I was discharged a month ago and want to thank all of you. I had some questions throughout the process, some were answered and some were not, and I’d like to share my experience for those who are going through this. No hamsters or congrats please, but feel free to ask questions if you have them. I didn’t like reading ten posts of congrats and dancing hamsters each time someone was discharged. I wanted to read their story.
341 meeting: Be prepared to discuss your assets. The trustee looks at the satellite image of your property on Google and asks about vehicles he sees in your driveway. He seemed pretty proud of himself about that. You will walk out of the 341 meeting knowing what assets the trustee is going after.
Charging up credit cards: None of the creditors objected to the discharge. We had used a credit card 30 days before filing and wracked up about $1k of expenses on it. We had written out a cash advance check for $12k five months before filing. Not a word from the creditors.
Non-consumer: Our debts were primarily business debts. The means test and the schedules were not questioned in the 341. We were able to show no DMI on the schedules. I used the IRS standards for everything and the TT asked no questions about the “truthiness” of the expenses.
Household exemptions: The trustee did not send anyone to do a walk though of my house. He had a question about an old piano I had listed, but didn’t end up objecting to my exemption.
Existing businesses: We have a couple of ongoing businesses. We listed each as “liabilities exceed assets.” The only question the TT asked about them was whether they were all “encumbered.” We answered yes and he moved on. The TT did not ask for P&L of the existing businesses or of the closed businesses. It appeared as if he didn’t really care about them. We have had no interruption in the operation of our businesses.
Preferential transfers: The TT asked about my spouse’s father as a creditor. They evidently go through the creditor matrix to look for insiders. He asked if we had made any payments to him. We answered “no” and he moved on.
Planning ahead: I stressed about this for a year before we filed. Had I known how simple this process would be, I would have filed earlier. We have been going through hell these last three years. Each time we were ready to file we would find a reason not to. We waited as long as we could in order to be best prepared.
Documents: The only documents requested were a bank print-off of the balance on the day we filed, and our tax returns.
Attorney: Get an attorney. It adds credibility to your story. It was well worth the money.
Credit after filing: Within one week of filing we were bombarded with credit card and auto loan offers. We turned them all down. ☺
Just do it: We switched our phones to Google voice in order to avoid creditor calls. We cringed each time the doorbell rang thinking it was another process server. We hated checking the mail because there was usually a nasty-gram from a creditor. It’s all over now. We live peacefully and we are enjoying our fresh start.
341 meeting: Be prepared to discuss your assets. The trustee looks at the satellite image of your property on Google and asks about vehicles he sees in your driveway. He seemed pretty proud of himself about that. You will walk out of the 341 meeting knowing what assets the trustee is going after.
Charging up credit cards: None of the creditors objected to the discharge. We had used a credit card 30 days before filing and wracked up about $1k of expenses on it. We had written out a cash advance check for $12k five months before filing. Not a word from the creditors.
Non-consumer: Our debts were primarily business debts. The means test and the schedules were not questioned in the 341. We were able to show no DMI on the schedules. I used the IRS standards for everything and the TT asked no questions about the “truthiness” of the expenses.
Household exemptions: The trustee did not send anyone to do a walk though of my house. He had a question about an old piano I had listed, but didn’t end up objecting to my exemption.
Existing businesses: We have a couple of ongoing businesses. We listed each as “liabilities exceed assets.” The only question the TT asked about them was whether they were all “encumbered.” We answered yes and he moved on. The TT did not ask for P&L of the existing businesses or of the closed businesses. It appeared as if he didn’t really care about them. We have had no interruption in the operation of our businesses.
Preferential transfers: The TT asked about my spouse’s father as a creditor. They evidently go through the creditor matrix to look for insiders. He asked if we had made any payments to him. We answered “no” and he moved on.
Planning ahead: I stressed about this for a year before we filed. Had I known how simple this process would be, I would have filed earlier. We have been going through hell these last three years. Each time we were ready to file we would find a reason not to. We waited as long as we could in order to be best prepared.
Documents: The only documents requested were a bank print-off of the balance on the day we filed, and our tax returns.
Attorney: Get an attorney. It adds credibility to your story. It was well worth the money.
Credit after filing: Within one week of filing we were bombarded with credit card and auto loan offers. We turned them all down. ☺
Just do it: We switched our phones to Google voice in order to avoid creditor calls. We cringed each time the doorbell rang thinking it was another process server. We hated checking the mail because there was usually a nasty-gram from a creditor. It’s all over now. We live peacefully and we are enjoying our fresh start.
Bankruptcy Wizard
We are underwater on the house, but now owe nothing thanks to the discharge. We are staying and paying. The attorney didn't list any homeowner exemption because we had no equity. Ugh. Thinking.....thinking....stress level rising - what have you done!!!!!
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