Afraid of 341 Meeting...

[lotsahats]

I am considering filing for Chapter 7, but I have this nagging fear about the 341 Meeting. If a creditor chooses to show up, could they object to a bankruptcy? I'm just afraid that, at my 341, they'll say, "Oh, no you don't! We want our money!"

[Benchracer52]

Here is one consolation. I know of a guy who just went thru a bad BK and 341 - family, ex business people and other local creditors showed up and raised all kinds of cain. At the end of it all - he was granted a discharge and it was closed.

These people did everything they knew to ruin his life with the BK court. All to no avail.

[frogger]

I'm just afraid that, at my 341, they'll say, "Oh, no you don't! We want our money!"

It just doesn't work like that. Chill out and have no fear. Provided you are honest with your bk filing, you will have no problems. Period.

[sunshinepa]

Frogger is right on the money. Heck, if it worked like that, there would be no discharges showing up on this forum...LOL. Relax and do what you have to do for a debt free life!

[AngelinaCat]

Read through the 'stickies' in the 341 Section. Those will give you an idea of how to prepare and what to expect. It is a very rare occurrence when a creditor shows up at a 341 and objects.

As Frogger said, as long as you are honest, there will be no problem. Welcome to the Forum!

[lotsahats]

Thanks, guys. I knew I was being silly.

[NewPage]

Don't be afraid -- it really will be okay. My 341 was no sweat; reading through the 341 forum here will help you I bet. You'll see that there are a lot more "well, that was easy!" posts than not :-)

[pikaroth]

Let me just agree with everyone: you have nothing to worry about. When the time comes, I don't think anything written here will calm your nerves, but that is normal. The odds of a creditor showing up are so amazingly slim that it's almost not even worth mentioning. The most important thing of all is to be completely honest. Given that, you will be fine.

[MakinMeCrazy]

Hi!
You are just like I was.......I was sooooooo TERRFIED of my 341 it was unbelieveable..no sleep.a nervous wreck.....crying...short tempered..........FINALLY ,,,,,,A STROKE!!!!!!!!! I actually had an occular stroke from the stress./......
My debt was mostly gambling money, and I was certain I was going to get in some real trouble with the Trustee....I expected a real chatising.
NEVER HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!! he was soooooooo nice and unjudgemental. 3 questions..about 3 minutes~!~!~!~!
1--------name
2-------did you sign these BK papers
3--------what brought you to this point? answer..the economy............HIM: thats NOT an answer
ME: well I admit because of the economy, the only way I thought I could get ahead is by hoping to WIN some money HIM: OK..........good luck

THAT WAS IT! HE WAS SO KIND AND NOT JUDGEMENTAL AT ALL I WAS VERY VERY FORTUNATE .....
and in a group of maybe 5 other filers I was the first one called ........I was shaking!

Anyways...don't worry....you'll wiond up like I did..or worse......Luckily my stroke was only in one eye and the nerves not muscles of my one side of the face. Vision is back....face no longer tingles and since my discharge thigs are so much better..

OH and finally NOT one creditor was there...not for me or the others in the room with me.....
Best of Luck to you.......it'll be ok........
\

[MakinMeCrazy]

One more thing .please forgive my TYPOS! I just can't type

[btbeme]

If you have the opportunity, take a visit to the local courthouse and sit in on a few 341 meetings being held by your Trustee. You can sit in completely silent and anonymous. The meeting times are public information and are usually available on the Internet. Most Trustees hold a 30 minute meeting where they hear 5-6 cases. If you can afford to spend an hour, you will likely see the whole gamut of cases - mostly they fly through, but some will get hammered. You will also notice that the ones who get hammered generally deserve to be hammered because of their poor preparation, illogical or missing documentation, or because they think they are smarter than the Trustee and try to play "cute" rather than being honest.

Ch 7 isn't a fun thing, and it is OK to be upset or nervous about the process. If it was fun, they would call it "camp" and everyone would do it each summer.

Hey, if you need to do a BK, just do it. Be honest in your filing. Get good advice here and from a few good attorneys. Even if your case is a supposed "slam-dunk" I still recommend a good attorney who will be there for you to prep your filing and will back you up in case something goes sideways.

The worst you can do is postpone your decision until you have no options or control over the process. The 341 is nothing more than a legal formality if your filing is complete and honest. I posted a few "What I Learned" postings several months back that summarize ... um ... what I learned, including the Big Step of making a decision and notes about the 341.

[rustymich]

Your not being silly this is a very stressful time

Read through the 'stickies' in the 341 Section. Those will give you an idea of how to prepare and what to expect. It is a very rare occurrence when a creditor shows up at a 341 and objects.

As Frogger said, as long as you are honest, there will be no problem. Welcome to the Forum!

[frogger]

You will also notice that the ones who get hammered generally deserve to be hammered because of their poor preparation, illogical or missing documentation, or because they think they are smarter than the Trustee and try to play "cute" rather than being honest.

Now these are fun to watch! When the trustee brings out the hammer and starts pounding, the debtor figures out really quick that they have pee'd in their corn flakes. As stated, these are well deserved.

[mom2crazies]

Don't stress about the 341. I was really worried because the 2nd mortgage that was suing us in our foreclosure had been such pains to deal with. They didn't show (nobody did). If you are honest, and have done your paperwork properly, you have nothing to worry about. I don't know what happens when they object, but most likely they won't and even if they did, they have to prove it (and that takes more of their time and money...which is not cost effective because I would imagine they would lose if it's an honest filing.)

[pikaroth]

I dug up my post concerning my experience at the 341. If you have the time, feel free to read it. Hopefully it can make you feel just a little better! Also, as others have said, and I wish I would have done this, you should go and sit in on some.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...one!-My-review.