Motion to Compel RE: Stimulus

[sisterfunkhaus]

Yes give the money back gleefully. They took your debts away so let them take this little money and play.

Actually the state and federal governments take our debts away through laws and legislation. I have followed the rules by the letter so the trustee isn't doing me any favors. He is simply following the laws. If someone gets that money, it should at least go back to the government, not to some guy who looks at my case for a few minutes and sends me on my way.

[banca rotta]

And where did you read this law? Seems there are some trustees in this country that HAVE let people keep their stimulus. What do you say to them? Should they just be good little people and offer it as a sacrifice for having to file BK?

I am sorry but that is the most absurd thing I have ever read on a forum in a response to someone who is very upset. How the heck can you say losing a job is not grounds for keeping the check. They will collect unemployment, food stamps, medical etc..etc. but God forbid they keep a few hundred dollars?
Not everyone who loses a job has because of their own fault.

Are you not eligible for a check due to having to much income? Therefore you feel no one especially those in BK should be entitled to it. There is definately something deeper here that your not sharing. If you couldnt feel any compassion for the OP then why even post in her thread.
She clearly said she has been crying and its quite obvious through her words that she is devastated at not being able to use it to help her family survive. She came here for support!

I think the only reason a trustee would allow a debtor to keep the check is because it's inside the debtors allowed exemption.

Any money owed to the debtor over and above the states exemption is fair game for the trustee.

The bankruptcy system does not care about anyone's situation. They will do what the law allows them right or wrong, fair or not.

Again I am sorry about the OP's troubles but as for the laws it is what it is.

I do notice one thing on this forum. From the rebate checks, to major cash advances or charges to property transfers it seems anyone here with their cases having added problems was mostly caused by filing sooner rather then later. Just my opinion.

[Bell30656]

The rules are pretty clear, unless you can make the stimulus check fall into an exemption, you will have to give it up. This same situation could come about from lots of different ways of receiving unexpected money... Keep in mind, that if you win the lottery you have six months to cash in the winning ticket.

I know it doesn't sound fair, but put yourself in the shoes of the people that have extended us credit... It really doesn't seem very fair to them, either. We use the rules to abolish our debts causing them to lose money. Sometimes you get to be Paul and other times you wind up as Peter.

The stimulus check is just one reason that I have held up my filing until August.

[Cali]

Exactly what I have been saying. Some people act as if the trustee out of the blue decided to take the money from some just because and not from others.

I think the only reason a trustee would allow a debtor to keep the check is because it's inside the debtors allowed exemption.

Any money owed to the debtor over and above the states exemption is fair game for the trustee.

The bankruptcy system does not care about anyone's situation. They will do what the law allows them right or wrong, fair or not.

Again I am sorry about the OP's troubles but as for the laws it is what it is.

[deafbroke]

I really have been trying to stay out of this whole stimulus check mess but this post hits home for me to much. I actually agree with the feeling that giving that money back is what is required. When I filed there was no stimulus check to help my family out. We struggled after we filed for quite a while until we got back on our feet. So I guess for me I don't like the attitude I'm seeing where people feel they should get to keep that check.

Talk of the stimulus started a long time ago. At least in January. So if you knew you were going to file, why not wait until you got the check first and then file? It can be done. I know for this person it's to late but seriously, the stimulus idea has been out there for months. It was not something they just surprised us all with.

We were told by our trustee at the 341 *if* we came into any money in the next 6 months (post 341) we had to turn that over to him (there may have been a $$ limit). Is that not standard? Wouldn't the filers know they were going to have to give up the stimulus check?

I'm not trying to be cruel here by any means. I am very sorry for this OP's situation. I hope your husband can find work soon and you can make ends meet in the mean time.

I don't agree and a point you made confirmed how I feel. You said there was no stimulus check when you filed. That's how it should be viewed by the courts. It's not a normal source of income so it shouldn't be viewed as such and taken. After having my 341meeting monday I am convinced they make things as hard as possible for people filing bankruptcy as a rule of thumb. It's BS. Bankruptcy is suppose to be there to help people start over from their mistakes or misfortunes yet they're treated like crap and things are stacked against them from the start. Things are hard enough as they have reached a point of not having any other choice but to file bankruptcy yet the courts decide to make things even harder to dam near impossible for them. Tax returns and any stimulus checks should be off limits by bankruptcy courts , period. It's the one bright spot filers have and it's taken away just for spite.

DB

[JollyGG]

It is easy to say just give it up and be happy you're debt free, but unless you have had a stimulus check taken how can you know how she feels? None of us have, well that is unless you filed recently and they also took yours.

