How Long Did You Have of Bank and CC Records

[Bankruptcy20]

Can I start a thread to share experiences on this topic?

I often read that trustees or lawyers ask for 6 months, 1 year, 2 years worth of records. I doubt many of us kept paper copies of bank and credit card statements that far back. I can imagine that CC may not be that helpful to you once you are defaulting.

I have pretty good personal records on Quicken, but I wonder whether one's own records is that acceptable. I checked some of my accounts on-line, and lo and behold, they are no longer accessible to me as I have moved my funds elsewhere.

So, here are some questions:

1) How far back did your trustee ask you for?
2) How far back were you able to provide your trustee in "paper copies"?
3) Did you have to rely on Quicken or other home spreadsheets to fill the gap? Or on-line statements?
4) What happened when you were not able to provide everything?

From what I gather from the forums, most people have been pretty good at keeping paper copies of bills and bank statements in the few months before filing. It seems rare that a TRUSTEE will ask for anything much more, except if you run into a 2004 examination or some such. Then, it seems a 2 year is often requested (though they can of course dig more years in the past).

I thought people's experiences would be helpful for all of us in the "preparation phase". Better to be prepared and honest, well ahead of the post-filing panic days...

Thanks to all who can share.

[BornAgain]

1) How far back did your trustee ask you for?

Just the most recent bank statements to show balance at filing date.

2) How far back were you able to provide your trustee in "paper copies"?

I filed pro se, was prepared with everything going back 2 to 3 years (even have Quicken to 1995). I just file statements in a filing cabinet; most here seem to throw them away. But for all that preperation I had to turn over only about 6 sheets of paper at the 341.

3) Did you have to rely on Quicken or other home spreadsheets to fill the gap? Or on-line statements?

I used Quicken a lot in the planning stages, and for filling out my forms. Super handy. And I was able to scan for trouble easily, knowing where each balance transfer, deposit, etc. occurred.

4) What happened when you were not able to provide everything?

Didn't happen to me, but I saw others at the 341 who were miserably unprepared -- and they even had lawyers!

Good luck to you. Sounds like you're one of the one's who's on top of things. You'll do well.

[jribe]

I'm not going to answer all these questions, haven't filed yet...

BUT- i do work in the banking industry and can tell you that you can go into your bank and get up to 7 years of statements.

I believe each state has a different requirement on what their retention is..

Now, they will charge you if you ask for that much! But i can be done, for those of you thinking you need to save them..

Can I start a thread to share experiences on this topic?

I often read that trustees or lawyers ask for 6 months, 1 year, 2 years worth of records. I doubt many of us kept paper copies of bank and credit card statements that far back. I can imagine that CC may not be that helpful to you once you are defaulting.

I have pretty good personal records on Quicken, but I wonder whether one's own records is that acceptable. I checked some of my accounts on-line, and lo and behold, they are no longer accessible to me as I have moved my funds elsewhere.

So, here are some questions:

1) How far back did your trustee ask you for?
2) How far back were you able to provide your trustee in "paper copies"?
3) Did you have to rely on Quicken or other home spreadsheets to fill the gap? Or on-line statements?
4) What happened when you were not able to provide everything?

From what I gather from the forums, most people have been pretty good at keeping paper copies of bills and bank statements in the few months before filing. It seems rare that a TRUSTEE will ask for anything much more, except if you run into a 2004 examination or some such. Then, it seems a 2 year is often requested (though they can of course dig more years in the past).

I thought people's experiences would be helpful for all of us in the "preparation phase". Better to be prepared and honest, well ahead of the post-filing panic days...

Thanks to all who can share.

[Bankruptcy20]

Thanks, I hope the banking history is easy.

But, I don't know whether I want to "deal" with calling credit card companies, and ask for their statements, and have them ask me for payments!

By the way, is history relevant for cards that you have paid off? For example, I paid off my Amex card each month until recently. Do I need to have records for just those charges and since then? Or, do I need to call Amex for two years history, when I've paid them all off on time? Seems a bit silly to go back on cards where it's all been paid off, but if trustees want to waste their time on that stuff, I'd rather know now and get it all prepared before collection agencies/CC get too hostile.

Thanks

[LuciluS]

Haven't filed yet, but worked on packet received from our Attorney.

He wants 6 yrs. of Bank Statements on hand. He wanted a list of the date each Credit Card was opened, any transactions over $600 and all balance transfers. It took me over 2 weeks to go through all of them.

