don't know what to do. Calgon, take me away!

[mtbc]

Yes, you can amend your paperwork; you may have to pay a small fee. How to do it, and how to serve the amendments on the mailing matrix, are both procedural questions that your court's law clerk ought to be able to help you with. At least, the minutiae of the amendments sometimes varies by district. Of course, you could look for a lawyer anyway, but so far this isn't sounding too bad.

[mtbc]

I emptied my small retirement account on 4/1 ... to pay other bills I didn't include in my BK, and I'm going to have to account for that.

Do you exempt the money on Schedule C? Maybe the exemption schedule you're using allows you room to do that now while you're amending anyway, so you'll probably be okay? Though I'd guess, even if you can't, probably the trustee would just want you to work something out with them for paying it back.

[bethgould]

Frankly, I had forgotten that that money was even there. I haven't contributed in over a year, and had only contributed for a short time. I received a letter from the retirement fund on 3/30 and saw that I had a balance, called to see if I could have it disbursed, and they overnighted it to me to deposit in my bank on 4/1. I had filed on 2/22. Since I had forgotten about it, it wasn't on my Schedule C.

I don't know how to rectify this to satisfy the trustee. I'm thinking I will have to amend Schdule C, as well as re-notify all my OC's & CA's about the new 341 date.

Do you exempt the money on Schedule C? Maybe the exemption schedule you're using allows you room to do that now while you're amending anyway, so you'll probably be okay? Though I'd guess, even if you can't, probably the trustee would just want you to work something out with them for paying it back.

[mtbc]

Sounds like you'll have to amend Schedule B too.

[bethgould]

Yes, you are right. That makes total sense that I would need to amend both schedule B & C. Thank you!

Sounds like you'll have to amend Schedule B too.

[bethgould]

My 341 Mtg continuation is coming up this Monday, 5/24/10, at 9:00am. I FedEx'd the documentation that had been needed for the original 4/1/10 date, on that same 4/1 date, and the Trustee received it on 4/2/10. She has everything I had missed, so I'm hoping for no hang-ups this time. Crossing fingers & toes!!!!!