Trustee Final Report Chapter 7 - Any Advice Appreciated.

[Faith527]

Hi all, good day to all of you. We filed Chapter 7 (asset*) and received a discharge in December 2019. For info: *Asset: We had to turn over $7K to the Trustee which was the non-exempt portion of a personal injury award (I would have happily turned over the entire sum over but our lawyer was able to exempt a % of the settlement). Today, Pacer entry "Trustee Final Report" was uploaded "UST Form 101-7-TFR (05/1/2011)". I have emailed our lawyer for an update and will have to wait a week for a reply. In the meantime, if anyone have experience with explaining this to us, we are grateful. There is $7K of assets to distribute which includes the Trustee's fee and expenses, leaving about $5K to go to our creditors. There is also a list of proposed settlements for the 10 proof of claims which were timely filed by these creditors with the Court/Trustee. What happens next? Does the US Trustee or our creditor now have "30 days to object to the Trustee Final Report". If true and if no objections raised, then the Trustee will distribute the 10 checks and once those 10 checks have cleared the Trustee's account our BK case will close? Or perhaps there is no 30 day waiting period if the Trustee Final Report was docketed on Pacer? What I am looking for is a ballpark of when the case will close. Our 10 proofs of claims from creditors average about $500 per claim (so it is not Rocket Science to distribute the $7K we had to turn over to the Trustee). Also, is it true that we still cannot do something "big" such as sell our car until the case closes (without the Trustee's permission)? FYI: There will be no tax return this year - we will owe a good deal of taxes when we file (and we may have to dip into retirement funds to pay same). Whilst we have the discharge, are we are still at mercy of the Court until the $7K of assets are distributed to the Trustee for Fees and Creditors who filed proof of claims? From "NOLO": The Trustee’s Final Report: Once all assets have been liquidated, and claims paid, the trustee will file a Final Report with the court. Unless any party objects to the final report, the court will issue a final decree, and the clerk of the court will close the case. Am I missing a step? (Am I making any sense either lol)? Is it possible that the case will close in about 90 days from the filing of the Trustee's final report since the distribution of non-exempt $7K is straight forward? Until the case closes, are we in a holding pattern, i.e. unable to sell our car/house, etc. Each time I put "UST Form 101-7-TFR" in google, I get "do you mean UST Form 101-7-NFR". Vs. "TFR".......Thank you so much.

[justbroke]

It's this simple. Once the Chapter 7 Trustee files the. Final Report (which includes which distributions were made), the court simply waits a certain period of time (typically 30 days), and then administratively closes the case. There is nothing a debtor needs to do after discharge. The rest is the case administration and it reads as though your case administration is completed. It would be an extremely rare occurrence for any creditor to file an objection to the final report. I would say that the Clerk's Office will administratively close the case sometime after 30 days following the Trustee's final report.

So, you just wait... but remember that the prize was the discharge.

[Faith527]

justbroke Thank you! You have a way of making this so much easier for those who come to this site for guidance. You have a way of putting advice in simple terms which I appreciate so much. I wish I could pay forward such great advice such as yours but I am sorely lacking. Please don't get me wrong - I am SOOO grateful for the discharge. I have not had a good night's sleep in a year and my husband says I obsess over the smallest matters. I am very grateful for your advice! I wasn't sure if we could "move forward" with our lives, ie. sell our car or do we have to "wait" until after the case closes. So we are in good shape then! Thanks, thanks, and thanks again.

[justbroke]

Faith527 we all pay it forward by hanging around BKForum after our discharge! We give back and help others on this journey. It is stressful and can cause anxiety, but we have made it through those tough times. We all contribute in our own way. Sometimes a new debtor just wants to hear that it will be okay.

As for waiting, I would hold off on any major purchases or credit. While the discharge should have bumped your score a little (it differs by person), the closing may give you another bump. Another reason to wait is that some creditors simply don't like an "active" bankruptcy. Until your case actually closes and is reported to the credit bureaus most creditors will simply deny due to bankruptcy.

And, as to moving on with life, go ahead. You deserve it. Go get that steak (or veggie) dinner!

[Faith527]

justbroke Thank you. I will definitely hang around if just to wish others luck. It is so stressful filing for BK. It is a huge step and one which I wish we had done 4 years ago instead of limping along but once my husband became ill it became a no-brainer. We have no credit cards so we won't be purchasing anything soon. That is next - how to rebuild credit and I will be reading that forum in detail too. I kind of like living without the credit cards. We are looking to relocate to Florida now that my husband retired : ). For now, yes, I think I will order in Pizza tonight ;). You are a gem.

[shipo]

justbroke Thank you. I will definitely hang around if just to wish others luck. It is so stressful filing for BK. It is a huge step and one which I wish we had done 4 years ago instead of limping along but once my husband became ill it became a no-brainer. We have no credit cards so we won't be purchasing anything soon. That is next - how to rebuild credit and I will be reading that forum in detail too. I kind of like living without the credit cards. We are looking to relocate to Florida now that my husband retired : ). For now, yes, I think I will order in Pizza tonight ;). You are a gem.

I've been living without credit cards for nearly seven years now, and while I don't *need* them, per-se, certain things are a significant challenge when you do not have one; chief among them is trying to rent a car.

[Faith527]

shipo I agree. That particular challenge is worrying, renting a car!

[justbroke]

Faith527 I used a debit card tied to my checking account to rent cars and hotel rooms for 5 years. Since I was a frequent renter and part of the Hertz program, they never ever questioned my debit card. During my Chapter 13 I obtained a secured card and put $5,000 for the deposit so that I could travel more easily. It is certainly more easy with a credit card and one that has at least $1,000 on it.

[Faith527]

Thanks justbroke , we will seek a secured credit card when the case is marked closed and docketed. We have been using debit card since July 2018, so close to 2 years without a credit card. There are times it is frustrating due to card skimmer problems in our area. In August 2019 the bank closed our checking and savings overdraft account. I panicked, thinking it is was due to a creditor who had filed a lawsuit against us. It turned out to be a problem with our debit card being skimmed at a gas station. The bank restored $2K in 24 hours thankfully. That is one of "issues" - the fraud protection provided by credit cards is not a feature of our debit cards. Therefore, I set up our debit cards so that every single transaction over $25 is texted to my phone. Ding, ding, ding, lol. I am hoping that a $1K secured card from our local bank will hopefully start the process back to good credit. Thanks Justbroke and Shipo for your feedback!.

[Salem3671]

Congratulations on everything going so smoothly. I file my Chapter 7 in July 2017. The Trustee got the final report approved in January, however, it states it was an approval of the proposed distribution. Since then, nothing has been done on my case and no funds have been distributed. She had just a little under $11K to work with from taxes and an MVA that she received back in February 2018. I wish my Trustee was as competent as yours appears to have been as this has dragged out forever and for no reason. There's never been a single dispute filed on my case or any push back from a creditor, this is simply just her taking her own sweet time to ever do anything on the case. Best of luck moving forward.

[Faith527]

Hi Salem,
My case is still not closed but the Courthouses here were closed due to COVID-19 and hearings are remote (we just entered Phase 1 in NYC) - I tried emailing my lawyer but they are "off the case" now and also consumed with Covid-19 issues. I plan on emailing The trustee later this week - I'll let your know what happens. I saw your post the other day but forgot my password for this site. You could email the Trustee? My trustee was very cool - she was a bit put off at first but once we got past her initial bad day, she turned out to be a good egg.

Good luck!
Faith