A few questions

[MrJames]

Hi folks,new here and I must say this place is a welcomed site to my tired eyes.

My wife and I decided we had to file chapter 7 as we can not handle our bills any more and our home/debt is crushing us. we where givin the name of a good attorney and we went to our first free meeting thingy and gave all our info and what not and paid half her fees and went in this past friday and paid the rest. I was hoping to be able to speak to her that day but apparently she is very busy. now that we have paid all our attorney fees,have taken our counsling classes and turned in our certs and all other needed documents to the attorney what is the next step? do we just set back and let her do her thing now? since we have paid her now how long does it usually take to file the patition and will we have to go back to the attorney for anything else or is our next step the 341 meeting?{which has me nervous as all get out}

also we are giving up the house and my truck in the BK and reaffirming her car. my question is since we can not afford our mortgage anymore who is responsible for the insurance and taxes on it and the property? we have the escrow thing and our spring/summer taxes have been paid and think our insurance has been paid for the year{or maybe six months} but eventually the money in our escrow will run out and most likely before the BK is done and we have to leave the home. once we leave the home will I start getting tax bills and insurance bills on it?

and also in August of last year we financed a TV{with 1year defered payments so we have yet to even make a payment on it} and at the time my wife was working and I was bringing home great pay checks plus monthly bonuses and we had planned on saving my bonus checks until we got our tax returns after the first of the year and paying the TV off all at once but in Nov of last year we lost some large contracts at my work and they cut our hours and took away our bonuses.
then Feb of this year my wife lost her job so we started hurting for money in the worst of ways. we where only able to pay our mortgage,vehicles,insurance and utilities with my income and we used our savings to put food on the table and gas in our vehicles the little money we had saved up was gone quickly so I was forced to sell some things like guns and other things that we really did not need {the TV included}
I sold the TV to a friend and if I can come up with the money he said he will give it back no problem.
will they request this TV be returned since I have yet to make a payment on it?
obviously its not worth what I owe on it since it is used and 1 year old...would it be wise to start saving some money up{which will be very to do} to try and get the TV back incase they want it back to sell to pay the creditor{we got it using a store card that is through CITI} or should we just forget about it and stop worrying?
my wife and I have never really had anything and the only major "luxery" item we have ever had was that TV. we have quit a bit of CC debt that was accumulated over the years but manily from home/vehicle repairs and what not and have not used any credit card since last Nov{pretty much because they where just about maxed out or else we would of been tempted to use them before we had to start selling some stuff...they all had pretty small limits on them}
I know these are all good questions to ask my attorney but I have no idea when Ill be able to talk to her next and these are things that have been eating at me al weekend.
sorry such a rambling first post{and I appologize for my grammer..or lack there of} thanks folks!

[music12]

mrjames, i can answer only a few of your questions, hopefully someone else will chime in.

your attorney is now supposed to prepare your petition based on the info you provided and have you look it over and sign it (though a few attorneys have you sign a blank form and fill it out later so you won't have to be back just for signing, but that's a serious no-no). to find out when that can be expected to happen, call up the lawyer and ask.

once its filed, you will get a date for your 341. usually lawyers prepare their clients for this by chatting with them for a couple of minutes right before. i felt i needed more so i asked for a meeting a week ahead of time, which made me feel better. also, search these forums for people's experiences at the 341. it will put your mind at ease.

how long ago did you sell the tv and was it for market value? if it's more than 90 days ago and for some reasonable price, you have nothing to worry about i think. also since you used the money for necessities, there shouldn't be a problem.

i don't know much about taxes on the home. but once it's discharged, certainly you won't owe taxes on it.

have you checked the timeframe for foreclosures in your area? you may have more time in this home than you might think. some people get to stay several months after they stop paying their mortgage until they are kicked out. it's a legal process that takes some time.

[MrJames]

Thank you very much!
It was around the first of may when I sold the TV, I sold it for close to what would be considered fair market value{maybe a $100-200 less for what they are going for on ebay} but it was also about $1,000 less than I owed on it.

thank you for the reply...like I said these would be great questions for my lawyer but sitting around here all weekend by myself I had time to think...and of course I had to think about all this crap. Ill be so happy when this is over.

[LuciluS]

I did a google on southwest indiana foreclosure time frame and it stated it took about 12 - 14 months to foreclose on homes. Indiana is one of top 10 states in the US in foreclosures.

I would stay in your home without making payments, at least & if not in any hurry, until your get a NOD (The NOD is a recorded notice that the loan is in default) which will come certified mail.

I would think you need to keep your normal insurance until you've moved from your home. After you have moved, I think you could reduce your insurance to just liability. The home will be in your name until they either auction it off or the lender buys it back. Even if a squatter moved into your vacant home illegally and he got hurt, he has the right to sue you.

Stay in your home as save the mortgage payments. You will need that money to rent a place. A lot of foreclosures are listed as rentals and with your bankruptcy, you may need to pay a couple of months worth of rent before moving in.

Go check out the foreclosure section of this forum. It might help you get a 'feel' for how long it is taking in Southwest Indiana till actual sale of home or lender buys it back. This might also be a good question for your Attorney.

We started our BK process late last Sept. and will Finally be filing this Sept. What I did was make a list of my questions and every two weeks I would email our BK Attorney and he usually replied within a couple of days. He gave me his email addy as he said it was faster to reply than using the phone.

The Paralegal in your Attorney's office maybe able to answer some of your questions also. He/She will admit if unsure of answer & usually will ask the Attorney.

Good Luck! and hope you get to stay in your home rent-free for at least a year. I'm with music on the TV. I don't think CITI will object to your BK.

Luci

[MrJames]

wow great info! thank you very much!!

one last question before I hit the hay. my attorney said that the folsk who our mortgage is through will most likely be at the 341..its a local credit union and our mortage and my turck are through them...she said they are known for coming to these 341 meetings but said we had nothing to worry about and will most likely just ask us when they can come get the truck.
I hear it is uncommon for creditors to go to these meetings so this makes me a bit uneasy.
the attorney says I have nothign to worry about but it seems kinda odd they would just show up to ask us when they can get the truck....they arent going to bombard us with questions and stuff are they?

[LuciluS]

Your Attorney probably knows if the CU will ask questions. I worked for a Credit Union in Southeastern Indiana. As most are small CUs, I could see where they would show up at the 341.

Just be honest and if you don't know the answer, look towards your Attorney for help. If she/he can't answer the question, then it goes unanswered. I'm sure the Trustee will control the meeting and won't let the CU have control.

As long as you are straight forward with your Chapter 7 and have told your Attorney practically everything about your life, there shouldn't be any issues with bad outcomes.

I know the expectation of the 341 is nerve wracking, but so many have posted it's a breeze. I wouldn't worry about it. I know when I turn in my paperwork for our 9/30/09 bankruptcy, every piece of paper has the most accurate information possible.

I can remember when the Debt Consolidation Co. told us that Sat. last Sept. we needed to see a BK Attorney which we did that week, I cried for two weeks. Then, I picked myself up & told myself you might as well start learning everything you can about BK.

Hubby found this forum and it was here I found out some monthly monies I was receiving would be deemed Income. That monthly money ceased this Feb. That's why we haven't filed yet. I want to be under the State Median Income which will happen using Mar - Aug Gross Income.

I'm sure our 341 will be sometime in Nov. and I've got my 'mind set' it will be a 'Breeze' LOL!

Luci

[music12]

don't worry about the CU. it's good to know ahead of time that they show up - that way you know it's not special to you. it's silly of them, because all they have to do to set up a time to get their truck back is to call up your attorney. for some reason, they think they need to show up for the 341. but they don't.