I am just writing to share my experience. This website has been very helpful so I thought I'd offer anything that I can. I filed Ch 7 without an attorney in the first week of Oct. I filed pro se because I could not afford the attorney and I believed that I was smart enough to do the right research and navigate through the process. I had a no asset case, so the paperwork was pretty straight forward. Because I knew I was going to file for bankruptcy, I purchased an old used car and surrendered my car to creditor about a week after filing. The creditor was a credit union, for which I also had a personal loan, so the car would not have been exempt due to the Cross Collateral clause. So, I just gave the car up on good terms, because I do hope that they can sell the car for a good price to recover their losses (my debt). I am current on my mortgage and submitted the agreement to reaffirm the debt. No word from mortgage lender yet. In MD, one of the requirements was to submit a list of creditors on a cd or floppy disk in a particular format. I submitted a CD with a label that had my name on it. I also printed the list and included with my paperwork.
So, today I had my 341 meeting and I was so nervous. A few had attorneys so I kind of eavesdropped to listen to their advice. They didn't say anything that I hadn't read on this forum. The debtors with attorneys were called first but the process only took about 5-10 minutes/case. When I was called, I was sworn in and the trustee was delighted with my paperwork. He seemed a little shocked and asked me where did I get all of the forms. He did not question any of my exemptions, except the beta fish that was listed as my pet. He thought it was funny, for which I responded the fish died about 2 weeks after I filed.
One thing to note is that the Meeting of Creditors Notice DID NOT ask for my tax returns, paystubs or bank statement. So on a whim, I called the trustee last week (who was quite nice!) and was told to bring them with me. So, definitely be prepared and bring (in MD) last 2 yrs of tax returns, bank statements for month that case was filed and about 4 paystubs. He took a brief look over them and then I was gone. All within 5 minutes!
I hope this helps, even if at least to ease any tension/nervousness.
So, today I had my 341 meeting and I was so nervous. A few had attorneys so I kind of eavesdropped to listen to their advice. They didn't say anything that I hadn't read on this forum. The debtors with attorneys were called first but the process only took about 5-10 minutes/case. When I was called, I was sworn in and the trustee was delighted with my paperwork. He seemed a little shocked and asked me where did I get all of the forms. He did not question any of my exemptions, except the beta fish that was listed as my pet. He thought it was funny, for which I responded the fish died about 2 weeks after I filed.
One thing to note is that the Meeting of Creditors Notice DID NOT ask for my tax returns, paystubs or bank statement. So on a whim, I called the trustee last week (who was quite nice!) and was told to bring them with me. So, definitely be prepared and bring (in MD) last 2 yrs of tax returns, bank statements for month that case was filed and about 4 paystubs. He took a brief look over them and then I was gone. All within 5 minutes!
I hope this helps, even if at least to ease any tension/nervousness.
Closed November 2010
discharged: 2/22/11
I am soooo totally not a lawyer, but i wish i had married one! Does that count for anything?
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