I was so nervous before my 341 yesterday. It was scheduled for 1pm, so I left work at 12, pumped gas, then got to the downtown area around 12:20 and found parking. Things kind of went downhill from there because I didn't know which building to go into, and ended up in the local courthouse. Thankfully the admin at the information desk told me that the correct building (federal courthouse) was two blocks over. By that time it was 12:35 and I started sprinting. When I got into the correct building, there were no signs and the lights in the lobby were all dimmed! I didn't even notice that the security guard was over in that area, so I wandered around, took the escalator upstairs and ended up in the skywalk hall. I asked a passerby and was told that I needed to go back downstairs and into the lobby. I rushed down the escalator and approached the lobby area. I started to panic because there was no one behind the desk and the lights were all out. But then the security guard came out of the back room and asked me if I needed help. I told him which room I needed to go to and he said, "well, this is the right place." He gave me a bin to put my purse and keys in, then asked me to step through the door (which was disguised as part of the wall!) and handed my things back. Through the entrance was a hallway to the elevators that I took to the 10th floor. I made it to my meeting with 10 minutes to spare!
My attorney was waiting for me, and it turned out that he actually had an entire group of other debtors (there were 6 or 7 or us). We went into the room at 1 and took seats as there was already someone meeting with the trustee. I don't know how long the guy had been there, but it took them an additional 25 minutes to wrap it up. What surprised me about that first meeting was that the debtor's attorney was dressed in capri shorts, sandals, a polo shirt and sunglasses! At first I thought he was just there to support the debtor, but then he started clarifying some of the debtors answers. LOL. It was a shocker for me because I've never seen an attorney in courthouse without a suit on. My attorney was in a suit, and everyone else was dressed casual or business casual. Well, there was the exception of this lady that came in late and wearing a sparkly see-through tank and ripped jeans. LOL.
After that first complicated one, the group with my attorney was called one by one. There were two people before me, things were pretty quick with them, usual questions of show your id and ssn, give last month's bank statement and copies of pay stubs since filing, state your name, address, do you have kids, do you have cars, do you have property, is everything accurate in your schedules, did you sign them, have you read the informational bk document, then ok, and thank you. My attorney then wished everyone good luck and said they did great. It took less than two minutes, and I jetted out of there to get back to work.
Aside from the usual advice that everyone on the forums have given (thanks guys!), my advice would be to get familiar with the location of the 341 if you don't already know where it is. Maybe take a drive the day before to find it so you don't get lost the day of like I did.
I'm relieved that everything is done, but a little nagging worry about UST. LOL, which is mainly from reading posts about it, but keeping my fingers crossed that nothing comes up!
My attorney was waiting for me, and it turned out that he actually had an entire group of other debtors (there were 6 or 7 or us). We went into the room at 1 and took seats as there was already someone meeting with the trustee. I don't know how long the guy had been there, but it took them an additional 25 minutes to wrap it up. What surprised me about that first meeting was that the debtor's attorney was dressed in capri shorts, sandals, a polo shirt and sunglasses! At first I thought he was just there to support the debtor, but then he started clarifying some of the debtors answers. LOL. It was a shocker for me because I've never seen an attorney in courthouse without a suit on. My attorney was in a suit, and everyone else was dressed casual or business casual. Well, there was the exception of this lady that came in late and wearing a sparkly see-through tank and ripped jeans. LOL.
After that first complicated one, the group with my attorney was called one by one. There were two people before me, things were pretty quick with them, usual questions of show your id and ssn, give last month's bank statement and copies of pay stubs since filing, state your name, address, do you have kids, do you have cars, do you have property, is everything accurate in your schedules, did you sign them, have you read the informational bk document, then ok, and thank you. My attorney then wished everyone good luck and said they did great. It took less than two minutes, and I jetted out of there to get back to work.
Aside from the usual advice that everyone on the forums have given (thanks guys!), my advice would be to get familiar with the location of the 341 if you don't already know where it is. Maybe take a drive the day before to find it so you don't get lost the day of like I did.
I'm relieved that everything is done, but a little nagging worry about UST. LOL, which is mainly from reading posts about it, but keeping my fingers crossed that nothing comes up!
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