It Went Bad After 341 Hearing

[Needhelpfast]

It went bad after my 341 hearing. There was no preparation on my attorney's behalf. They didn't file a skeletal, but a full Chapter 7 filing without verifying any of the debt details with me. Even the trustee described the filing as shoddy and was questioning me at the hearing.

My attorney's paralegal filed a full Chapter 7 filing and then made amendments. My bank accounts got frozen. They did not verify any of the details with me before filing and after filing they made amendments to correct one of my mortgage debts and to correct my bank accounts.

At the 341 hearing, the trustee questioned the attorney and me.

Is there anyway now to correct this or to drop this Chapter 7 filing?

[justbroke]

You can't just drop a Chapter 7. The only way is to file a Motion to Voluntarily Dismiss... and the Trustee may not allow it. The way to make corrections is through amendment.

What worries me is that you have to actually sign the petition (or at least a certification of your signature), before the attorney can file the petition. Did you review the petition before filing it?

I'm not here to pick apart your filing, but how much did you pay for this attorney? Additionally, did the Trustee "continue" your 341 Meeting or say that it was "concluded". If it was "concluded", then you are done and nothing needs to be amended. If the Trustee "continued" your meeting, then your attorney needs to update your paperwork.

[Needhelpfast]

Thanks for your response, justbroke. The amendments themselves raised speculation from the trustee. I didn't sign the petition. The attorney filed it without telling me they were going to file it, so I had no chance to even review it. No one at their office informed me before the filing. I paid $5,000 for the attorney and it was to include the foreclosure defense against my loan mortgage bank. The Trustee sent me a summary of the hearing and said he will be investigating some more and that another hearing hasn't been scheduled.

[AngelinaCat]

How did you answer the questions: "Have you reviewed the petition, and is everything correct?" and "Did you sign the petition?"

Please tell me that you answered "NO" to all of these. Remember you were under oath to tell the truth.

[justbroke]

It's my personal opinion, and not law, but I think that attorney owes you some of his/her fee back. That's a lot of money for a Chapter 7 unless you have a business (or recently operated one), or have a really complex case. Even with the foreclosure defense, I don't know why it would be over $4K ($2.5K for Chapter 7 and $1.5K for foreclosure defense).

But that's just me! Also, AngelinaCat does bring up a good point on signing the petition! I don't think the Trustee was out of line on this one.

[Needhelpfast]

I may have to contact the Trustee directly and tell him the full story. The attorney even raised his voice when I told him it was their error. Two days after the 341 hearing, the attorney said he struck a deal with the Trustee and the Trustee said he is fining me $5,000 and the attorney $5,000. Should I tell the attorney to fess up to the Trustee? I'm not sure what he told the Trustee for this "deal" of penalty to come about. The attorney does not answer my questions and he is always so busy he has to hang up the phone. Or should I talk to the Trustee directly?

[AngelinaCat]

I may have to contact the Trustee directly and tell him the full story. The attorney even raised his voice when I told him it was their error. Two days after the 341 hearing, the attorney said he struck a deal with the Trustee and the Trustee said he is fining me $5,000 and the attorney $5,000. Should I tell the attorney to fess up to the Trustee? I'm not sure what he told the Trustee for this "deal" of penalty to come about. The attorney does not answer my questions and he is always so busy he has to hang up the phone. Or should I talk to the Trustee directly?

You are going to have problems no matter what you do. Since you are 'represented by counsel' the trustee is not going to want to talk to you at all. You will be directed to talk to your attorney. Believe me I know this; my 'Hub and I have a very similar situation. Try anyway! You'll never know if you don't.

You need to file a motion with the court to 'Dismiss Attorney and Go Pro Se"--if you feel up to handling it yourself. Very few attorneys will be willing to step in to another attorney's case,--especially when there are so many glaring errors--and clean it up. If you find one, he/she may come with a very large price tag.

You definitely need to file a complaint with your State's Bar Association against this attorney, and the law firm if he is a partner in one.

In any case, make sure you courtesy copy any, and ALL correspondence about this attorney to your trustee.

I don't know what else to suggest at this point. Perhaps some of the other members will have suggestions. At the VERY LEAST, get to work on the Complaint to the Bar Association. That *may* get the attorney's attention.....

[Needhelpfast]

Thank you AngelinaCat for your help. It seems I am truly stuck because I can't have this dismissed to start over nor will the Trustee even talk to me. Is there anyway to "hint" to the Trustee that there is nothing filed with the attorney that has my signature on the filing? The attorney does not have any of the documents with wet signatures on file that have my actual signatures on any of the pages that were reviewed and signed prior to filing.

[jetsfan2010]

I hope this works out for you.

[despritfreya]

Ok, I have a real problem with this thread. If OP was a "victim" of a bad attorney then OP is not the one to be "fined". Sounds like the attny agreed to disgorge his fees ($5,000) to the Trustee for some reason. But OP, without a Court Order or some stipulation between the parties after an investigation as to what transpired, should not be paying anything. Something is not right here. A Trustee does not impose a fine. Only the Judge has that authority. A Trustee compromises a dispute and enters into a Court approved settlement. We are not getting the whole story.

Des.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Plain and simple, this guy is playing our Forum for sucker.

[bcohen]

I agree. The trustee is not a sovereign entity in and of itself. The trustee must file a motion with the court requesting that the judge penalize the debtor for "abuse".

Also, I have never heard of attorney's fees of $5k for a Chapter 7. Even the most expensive attorneys I visited were charging $2500-$3k to file a Chapter 7, and that was including the court costs and debtor's education online class.

I could have gotten a Ch. 7 filed for $2k all-inclusive--by a well-regarded attorney here--but I changed my mind and decided not to file at that time.

[kjrmom911]

Plain and simple, this guy is playing our Forum for sucker.

I have to agree here, something just seems wrong with this whole thing. How in the world could anyone file without signing anything anyways? Maybe I am naive, but what is the point in stirring this up anyways.

[mountanddo]

What would the purpose be for doing this? Bored on a Saturday night? I don't understand people sometimes!

[justbroke]

mountanddo, when people don't understand something or there's no one to explain it to them, they will make up their own reasons to try to grasp what's going on. Des is very respected here, and is an attorney. We don't understand "how" the Trustee can fine you personally since the Trustee has absolutely no power on this planet to impose any fine. The Trustee is not "The Court" and can only do things by agreement. Even with those agreements, it must still be signed off by a judge!

In any event, the fees appear high and is also appears that the attorney didn't earn his/her fees. That the Trustee is seeking to have the attorney's fees disgorged, means a lot.