341 meeting is tomorrow

[nohope]

There are numerous amendments to my petition that haven't been filed - what happens tomorrow regarding this? I was given no preparation by my lawyers, in fact, an attorney I never met will be there tomorrow...

[justbroke]

Your attorney will probably speak to you for a few minutes before and probably after the 341 Meeting. I'd make sure that I talk to the attorney BEFORE getting in front of the Trustee and saying that "it's all wrong!". Just makes it awkward for the attorney and the clients.

[nohope]

yes, I will speak with the lawyer before I say anything!

[AngelinaCat]

Get a good nights sleep. Go plenty early in the morning. You will do fine.

[nohope]

Got back from 341 meeting - lawyer really didn't tell me anything - just said all the trustee is interested is in my assets. Trustee said "this is a definite asset case" - said "ordinarilly I have the realtor contact you (me) but this time I'm going to have the realtor contact your lawyer. The realtor will need to come look at your house. In fact, I may come with them to look at your house, although I usually don't do that." Anyone else have these comments/circumstances?

[justbroke]

It reads as though your Trustee doesn't trust the evaluation that was done. However, it appears that the Trustee is interested in your attorney in this case. You now know that the Trustee is very interested in the value of your home.

We need more information though. Was this an asset case to start with? If not, did you undervalue your home? If you undervalued your home, where did you get the value from? Did your attorney ever ask you about the value of your home?

[nohope]

I have substantial equity in my home (about $400K) - I also indicated to the trustee this morning when asked that I had not seen the petition before I signed it. I said it was my understanding that amendments were going to be made.
The lawyer had a CMA done at a cost to me (I don't know if it was submitted but they told me it would be). I had to ask for it and they finally gave me a copy last Friday. The CMA values the house about $40K less than the amount the LAWYERS put on my petition. I did not tell the trustee but have told my lawyers that I did not agree with the CMA - my house is compared to homes much smaller, rooms were left out of the description of my home as well. I have substantial debt as well and am concerned that since some of it is non-dischargeable, I may be left with debt after this as I've been told by people that the house will be listed to sell quickly....
PS - Why do you think the trustee is having the realtor contact my lawyer rather than me?

[justbroke]

The Trustee is probably going through your attorney, since your attorney obtained the CMA. Okay, so you already knew you were an asset case. Yes, the Trustee would be looking to list the property quickly and sell it. Your secured debts would be paid first, then priority (like taxes), and then the general unsecured debts in a pro-rated manner.

While not a large percentage of Chapter 7 debtors have debt after discharge, it is common. Especially since many may still have non-dischargeable tax debt or student loans. The nice thing is that if your unsecured creditors are "sleeping", they may miss out on the distribution and they will be discharged without anything!. Just make sure that your Schedules and mailing matrix include ALL YOUR creditors since this is an asset case with a large distribution.

[nohope]

My debt is far less than $400k - it's about $180K some of which is for students loans I was ordered to take out for my kids for my college. I had/have huge medical expenses (am disabled can no longer work). The trustee and the realtors fee will be about $100K. How often do creditors not file claims?

[justbroke]

It is often that unsecured creditors don't file a claim. However, if they see that there is a potential $400K distribution in your case, I'm sure they'll be tripping over one another. (Just kidding.) It does happen though; many times they just don't file a claim. I had an $18K claim that wasn't filed in my Chapter 13 from Chase. No explanation at all.

[nohope]

How much information are the creditors given? Are they told of my assets? Can you explain how the proof of claim and the distribution if my assets work? How much is the trustee looking to get from my assets - does the trustee care what I end up with (in NJ homestead exemption is just $21,000.....)?

[justbroke]

The Trustee doesn't care what your exemption is unless it a.) exceeds the value of the property after the expense of the sale, or b.) otherwise makes it unattractive to sell the property.

Creditors are not "told" but they can look at the case if they are smart creditors. This is why many creditors assign a specialized agent to deal with the account while it's in bankruptcy (for example: Ascension Capitol does a lot of work with auto lenders while the case is pending discharge). Otherwise the creditor will need to pull the case on PACER and look at what assets are there and what the potential distribution is. The Trustee also serves a notice on to the creditors indicating that it is an asset case with a potential distribution. I don't know if that notice contains information on just how much there is or not (since I wasn't an asset case).

For a creditor to get part of the distribution, they need to file a claim. The claim must also be "allowed". A claim is deemed allowed, just by filing it! Unless you object to the claim, or the Trustee objects, the claim will be paid pro rata based on the total amount available. If no one files a claim, then the proceeds of the liquidation of the Estate goes back to the debtor!

The Trustee earns a commission. It's a descending percentage based on the size of the estate. They make a lot of the first $5K, but as it goes over $50K, they earn a smaller percentage.