U.S. Trustee investigating for fraud

[SinkingFast]

When will a US Trustee typically notify someone of a review for possible abuse, before or after the 341 meeting?

thanks!

It really depends on the UST's Office, who gets assigned your case, how quickly they work, etc.

I've seen people who were contacted almost immediately after filing. They were able to submit their docs and info required to the UST prior to their 341 Meeting. The UST was satisfied, and everything went well from there.

The poor people 1 case number behind us got their notification for Extension 3 days before our 60 days was due to expire. Notification came on Friday. Last day to Object came on Monday.

There is no rhyme or reason to what the UST's office does or when they do it.

[FoolAndHisMoney]

When will a US Trustee typically notify someone of a review for possible abuse, before or after the 341 meeting?

thanks!

They have within 10 days after the 341 to determine if it's an abusive filing. If your status flag goes to MEANSNO within 10 days after then you are ok. If not then they may request more documents and possibly move for an extension. The MEANS flag is a pretty good indicator if they will scrutinize you or not. It's a new flag put in with the new laws. They could also rescind their decision too so don't celebrate anything until after discharge.

[ChainSmokin]

Thanks Sinking and FAHM,

I started with a MEANSU (unknown) when I did the quick file, just after the rest of the schedules were filed about 10 days later it changed to MEANSNO. So, so far so good.

[BK'd-Betty]

Oops! Sorry ChainSmokin! Me and my big mouth!

Thanks Betty, although that didn’t do any good for my pre-341 jitters, I appreciate the info!

[reallynervous]

Since our unsecured debt just went over $100K due to all the fees we are being charged since we stopped paying our credit card bills, I am guessing that we will fall into this category of extra investigation as well.

We don't have credit card statements going back years. When I recently realized we would likely have to file BK, I went online and printed out all the statements available there. For a few of my cards, I was only able to access the past 6 months, most of the rest just show the past 12 months.

Do I write to the credit card companies to ask for copies of earlier statements? We likely will file once we get our tax return back as we need that money to pay the attorney fees. Should I wait until we file to request this info? Can/might the credit card companies refuse to provide it?

Any info you can share on obtaining this info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

[no_it_all]

Well, I had about 115K in CC debt, another 12K in Fed Taxes and about 278K in secured debt. Filed Pro Se and it was a walk in the park...You are smart to get your ducks in a row in case you need them, but just because you are over 100K doesn't mean you are going to get <extra investigation>...good luck!

[SinkingFast]

Yeah! What NIA said.

Get your docs together just in case. $100K+ in unsecureds is a flag. But being over $100K doesn't necessarily mean you'll get tagged for investigation.

Like NIA, we weren't investigated either. We had a years worth of CC bills, at least. All our bank statements and such. We were covered if asked. But never were. Just sailed thru.

[reallynervous]

Thanks for letting me know not everyone with $100K+ gets further investigation. I'm glad you didn't have to go thru the added stress. Given our luck (or lack thereof) over the past few years, I will likely still worry we will.

Yes, I do like to be prepared which is why I would like to get the info together. I feel like an idiot for not keeping all these documents. I usually kept the credit card bills for just a couple of months. I remembered I do have a box in the basment of documents needing shredding when I found the time so I may find some of them there.

Any idea if the credit card companies will refuse to provide the info? We are hoping to hold off any legal action on our accounts until we can come up with the lawyer fees to file. Will requesting the copies now tell them we are planning to file BK?

Thanks for the info!

[quietsound]

Hey ChainSmokin,

HOw did you make out at your meeting today???

[ChainSmokin]

Hey ChainSmokin,

HOw did you make out at your meeting today???

Thanks for asking quietsound, it could have been better, but it was not a disaster either.

I posted the gory details here:
http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=12295