Any Asset Sale/Purchase for the last 10 yrs. including vehicles and homes. Again, very time consuming. Copies of Homeowners & Vehicle Insurance, Accidental Death, Disability or Life Insurance Policies too.

However, if we are randomly picked for an audit or Trustee wants one I will be prepared.

If it hasn't been very long since you stopped paying your Credit Cards, you can go online & print the statements back to I think 7 yrs. You can pull your Bank Statements too.

I know one thing. I wish I had never signed up for paperless billing as it was very time consuming to print CC Statements.

Filing 9/30/09 when some income drops off, but quit paying all but 1 CC in late 9/08. Ther other one, I had a balance transfer to get a lower rate & Attorney had me make 3 minimum payments & add an extra $25 to each payment.

Luci

[Vanda]

1) How far back did your trustee ask you for?

10 months prior to filing

2) How far back were you able to provide your trustee in "paper copies"?

I had to pay to get the statements I was missing but I got them everything they asked for.

3) Did you have to rely on Quicken or other home spreadsheets to fill the gap? Or on-line statements?

in some cases I was able to use online statements.

4) What happened when you were not able to provide everything?

I did provide everything, or rather, have provided everything so far!

[jribe]

if they ask for the statements- they want the statements. Sometimes they want to see if there was a pattern.. It looks good though if you were paying in full every month. It just means that something changed for you financially.

That's how it was with me. I always paid everything off every month- no worries. Then my husband lost his job.. sorry tangent!

Anyway- if they want say, 6 months statements- just get them for each card (paid in full or not).

I printed out two years of cc statements before i stopped paying them; so that i didn't have to make that call...

I don't think they can withold the statements just because you're not paying them anymore. They just may drag their feet a little.

I would request them ASAP, just in case!

Thanks, I hope the banking history is easy.

But, I don't know whether I want to "deal" with calling credit card companies, and ask for their statements, and have them ask me for payments!

By the way, is history relevant for cards that you have paid off? For example, I paid off my Amex card each month until recently. Do I need to have records for just those charges and since then? Or, do I need to call Amex for two years history, when I've paid them all off on time? Seems a bit silly to go back on cards where it's all been paid off, but if trustees want to waste their time on that stuff, I'd rather know now and get it all prepared before collection agencies/CC get too hostile.

Thanks

[Lajazz947]

I'm not going to answer all these questions, haven't filed yet...

BUT- i do work in the banking industry and can tell you that you can go into your bank and get up to 7 years of statements.

I believe each state has a different requirement on what their retention is..

Now, they will charge you if you ask for that much! But i can be done, for those of you thinking you need to save them..

I don't know about CC statements but I had to get two years worth of checking statements for the trustee and I called Wells fargo, told them I was being audited by the IRS and got off with very little in cost.

[Bankruptcy20]

By the way, tangent question, does anyone know if all these years of statements gets added to PACER? A bit odd to have every transaction out there for the public to peruse... Or, is only the original petition and such filed on PACER, and these additional data requests by the trustee kept out of the public eye?

Thanks

[Vanda]

no your bank statements and stuff like that don't go on PACER. I am a PACER addict, I check it obsessively.

[Lajazz947]

no your bank statements and stuff like that don't go on PACER. I am a PACER addict, I check it obsessively.

Correct.

If pacer could be injected I would get my fix that way.

[sassiebaz]

what is Pacer, somebody please tell me!

[UhOh]

I was definitely an outlier.

UST got involved right from the start and requested 3 years of credit card statements, bank statements, hand written registers, notes, budget worksheets, car transactions, real estate transactions and applications for new credit.

Surprise. I have every transaction, receipt and statement dating back to my first check ever written in May 1980. YES I have retained every one. It took me at least 100 hours of work to organize the past three years and copy it. 2076 pages. I did not copy the receipts but piled them by date.

At the hearing, I was able to not only produce all of the statements but I also had receipts and I could remember a good percentage of the purchases.

Results are still pending but they got their answers. By the way...once this is over, I intend to destroy all of that evil credit documentation!

[Vanda]

Sassie, PACER is an online service where you can view documents and stuff that is public record. Although it's "only" $.08 a page it's really adds up if you are constantly looking like I am. You can set up an account and if you force yourself to check it infrequently it's a good tool because you will always know what's going on. I often find out things before my attorney.
Uhoh, that is incredible record keeping.

[Bankruptcy20]

Uhoh,

I have to say you are giving me a heart-attack. Can you share something about why you received such an outlier-scrutiny? Hoping you tried to exempt a Rolls Royce or something, so I can feel better...