I thought I would share my reaffirmation hearing experience with all of you considering reaffirmation or who have pending reaffirmation hearings. Just realize that my experience may vary from yours (different judges, districts, etc).
In case you're wondering, I am a Chapter 7, no asset, pro se case.
1. I had to tell Toyota (my creditor) that I wanted to reaffirm the debt. They then sent me a reaffirmation agreement that I signed and returned to them. Toyota then filed the reaffirmation agreement with the court.
2. If you are filing pro se, or if your lawyer refuses to sign off on your reaffirmation agreement, you are required to attend a reaffirmation hearing.
3. After the court received the reaffirmation agreement filing from Toyota, they scheduled a court hearing and sent me an order to appear. I had to call and find out where the location was, so just make sure you know where the hearing is ahead of time.
4. This is nothing like the 341 hearing. At the 341 hearing, you are in front of a Trustee and everyone is dressed in whatever they want to wear (I saw people in shorts and flip flops at my 341 hearing). Your reaffirmation hearing is before an actual judge in his/her court room. You will be surrounded by lawyers wearing suits and there is a dress code posted. The judge mentioned this policy when he saw people walking in wearing jeans and shorts. They were allowed to stay, but aggravating the judge is never a good thing, so dress appropriately!
5. There will be a variety of cases; the judge is not just hearing reaffirmations. I think all of them were financial/bankruptcy related, but many of them contained criminal complaints. I mention this because even though you may be on the 10am docket, you may have to sit through cases that require testimonies, arguments etc. My case was not heard until 11am.
6. When I was finally called, I was escorted to the podium where the judge began explaining what a reaffirmation agreement was, how it worked, how it could hurt me in the future etc. After explaining this to me, he asked me if I understood.
7. He then asked me about my financial situation, including my take home pay and how much my expenses are excluding the car payment.
8. Then he asked me about my job and how stable it was.
9. He asked me about the car: how much do I owe on it, how much is it worth, is it in good condition. He also asked me if I have ever been late on a car payment, and if so, was I now caught up. Actually, he asked me this twice because I indicated that I was late before, but that I was caught up now.
10. He finally instructed me to convince him that signing the reaffirmation agreement would be in my best interest.
He was satisfied with my answers and signed the reaffirmation agreement, but I got this impression that he did not want to. He kept telling me about my rights and that I could even rescind the reaffirmation agreement after he signs it if I decide I don't want to keep the car. In the end, however, I think my superior litigation skills (
) convinced him that I knew what I was doing.
I should note that most people here discourage reaffirmation agreements, and with good reason: reaffirming the debt now holds you legally liable for something that you can just give back and not worry about. I reaffirmed the debt because I found nothing in VA law that allows ride through (a ride through means that some states allow the debtor to keep their property as long as their payments are made on time), and because I did not want to have to wonder if my car was going to be there in the morning. I also wanted to keep my bankruptcy secret and losing my car would certainly raise questions I did not want to field (I'm about to get a promotion). These are personal reasons, however, and you have to decide if reaffirmation is appropriate for you.
In case you're wondering, I am a Chapter 7, no asset, pro se case.
1. I had to tell Toyota (my creditor) that I wanted to reaffirm the debt. They then sent me a reaffirmation agreement that I signed and returned to them. Toyota then filed the reaffirmation agreement with the court.
2. If you are filing pro se, or if your lawyer refuses to sign off on your reaffirmation agreement, you are required to attend a reaffirmation hearing.
3. After the court received the reaffirmation agreement filing from Toyota, they scheduled a court hearing and sent me an order to appear. I had to call and find out where the location was, so just make sure you know where the hearing is ahead of time.
4. This is nothing like the 341 hearing. At the 341 hearing, you are in front of a Trustee and everyone is dressed in whatever they want to wear (I saw people in shorts and flip flops at my 341 hearing). Your reaffirmation hearing is before an actual judge in his/her court room. You will be surrounded by lawyers wearing suits and there is a dress code posted. The judge mentioned this policy when he saw people walking in wearing jeans and shorts. They were allowed to stay, but aggravating the judge is never a good thing, so dress appropriately!
5. There will be a variety of cases; the judge is not just hearing reaffirmations. I think all of them were financial/bankruptcy related, but many of them contained criminal complaints. I mention this because even though you may be on the 10am docket, you may have to sit through cases that require testimonies, arguments etc. My case was not heard until 11am.
6. When I was finally called, I was escorted to the podium where the judge began explaining what a reaffirmation agreement was, how it worked, how it could hurt me in the future etc. After explaining this to me, he asked me if I understood.
7. He then asked me about my financial situation, including my take home pay and how much my expenses are excluding the car payment.
8. Then he asked me about my job and how stable it was.
9. He asked me about the car: how much do I owe on it, how much is it worth, is it in good condition. He also asked me if I have ever been late on a car payment, and if so, was I now caught up. Actually, he asked me this twice because I indicated that I was late before, but that I was caught up now.
10. He finally instructed me to convince him that signing the reaffirmation agreement would be in my best interest.
He was satisfied with my answers and signed the reaffirmation agreement, but I got this impression that he did not want to. He kept telling me about my rights and that I could even rescind the reaffirmation agreement after he signs it if I decide I don't want to keep the car. In the end, however, I think my superior litigation skills (
) convinced him that I knew what I was doing.I should note that most people here discourage reaffirmation agreements, and with good reason: reaffirming the debt now holds you legally liable for something that you can just give back and not worry about. I reaffirmed the debt because I found nothing in VA law that allows ride through (a ride through means that some states allow the debtor to keep their property as long as their payments are made on time), and because I did not want to have to wonder if my car was going to be there in the morning. I also wanted to keep my bankruptcy secret and losing my car would certainly raise questions I did not want to field (I'm about to get a promotion). These are personal reasons, however, and you have to decide if reaffirmation is appropriate for you.
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