Making it to the 341

[empowered]

I'm a single below-the-median filer and have just learned that I must wait until nearly mid-September for my 341.

I hoped it would be before this end of this month. I'm basically at the end of my financial rope, even past it.

I don't know if I can find any odd jobs to help. There's not much work around and I have some financial commitments that can't be put off, in addition to paying rent.

What to do? There just don't seem to be a lot of options.

[researchnerd]

Have you stopped paying everything except living necessities?

[empowered]

Months back.

My unemployment is running out and because I lived in another state in the last years I have to file a new claim with that state but cannot file until the first runs out. At that point I'll have no money in the bank and I don't know how long it will take for the new claim to fall into place. I do know what it will be significantly less and that I can't hope to live on it. I'm already up against the wall, pretty much, so this isn't going to help.

[brokejoker]

What will change after your 341?

I'd say scrounge up the odd jobs and pound the pavement like crazy to find something to live off of. Apply for food stamps if you need to eat.

[empowered]

If I'm fortunate enough to find a job, which I have not been so far, it can alter the results of a 341 hearing or at least raise more questions. At least, I see lots of posts here where people worry about the fact that they just had their 341 and then got an offer. They worry that they'll be forced into Chapter 13 or that their Chapter 7 will be dismissed instead of discharged. I've read posts where people are told that your passage through the Chapter 7 process is generally not affected if you find a job after the 341 hearing.

[researchnerd]

Keep focusing on finding a job. If you happen to get one before your 341, you should mention it to your attorney and/or to the Trustee at the 341. They may want you to adjust your paperwork, but it all depends on your situation and may not impact your case a lot. As I understand it, eligibility for Ch7 is based on the 6-month lookback from the time you filed, not what you might earn next month.

If you haven't found a job by then, I can't imagine that BK will help your situation much, but at least you will have kept the job search momentum going.

[SMinGA]

You have already filed. Your situation at the time you filed is what matters. Taking a new job will not change that. The only things that could change in the future to impact your case would be something like an inheritance.

Stay in contact with your atty, but do what you need to do to move on. Making enough money to get by is not a crime, not even in the eyes of the trustee. Many do worry about this topic - but needlessly.

[tcreegan]

job or homeless shelter

Hi Empowered,

Get a job or check out the local homeless shelter. If you timed your filing around a job you knew in advance you would be getting, you might have some fraud problems. After living out all your unemployment, you are hardly a candidate for making over median income. If you can find a job, take it, you need it for the basics. Probably no need to alter anything since it will be post-filing.

Good luck to you,

Tom in Colo

[empowered]

Thanks for your responses. I was indeed hoping for a few more words about how I might be affected if I found a job before the 341 and also hoped to hear from people who had been in a similar situation. After initially freaking out yesterday I talked to an unemployed friend who has been making money participating in market research studies and came up with an item or two to sell so that I can pay the most critical bills before rent time and the need to establish an unemployment claim in my former state.

SMinGA, it sounds like you're saying that in most cases it does not jeopardize discharge if a person finds a job before the 341. I thought that disposable income was one of the key issues determining whether you'd be forced to do a Chapter 13, regardless of the last six months.