Post 341 Meeting (Forgotten Creditor)

[kvangild]

So I had my 341 Meeting on May 18th of this year and I have seemed to have forgotten an online creditor that must have slipped though my memory. I only discovered it when I came across one of their old emails a few days ago. I've looked through the forum and seen a couple of different entries on whether or not to sweat it ( I seemed to remember something about 9th district of court). I'm in the Northern District of Iowa so I'm pretty sure that it needs to be amended? I've already tried to contact my lawyer but have yet to hear back from him (3 days now). Any advice or suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance............

[justbroke]

You are not discharged yet, so you could file an amendment for $26 (plus whatever your lawyer wants to charge you) to update your schedules. Whether you need to , depends on the District you're in and whether you're a no-asset case. If it's a decent amount of money (don't ask me what "decent" is), or you expect trouble from this creditor, you may want to spend the $26.

[kvangild]

No asset case. It's a debt of roughly $1800

[justbroke]

That could be worth the $26. Just to avoid the hassles later. (As 'Hub writes below, find out if they "know" of your Bankruptcy. If they do... jot down the date/time, phone number you called, and the person you talked to. That means they were notified. )

[AngelinaCatHub]

Find out if this creditor is affiliated with any creditor you did declare. I had two I did not list as I intended to pay them. When I attempted to pay, both accounts no longer existed as they were attached to Citi and I listed that one. What a deal, as I had no choice not to pay them.

See if this is true for you. Otherwise amend. 'Hub

[kvangild]

Does anyone know if this creditor is affiliated with any big companies? It was through Check N' Cash in the state of KS but this bank provided the funding. It's not listed on my credit report (part of the reason i missed it)

FIRST BANK OF DELEWARE
2 Liberty Place 50 South 16 th Street, Suite 2400
Philadelphia, PA 19102
BALANCE$1800.19

[justbroke]

As I posted earlier, the best way to tell if they were "notified" is to call them and ask them if they know you filed for Bankruptcy. I know that I can't tell you who they are affiliated with.

[kvangild]

Thanks Justbroke and i'll check it out tomorrow.

[MrSmithster]

you probably need to amend schedule F, pay the $26 and notify the creditor and the trustee and also file a proof of service with the court listing creditor and trustee on an attached service list. i did it and it showed on Pacer right away. you can down load all the forms online if you want to do it yourself. whatever way, the sooner the better i would think.

[kvangild]

Update: Spoke to the Lawyer this morning and he said that as mentioned about we can file a Schedule F for $26, plus a laywer fee of $150 (doesn't that seem high). My question is this fee reasonable? Can I do this pro se after he has handled a majority of my Chapter 7? (have access to Pacer)

[justbroke]

Update: Spoke to the Lawyer this morning and he said that as mentioned about we can file a Schedule F for $26, plus a laywer fee of $150 (doesn't that seem high). My question is this fee reasonable? Can I do this pro se after he has handled a majority of my Chapter 7? (have access to Pacer)

Ummm... I'm not trying to put the lawyer in a pickle, but it appears that you may have paid a low fee to the lawyer and anything he does outside a "no look" filing is extra.

Now, having wrote that... $150 is probably his hourly rate for extras and that rate, itself, is reasonable. The $26 is a court fee, so you can't get around that.

As I wrote earlier, call the Bank in question and ask if they know about your Bankruptcy. If they do, then they have already been "notified" and can't plead ignorance later, should they attempt to collect on the debt.

As to waiting for your case to complete... that's a non-starter. First, you would have to re-open your case which is.... drum roll please... $260. Then, most Districts believe that there is no need to re-open a No-Asset Chapter 7 case to add creditors as all debt acquired prior to the petition date (filing date), unless re-affirmed, is discharged

So, it's up to you. I'd ask why you have to pay the additional hourly fee and why it's not covered in your fee you already paid. Your lawyer will probably say that the flat fee you paid only included the petition, filing, and attending the 341 Meeting.

Also, ask you lawyer about In re Gilbert G. BEEZLEY v. CALIFORNIA LAND TITLE COMPANY 994 F.2d 1433 (9th Circuit). Which is from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. (Gilbert was a pro se filer on top of it! Good for him to go all the way!) This case basically concludes that all pre-petition debt, unless re-affirmed, is discharged in a no-asset Chapter 7 case.

http://altlaw.org/v1/cases/443006

[kvangild]

Sounds like I got ripped off because I paid him $1500 + court costs. I shopped around a bit but he was who I was most comfortable with.

[justbroke]

Sounds like I got ripped off because I paid him $1500 + court costs. I shopped around a bit but he was who I was most comfortable with.

No. You were not (particularly) ripped off. Many lawyers offer a menu of options. Some charge more because there are more items on the menu. A "no-look" Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for $1,500 is about right. That generally includes the preparation of the petition, filing (and filing fee included of $299), attending the 341Meeting and handling a very specified list of events. Any else, is usually "ala carte" and is offered at an hourly rate. That's standard.

I don't think you did anything particularly wrong by selecting the economical choice. Your case is a no-asset Chapter 7, so they tend to be quick and easy for lawyers... so they can advertise a low price. However, if something happens, you pay the hourly rate (plus costs). If you look at your service agreement with your lawyer, it's probably spelled out there.

So, no I don't particularly agree that your lawyer ripped you off.

[kvangild]

Ok, fair enough thanks.

[kvangild]

Does that $26 filing fee to Amend include more than one creditor? It's actually two and hopefully I don't have to pay $26 twice?