Our 341 meeting was at 10:30 this morning. We got downtown a bit early and my wife and I walked around for a bit. It was pretty relaxing. We finally made our way to the room and there were several other people there. There was a woman going through things with the trustee, and things were just wrapping up. It sounded like she had smoothe sailing. She was nicely dressed, casual but respectful. She was one of my law firm's clients. It appeared that there were two firms representing today, and it was interesting to notice that you could tell who the clients were. Going into the meeting, my attorneys were very dilligent in letting me know what was going to happen, how to dress, how to respond to the trustee. Judging by appearance, and conduct of the meeting, the other firm didn't do nearly as well in prepping their clients. Back when I was looking for an attorney, I almost went with the other firm because they were a fair bit cheaper than mine, but to be honest, the thing that sealed it for me to not go with them was the fact that their website, which otherwise was actually fairly well done, still had a banner on the main page urging people to hurry up before the new rule changes...that came in 2005.
Anyway...next up was a woman with the other firm. She didn't have current bank statements, and there was some confusion about valuation of properties that she was on the title. She kept trying to be funny, but I think it was irritating the trustee. When she answered that she didn't own any property, that the bank did, the trustee had to explain to her about title and mortgage. There was some clarification about where the womans mother lived as all of this property was adjoining lots. Finally, she was continued pending bank statements.
The next guy started off pretty badly. He was with the other firm as well. He was rather sloppily dressed in a faded t-shirt, and torn jeans. Right out of the gate, there were some issues with his ID in that his social security card had his name, but his documents had him listed as Name III. While he and the trustee were trying to work it out, a lady that came with him tried to explain things from the gallery, and the trustee pointedly asked her if she was testifying, and she just said no, and was quiet. The trustee grilled him over some property as well. Things got a lot better for him when the trustee asked why the guy was giving up the property, and the guy answered "because I don't want it anymore." It turns out that the property was so undervalued because part of the foundation collapsed in some recent flooding and the structure could not be repaired. From that point on, everything went well for him.
Finally, it was our turn. We were dressed business casual, had our ID ready and were ready to go. Our meeting flew by. At one point I almost laughed because my wife and I were answering in perfect unison. There was a bit of questioning at first about our residence because we moved to a rental between filing and our 341. Our paperwork reflected the move, as did our schedules, so that was a breeze. The only other part of interest was when we were asked if we had paid any creditors more than $600 in the last 90 days. I looked over at my attorney, and she nodded and indicated the $1300 to Beneficial through garnishment, and I just looked back at the trustee and said yeah, the $1300, and that was it. The meeting ended rather abruptly with a good luck, and that was it. All told, we were up there for about five minutes.
There was another couple of note. We didn't stay to watch their meeting, but they kind of stood out a bit because they were dressed way down as well. The guy had an eye brow piercing, and a lip piercing. The thing that stood out was that they brought their child who looked no more than three, and at one point the woman, who I assume was the mother had to take him out because he was being too loud.
Looking back on it, I think that no matter how many of these stories one reads, most will be nervous going into it, and most will walk away wondering what the big deal was. It really was very easy. I can't stress enough the importance of finding the right attorney. We were very well prepared today, and things went very well. Our attorney met briefly with us afterwords and said we did a great job. I do think that this may be one of those situations that if you aren't a bit nervous going into it, then something just isn't right.
I want to thank everyone here for the help, and I hope to be able to help others.
p.s. we just got the news that Beneficial has finally released the hold on our bank account. They had been holding it since June 25.
Anyway...next up was a woman with the other firm. She didn't have current bank statements, and there was some confusion about valuation of properties that she was on the title. She kept trying to be funny, but I think it was irritating the trustee. When she answered that she didn't own any property, that the bank did, the trustee had to explain to her about title and mortgage. There was some clarification about where the womans mother lived as all of this property was adjoining lots. Finally, she was continued pending bank statements.
The next guy started off pretty badly. He was with the other firm as well. He was rather sloppily dressed in a faded t-shirt, and torn jeans. Right out of the gate, there were some issues with his ID in that his social security card had his name, but his documents had him listed as Name III. While he and the trustee were trying to work it out, a lady that came with him tried to explain things from the gallery, and the trustee pointedly asked her if she was testifying, and she just said no, and was quiet. The trustee grilled him over some property as well. Things got a lot better for him when the trustee asked why the guy was giving up the property, and the guy answered "because I don't want it anymore." It turns out that the property was so undervalued because part of the foundation collapsed in some recent flooding and the structure could not be repaired. From that point on, everything went well for him.
Finally, it was our turn. We were dressed business casual, had our ID ready and were ready to go. Our meeting flew by. At one point I almost laughed because my wife and I were answering in perfect unison. There was a bit of questioning at first about our residence because we moved to a rental between filing and our 341. Our paperwork reflected the move, as did our schedules, so that was a breeze. The only other part of interest was when we were asked if we had paid any creditors more than $600 in the last 90 days. I looked over at my attorney, and she nodded and indicated the $1300 to Beneficial through garnishment, and I just looked back at the trustee and said yeah, the $1300, and that was it. The meeting ended rather abruptly with a good luck, and that was it. All told, we were up there for about five minutes.
There was another couple of note. We didn't stay to watch their meeting, but they kind of stood out a bit because they were dressed way down as well. The guy had an eye brow piercing, and a lip piercing. The thing that stood out was that they brought their child who looked no more than three, and at one point the woman, who I assume was the mother had to take him out because he was being too loud.
Looking back on it, I think that no matter how many of these stories one reads, most will be nervous going into it, and most will walk away wondering what the big deal was. It really was very easy. I can't stress enough the importance of finding the right attorney. We were very well prepared today, and things went very well. Our attorney met briefly with us afterwords and said we did a great job. I do think that this may be one of those situations that if you aren't a bit nervous going into it, then something just isn't right.
I want to thank everyone here for the help, and I hope to be able to help others.
p.s. we just got the news that Beneficial has finally released the hold on our bank account. They had been holding it since June 25.
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