My (2nd) 341 is today and I'm scared

[ameliabedilia]

What a relief! I am sure everything will go well from here on out!

[PaKettle]

Congrats on being in the 60-day club. My third 341 is on Tuesday the 3rd...I hope I get to stay in the 60 Day Club this time

If you don't mind my asking, Why on earth would you have 2nd and third 341 meetings??

[coma]

If you don't mind my asking, Why on earth would you have 2nd and third 341 meetings??

I converted to a chapter 13 to save a secured asset (a mistake, I know now), then we have a cross-country move with 2 weeks notice and lost a little more than half of our income. We transferred our case last January, gave up the asset in May, and decided to convert in October. So we had our 341 when we filed our 7 in 2005, another one for the conversion, and we're awaiting another one for this conversion.

[drowning_n_debt]

Similar auto situation

Hi guys,

I have a similar situation with an auto. My in-laws purchased a new auto in 2003. About a year later, my MIL had to stop working. My wife and I took possession of the car and the payments. The loan is still in their names only. These payments have been auto debited from our bank account over the last 3 years and there is another year of payments to go. We do own a second car outright, a 10 year old junker used for transport to and from work only. How do we explain the arrangement with my in-laws? Is it allowed? The Trustee will be able to see the $400 payment coming out each month from our bank statements. Can we count this as a monthly expense even though we aren't technically liable for the loan. I don't want to be accused of anything fraudulent, but we have to have this auto in order for my wife to get to and from work. Any suggestions?

[FreshLikeADaisy]

You may want to ask an attorney on that one, but one way to approach it would be to list your in-laws as creditors: you are technically buying the car from them, even though the actual cash is going to a finance company. There are several places on Form 7 (Stmt of Financial Affairs) where you could list and explain it. The only thing is, don't hide it: if you're one of the Chosen People (to get audited, that is) and you didn't list the debt, but you included it in your expenses and it's all over your bank statements, that's not a good scenario because then you'd be explaining *after* their discovery of the transactions, not before. Putting it out there as fully as you can in your original filing has the appearance of honesty; something they run across and have to ask you about... not so much.

Also, the "is it allowed" is only an issue in Chapter 13; in a Chapter 7 you either get to keep it (reaffirm the debt and keep the asset) or lose it altogether. The waywardness of how the payment gets from Point A to Point B is more a secondary issue. I have a feeling that the issue for the trustee here will be: who actually owns the asset, and how much is its liquidated value likely to be?

If your intent is to keep this particular arragement intact, you maight want to sit down with the in-laws and sign a "contract" with them that explains the arrangement. It may not be exactly legal or enforceable -- the finance co technically owns the car -- but it would go a long way toward proving your actual intent with the car and payments, if you ever had to. Does that make sense?

You could ask an attorney about this as well, if you plan to visit any and get your free consults...