Had 341 today on complicated (self employed, own 2 s corps and 3 LLCs, 3 leased automobiles, etc....) non-consumer bk7 with about $900,000 in real estate I was surrendering.
My atty had warned me that it could get hairy but I was comfortable that I had provided all necessary documentation.
One concern weighing on my conscience was the fact that I realized there was a potential real estate transfer that fell within the 2 year window that was not noted on my original petition. This is because I forgot about it, as it was a property that was scammed from me by a person who was supposed to be helping me with my problem.
Short story, this "professional" was going to take a loan against this small value property that I owned with no mortgage and use the $$ to repair other properties. Well, instead he signed the deed over to a hard money (private) lender and the property was deeded over to them as collateral for the loan. The truth is I will probably never get it back. However this happened about 22 months ago.
When the trustee asked if petition was correct I said not completely and explained this honest omission. (I had relayed all of this to atty prior so there was no surprises for them) From that point forward, the 341 became much easier.
The trustee asked several questions about the real estate and my business but accepted my answers at face value without verification on most of it. I think my honesty about something she would never have known about helped my credibility.
At the end, she said this was a "no asset case" which are the magic words!! However, then she stopped and said she would hold up on that until I provided her with a copy of the deed showing the transfer I referenced and the date. I can get that documentation. She then thanked me for being honest and said she would be done with our case once she had that for the file.
I was truly relieved. The lesson here for others is that you should not try to hide anything. This was something that just occurred to me last week and I have been losing sleep over it. I was afraid that if I said nothing and by some bizarre twist it came to light and looked like I was shady then it could skew my case. I am glad I said it and feel confident that it helped get through the rest of the 15 minute (yes, 15 minutes) stressful 341 meeting.
My atty had warned me that it could get hairy but I was comfortable that I had provided all necessary documentation.
One concern weighing on my conscience was the fact that I realized there was a potential real estate transfer that fell within the 2 year window that was not noted on my original petition. This is because I forgot about it, as it was a property that was scammed from me by a person who was supposed to be helping me with my problem.
Short story, this "professional" was going to take a loan against this small value property that I owned with no mortgage and use the $$ to repair other properties. Well, instead he signed the deed over to a hard money (private) lender and the property was deeded over to them as collateral for the loan. The truth is I will probably never get it back. However this happened about 22 months ago.
When the trustee asked if petition was correct I said not completely and explained this honest omission. (I had relayed all of this to atty prior so there was no surprises for them) From that point forward, the 341 became much easier.
The trustee asked several questions about the real estate and my business but accepted my answers at face value without verification on most of it. I think my honesty about something she would never have known about helped my credibility.
At the end, she said this was a "no asset case" which are the magic words!! However, then she stopped and said she would hold up on that until I provided her with a copy of the deed showing the transfer I referenced and the date. I can get that documentation. She then thanked me for being honest and said she would be done with our case once she had that for the file.
I was truly relieved. The lesson here for others is that you should not try to hide anything. This was something that just occurred to me last week and I have been losing sleep over it. I was afraid that if I said nothing and by some bizarre twist it came to light and looked like I was shady then it could skew my case. I am glad I said it and feel confident that it helped get through the rest of the 15 minute (yes, 15 minutes) stressful 341 meeting.
Bankruptcy Wizard
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