A little jealous

[keepsmiling]

So sorry, I know what a sucky position that is to be in.
I went to work part time, make just exactly enough to lose my state health insurance. That little job cost me a fortune.
It's a crappy system for sure.

[LadyInTheRed]

mountanddo, I don't understand why you have to wait to get the copy of your return before you file. It doesn't have to be filed with the court with your petition. It's submitted to the trustee. Have you asked your attorney if you can file the petition while waiting to get a copy of the return? I suspect that if you have evidence that you sent a request to the IRS, that your 341 would be continued if you don't have it by then. Technically, I suppose the trustee could petition for dismissal if you don't have the return by the 341, but I really doubt a trustee would do that if you have evidence that you requested a copy from the IRS.

[mountanddo]

Well, I guess I don't know why. The paperwork I got from the attorney states that I need to mail ALL the completed information AT ONE TIME and that INCOMPLETE or MISSING information may delay your case by 30-60 days. When I called to reschedule because I hadn't received my state tax return they never said that I should just come in and file.

How soon after you file does the 341 meeting happen? Does filing automatically stop any seizing of banks accounts or garnishment of wages?

I guess I'm a little perturbed now that I know this. My request for my state tax return was returned because I forgot to sign the form. I sent it back about a week and a half ago so I should be getting it any day now.

Do you think it would be beneficial to go back to the attorney that filed my C-7 and have him do my C-13? Is there any advantage to that?

[IamOld]

I think you should use an atty (in my LIMITED!!! experience) that has been doing this for a while, knows the lay of the land!!!

I need to submit my state tax return to paralegal that handles file to/from Court/trustee - she said Trustee (here) doesn't HAVE to have it before the 341 but it's better to put it in than have him ask for it by such and such date...

NOW - you can FILE without it but you will need it be sent to Trustee asap through your atty.

341's are more or less within 30 days or so.

The SECOND your case is filed, the automatic stay goes into effect - you may need to take proactive action to unfreeze bank levies and stop garnishments and your atty will/should tell you/do it for you. (In fact you can print the automatic - automatic stay order off of....PACER :-) w/in a day or so (depending on how busy they are) after you file...

Re garnishments - in THEORY you should be able to take the automatic stay to your employer and have them stop the garnishment with that - some will want an order from the local court, which means that the BK automatic stay has to be filed with your local court - again if you have an atty he/she will either do that for you or tell you exactly what to do.

Well, I guess I don't know why. The paperwork I got from the attorney states that I need to mail ALL the completed information AT ONE TIME and that INCOMPLETE or MISSING information may delay your case by 30-60 days. When I called to reschedule because I hadn't received my state tax return they never said that I should just come in and file.

How soon after you file does the 341 meeting happen? Does filing automatically stop any seizing of banks accounts or garnishment of wages?

I guess I'm a little perturbed now that I know this. My request for my state tax return was returned because I forgot to sign the form. I sent it back about a week and a half ago so I should be getting it any day now.

Do you think it would be beneficial to go back to the attorney that filed my C-7 and have him do my C-13? Is there any advantage to that?

[LadyInTheRed]

mountanddo, if you file your BK before the creditor gets a judgement, they will not be able to get a judgement and there will be no garnishment to stop. Just make sure the creditor and its attorney get notice of your BK filing. The warning in the paperwork from the attorney is to keep you from blaming him if incomplete or missing information delays your case. It doesn't mean that one particular missing document will necessarily keep the petition from getting filed. Contact your attorney and tell him that you have requested a copy of your tax return from the IRS and you want to file before the creditor gets a judgment. If the attorney refuses to do that, find another attorney. If you liked your Chap 7 attorney and he is also experienced in Chap 13, there is no reason not to use him.

ETA: When your attorney says the creditor can garnish your wages 45 days after you are served, he is saying that is the soonest they can get a default judgement so that they can garnish. It doesn't necessarily mean it will happen that quickly. So, even if the 45 days is coming up too quickly to get your BK petition filed before the default judgement is entered, it may no be too late to get it filed before they start garnishing your wages. If you can't file before the garnishment starts, as IamOld explains, it will be stopped after you file.