Just because some of us didn't loose a stimulus check, doesn't mean we didn't loose anything. I filed over a year ago so their was no stimulus. We had enough exemptions to cover everything including our tax refund. Well, that is until our trustee decided she wanted all of my earned but unpaid income. I get paid once a month and we filed right before payday. So that was a whole months worth of pay. Well we had enough exemptions to cover all but around $357. So we thought we would be okay. $357 wouldn't be worth our trustee's time would it? Well, our trustee managed a nice trick. We had done a balance transfer from one card to another 2 1/2 months prior to filing. She decided that that was a preferential payment and went after the $2500 from that creditor. That made our $357 worth her time and effort. So our income tax refund when straight to her (and almost all of our refund was from child tax credits). All $2,280. We had to wait around for her to decide to send us our exempt portion. We had already agreed to buy a vehicle we desprately needed (our older vehicle wasn't big enough or safe for our children to ride in - '83 S-10 pickup with rusted out floor boards).

Luckily the trustee sent us our exempt portion, the seller waited for the check. Though I had to go through the embarasment of explaining our situation. The trustee kept the $357. The trustee's cut of the just over $3000 she collected was over $1000.

While we could have used that $357 desparately, and were struggling to make ends meet. We decided it was a small sacrifice and one we were more than willing to make. We got rid of all of our debt for less than 1% of the amount we discharged. It actually ended up being a kinda good thing. Since only a few of our creditors filed proof of claims and the two largest were our student loans. Our student loans got what amounted to the equivalent of two or three months payment from our trustee. We were also making our regular payments. So while it doesn't shorten the eternity we will be paying on those loans much. Every little bit helps.

So I agree. Don't say that those of us who don't have that much sympathy for those loosing thier stimulus checks have never been there, that we don't understand needing that money for other things, or that we could afford to just give that money away.

Because you know what - we couldn't. But I am so very grateful that bankruptcy is even an option. And I am thankful for my fresh start. I can deal with a few sacrifices to get it.

To give you an idea of how badly we needed that money. Right after our 341 I took a second job working nights and weekends to make ends meet. I even missed my son's birthday to work the second job. I did two jobs until my husband finally found a better paying job. Now the ends meet, but we still have to watch our spending.

[erinmi]

I don't know how I feel about the stimulus. I see both sides of the coin. It would have sucked if I had to turn it over because we used the $900 to pay a couple bills, get some new clothes, and other miscellaneous expenses. But our 341 was Feb 5, before the stimulus became an actual act of law. We were able to exempt our tax return and were never asked about the stimulus even after it came into play. But I can see the point that if we had to turn it over, I would rather lose the stimulus than to continue to deal with the stress of a looming lawsuit from our former mortgage company because we couldn't pay off our short sale deficit coupled with our other debt.

And actually, you don't have to report every extra dollar you receive up to 6 months after your 341. Just inheritances or lawsuit winnings at least according to my attorney. Our trustee did ask us at our 341 if we expected any money in the next 6 months to a year. So when my in-laws informed us they wanted to gift us some money at the end of March after they sold some property but did not want to mess up our bankruptcy, I called our attorney. We were informed that as long as it came into our hands after the bankruptcy was discharged and closed, we do NOT have to report it because it is neither an inheritance or winnings.

[nomoretogive]

The stimulus check is getting to be a thorn in my side. We filed our '07 taxes through H&R Block electronically and had their fee's taken out of refund. The refund was sent back via bank account. I have spoken to an attorney as of this week but have yet to file. I do need to close my bank account very soon and get another one through another bank. But I have to wait on account of that check and a payroll check electronically deposited coming next Thurs. But from what I am hearing I will now get a paper check but not sure. There is no info on check IRS site. I was waiting to file closer to Aug. when I will be able to go back to work. The money was either going to be used on one more house payment; a rental; or pay the lawyer. This is the first month I am not paying unsecured debt. In the grand scheme of things, the money has become just one more thing to worry about. I would gladly give it to whomever because all I really need is a guaranteed place to lay my head at the moment.

[Cali]

You can still open an account, while waiting for the checks to clear the other account. My attorney told me to not close accounts but I can open a new one at another bank and have the direct deposits sent there. Just leave a small amount in the first account(10$ or so).

The stimulus check is getting to be a thorn in my side. We filed our '07 taxes through H&R Block electronically and had their fee's taken out of refund. The refund was sent back via bank account. I have spoken to an attorney as of this week but have yet to file. I do need to close my bank account very soon and get another one through another bank. But I have to wait on account of that check and a payroll check electronically deposited coming next Thurs. But from what I am hearing I will now get a paper check but not sure. There is no info on check IRS site. I was waiting to file closer to Aug. when I will be able to go back to work. The money was either going to be used on one more house payment; a rental; or pay the lawyer. This is the first month I am not paying unsecured debt. In the grand scheme of things, the money has become just one more thing to worry about. I would gladly give it to whomever because all I really need is a guaranteed place to lay my head at the moment.

[nomoretogive]

Yes that is what I plan to do. Just waiting on $100 to open one. Hopefully that will be today or Monday.

[Stilltheone]

I just wanted to add that we had our 341 yesterday and there was actually a couple that had already gotten their tax return AND stimulus and spent it. The trustee informed them that they would have to fill out an amended exemption so they wouldn't have to pay those back...

Not sure if that's something the OP can do or not...I hope so!

Good luck!