next chapter in my paltry assets saga.........

[bubbly]

Ok, apparently the latest is that the UST has filed "Notice of Assets" to creditors and the deadline for "Proof of Claim" is in MAY !!

Can someone 'splain this to me? Does this mean that there is no way in hell our case can close before at least May now?? Probably actually sometime in the middle of summer??

I think I'm gonna puke...................

Will it help at all if we move as quickly as possible to either tell the trustee to take our stuff or to make him the offer?

I have not heard from my lawyer about this (he got the letter, we were just copied on it). Guess I'm gonna have to call him.

The trustee did, however, write us a separate letter (and copied the lawyer) about sending him a check for the amount of our tax refund that he wants. Does anyone have any advice about whether I should just send him the check for the tax refund directly without talking to my lawyer? My lawyer is a "noodge" and I actually don't even know if he's still our lawyer. I think he may have done all he was contractually bound to do for our "chapter 7 bankruptcy fee". Does anyone know if the fee is supposed to cover assistance with asset recovery in a chapter 7 or are we gonna be getting the shaft from him?

Advice appreciated, as always.

Bubbly, who is very depressed and distressed

[bubbly]

bump

Anybody have any experience/knowledge in this?

Thx!

[bubbly]

thanks for the reply CR

I don't intend to lie about the "assets". They were fully disclosed on our schedules, I just didn't realize that they weren't considered part of our household goods.

I mean, the Trustee is asking for, among other items, our LAWNMOWER and "GARDEN TOOLS" which we put down worth about $25 & $20 respectively - and that's a stretch!

All we have is a couple of leaf rakes, a rusty shovel, maybe a couple hand trowels and crap like that, all in pisspoor shape. Maybe he thinks we have a whatchamacallit.......... um........(getting old is HELL! ) weedwhacker. No, I meant that soil turny over thingy .......... gawwwwwwwd, WHAT are they called????........cultivator? no.......ahhh CRIPES, this'll drive me crazy trying to remember.

Anyways, how are we getting the elusive "fresh start" from this bankruptcy if they take away our lawnmover, so we will get cited by the city for code violation if we can't afford to buy one before May, take away our garden tools, with which we grown some of our food to try and save money, take away our 5 year old computer which my teenage son uses for homework and papers, and without which he will probably start flunking things, take away our 10 - 20 year old VHS tapes (!) (WHAT IS THE POINT ???)

Sorry to vent a bit. I'm just so frustrated by what seems to me to be an abuse of the system by the trustee. If that guy could see our furniture and carpet and dishes I think he'd leave us our other stuff out of pity since it's the only stuff we have in the house that has ANY value!

I emailed my lawyer today to ask him how we should proceed and whether this "negotiation" with the Trustee is covered in our fee that we paid him, and I haven't heard back. I actually don't really expect to. I'll end up having to call him, he'll probably tell me any further "assistance" by him is gonna cost us and then I'll have to figure out WTF to do, since we can't afford to hire him AGAIN !!!!

Why can't my life be less RIDICULOUS ??!!!!!!!!!!!! ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!

[SinkingFast]

The only thing, lawn and garden wise, that cannot be considered a "Household" item, that's specifically stated in the New Law, is a Lawn Tractor. A Lawn Tractor has to be considered a vehicle for inventory purposes.

I've seen push mowers, riding mowers, "assorted lawn and garden tools" all listed on people's schedules. One attny even told us to list our riding mower at $100 in value. We even have a gas powered weed whacker. Worth about $25-$50 now. We only paid around $200 for it new several years ago.

Might you have been referring to a roto tiller??

I hope you get this all resolved quickly!! This is so unreal!!

[StaciMM]

Read thru your petitoin-make sure everything is listed correctly. If YOU know you have next to nothing, but the trustee is fishing, perhaps HE isn't aware. If the paperwork is wrong (such as having an extra 'zero' in the value of something, or listing something twice) the trustee would go after something you don't have.

[bubbly]

Sinking

We filed old law and I'm not sure about the household goods exemption, but taking away our lawnmower and garden tools seems counterproductive !

These things were listed separately on our schedules apparently because there are specific spaces for listing them. I have heard that some lawyers just lump everything in under the household goods exemption. Wish ours had done that.

Seriously, most everything in our house is crap, other than the VHS tapes & DVD's and their players. Our digital camera is about the "sh!t the bed", our CD boombox is old and dented and stained, our comp is full of viruses and trojans and stuff and we can't get rid of them. It takes 10 minutes after startup to get rid of the pop up screens and other weird stuff before you can use it. Something is wrong with the HD and we can't do a defrag or anything because is gets gummed up. We can't run Spybot because some virus or other got into IT and if we try to run it the comp shuts down. We can, however, use Word for school papers and surf the net after clearing up the popup crap, which is all we need at this point. I just hate the thought of having to go buy a new comp when this old POS works for what we need, but it damn sure isn't going to make an auction buyer happy !