[mountanddo]

Thank you so much for the information! I really am glad I found these forums. You guys have been wonderful. I will call my attorney today!

The 45 days is when my attorney said they could seize my bank account. I read that you aren't notified when they do this and you would be responsible for any bounced checks or overdraft fees. I still have my direct deposit going into my account but right now there is only $3.88 in it. I would hate to have to cancel my direct deposit because I pay ALL of my bills online. I did withdraw my rent this month though and got a money order because I didn't want that much just sitting in the bank waiting for the apartment to cash it. The 45 days is up on the 13th so if I can get into see the attorney and file hopefully I won't have to cancel my direct deposit.

Does anyone have any experience with having a bank account seized? Do they tend to do that right at the 45th day?

[jacko]

Close your checking account and open up a WalMart Money card. You can do direct deposit, bill pay and get money orders. Don't base your BK decision on the possibility of your checking account being levied. Be pro active. I owe over 60K on CC , 1.5k medical and have yet to file. Its been three years since I walked away from my CC debt. Only Crap One got a judgment but they only got $17 from a wage garnishment from a part-time job when I got extra hours that week. No bigee. They have not found my other part-time employers and may never will. Its been two years since the judgment. I will not consider filing until I have a real job with benefits.

Thank you so much for the information! I really am glad I found these forums. You guys have been wonderful. I will call my attorney today!

The 45 days is when my attorney said they could seize my bank account. I read that you aren't notified when they do this and you would be responsible for any bounced checks or overdraft fees. I still have my direct deposit going into my account but right now there is only $3.88 in it. I would hate to have to cancel my direct deposit because I pay ALL of my bills online. I did withdraw my rent this month though and got a money order because I didn't want that much just sitting in the bank waiting for the apartment to cash it. The 45 days is up on the 13th so if I can get into see the attorney and file hopefully I won't have to cancel my direct deposit.

Does anyone have any experience with having a bank account seized? Do they tend to do that right at the 45th day?

[mountanddo]

Close your checking account and open up a WalMart Money card. You can do direct deposit, bill pay and get money orders. Don't base your BK decision on the possibility of your checking account being levied. Be pro active. I owe over 60K on CC , 1.5k medical and have yet to file. Its been three years since I walked away from my CC debt. Only Crap One got a judgment but they only got $17 from a wage garnishment from a part-time job when I got extra hours that week. No bigee. They have not found my other part-time employers and may never will. Its been two years since the judgment. I will not consider filing until I have a real job with benefits.

You have a much higher stress threshhold than I do I guess. I have to work fulltime or I can't live and I have to make more than minimum wage. I'm not basing it on the possibilty of my checking account being levied because I know I can easily deal with that and I only have $3 in it at the moment. I am basing it on the fact that if I don't file Cap One will get a judgement and garnish my wages 25% That's a fact. I am not willing to look over my shoulder for the next year because if only one creditor out of the 4 get a judgement I could very well end up homeless. I made an appointment with the attorney on Monday in light of the information that LadyintheRed gave me. I'd rather just suck it up and pay the 13 and be able to sleep at night.

I do have one question if someone might know the answer. Right now I am working temporary. The previous temporary job that I was working at called me yesterday and asked if I might be willing to come back and work temporary again. The job will last for approx one year and who knows, they may have the funds to hire me permanantly. It's making about the same an hour as I am making now so my DMI isn't going to change. One thing though is that their busy season is from October-March and for their permanant employees they require them to work 16 hours of overtime every pay period during that time. Temps are not required to work that but it is available if they want. If I confirmed my plan and worked some hours overtime after it was confirmed do you think that I need to report that extra income? Even if it was just a few hours overtime it would make a big difference in having some extra money for needed things. I just don't know how much they look at stuff like that. I wouldn't need to work the overtime if it mattered but it would be nice if I could choose to do that and get a few extra bucks.