ROTO TILLER !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah ! Whopppeeee ! THANK YOU. That's it ! Boy, I feel better now!

I'm not sure how quickly it will get resolved. If we give up the "assets", I've heard of cases where the assets don't sell and the case is open for YEARS :-(

It's so stressful feeling like they are looking over your shoulder all the time. A couple of weeks ago I went and bought new underwear because ALL mine has holes in it, bras included (I haven't been able to afford new in a couple of years!), and I actually felt GUILTY for buying it !! Like if the Trustee knew I bought underwear he'd be berating me for not giving that money to the creditors. This SUCKS.

Thanks for the sympathy though. I hope your case goes much smoother!

[bubbly]

Staci

I looked over the petition & schedules and everything is in order. The estimated values are all what we intended.

I think the trustee may just be trying to scare us into coughing up some dough, but what he doesn't seem to get, it BANKRUPT PEOPLE DON'T HAVE MONEY !!!!!!!!! That's why we're bankrupt !!

He's just trying to "hit us where it hurts" because the stuff he wants is the ONLY stuff we have worth ANYthing :-(

[AMISLANDER]

hmmm....

....jeeze....I forgot to list my dental work...I guess that's the only thing of value left...the tv tends to go into a tie-dye haze every once in a while...I kept telling my boyfriend not to put the electronic equipment so close to each other....oh well...maybe it's also a good thing that everything got sold for dope years ago...lol....there's got to be some humour in losing your material goods, right? But seriously, these trustees are starting to strike me as real life grinches......and the guys that repo cars, man are they not the quietest dudes around....LST, my friend's truck got repo'd the other day...wife was getting the kids ready for daycare, had just put car seats in car, went to get kids dressed, lunches, etc...came back & truck was gone...they didn't even take the car seats out...

[edwards2]

How embarrassing for your friend....those repo guys can be so ruthless...I work for the BBB and we get calls all the time from people saying that their vehicles have been repossessed and they took everything from car seats, books, etc. I know they dont want those things but apparently it is really difficult to get your things back once they take the vehicle. A friend of mine had that happen to her. In the early morning hours they came and took their vehicle. She was so humiliated and embarrassed especially since she had to explain to the kids why they didnt have their car anymore. They are doing much better now fortunately.

[Jenny]

I once worked with a guy who had worked for a finance company and repossessed cars. He and another guy went to a person's house to repossess their car. The owner pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at them and told them to get off his property. They left and went back with the local sheriff. One of the reasons they repossess quietly and quickly is for their safety. Obviously not everyone would pull a gun, but some might, and who wants to take that chance? They should set up a system, however, to get people their belongings back.

[edwards2]

That is true Jenny. I worked for a bank part time in their collection department. Once a car payment was 3 months delinquent their repo crew went out to get the vehicle. They told us horror stories about consumers...like the one you described..pulling a gun on them. I hope repo is their last resort though; I would at least give the consumer a chance to bring the car to them. I know they probably hear every story known to man but I cant believe the majority of people who do default do it intentionally. Things happen like they have to us.

[SinkingFast]

I think it's an issue of how the Household exemptions were or are written. Federal and State.

Old Law, Federal, may not have had a provision for computers.

New Law, Federal, states Household items are specifically limited to

"clothing; furniture; appliances; 1 radio; 1 television; 1 VCR; linens; china; crockery; kitchenware; educational materials and equipment for minor dependents; medical equipment and supplies; furniture for children and elderly or disabled dependents; personal effects (including toys and hobby equipment of dependent children and wedding rings) of the debtor and the dependents of the debtor; and 1 personal computer and related equipment"

At another website, I found this statement:

"(Sec. 313) Defines a debtor's household goods to include specified items. Excludes from such goods: (1) electronic entertainment equipment, antiques or jewelry with more than $500 in aggregate fair market value; (2) works of art; (3) more than one personal computer and related equipment; and (4) motor vehicles, boats, motorized recreational devices, conveyances, vehicles, watercraft, or aircraft."

There's no provision in either statement for lawn and garden tools and lawn care equipment.

Bubbly isn't the first Old Law poster to have a Trustee come after their computer, so maybe computers weren't specifically mentioned in the Federal Old Law exemptions. If computers aren't mentioned in your State's definition of Household Goods, and you filed Old Law, the Trustee can take your computer, if you itemized it.

Bubbly isn't the first Old Law poster to have a Trustee come after additional personal property of little or no value. Check out Scooter's post on page 2 of this thread:

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...&highlight=410

I'd guess, what the Trustee will or won't ask for, can depend in part on whether you itemize a list of property, and what the State and Federal Exemptions specifically state you can and cannot exempt.