I'll Be Filing Pro Se Soon - Who Tells the Creditors?

[BankruptinNJ]

I should finally be filing Chapter 7 in NJ within the next few days. This is after months of working on the paperwork.

Since I am filing pro se, do I have to send out the letters to the creditors that I filed? I know that usually the court or the lawyer does this, right? But since I'm filing pro se, I have to do it?

I really need to get this done now because I have a judgement against me by one creditor (Chase -- my company sent me the paperwork regarding the request for garnishment), and another creditor has just filed suit.

Also, I am currently on leave from my job and on temporary disability. Can they garnish the wages from TEMPORARY disability? I've heard that they can't do that on regular disability.

[HHM]

The BK court will send out notices.

They probably can't garnish your temp disability directly, but if the funds are deposited into a bank account, they could garnish the bank account.

[tigergem]

You should check with your bankruptcy clerk about procedural questions. I had to serve my entire matrix with a copy of the schedules and plan and the clerk sent out the notices, but those only included the claim form and notice of the confirmation hearing.

[justbroke]

For Chapter 13, it's different. Chapter 13 cases need to serve the plan on the creditors as the Court isn't responsible. However, if you have a nice case manager, like mine, you can have them serve the Plan via the BNC. Since this is a Chapter 7 in this case, you can ignore the service of the Plan.

If you do have creditors that call you after filing, just tell them you filed and give them the case information. I always tell them point blank that they need to STOP attempting to collect the debt. Got into an argument once and ended up telling the agent that they should put someone on the phone who knew how to deal with a bankruptcy or they'll be in court.

[tigergem]

For Chapter 13, it's different. Chapter 13 cases need to serve the plan on the creditors as the Court isn't responsible. However, if you have a nice case manager, like mine, you can have them serve the Plan via the BNC. Since this is a Chapter 7 in this case, you can ignore the service of the Plan.

If you do have creditors that call you after filing, just tell them you filed and give them the case information. I always tell them point blank that they need to STOP attempting to collect the debt. Got into an argument once and ended up telling the agent that they should put someone on the phone who knew how to deal with a bankruptcy or they'll be in court.

Oh! I didn't know that service requirements were different for a 7. Cool. Learn something new every day, hanging around here! Thanks, jb.

[justbroke]

Well, I had 64 creditors or so in my Matrix (most were duplicates... duh... but I didn't know) and I served the first plan to the creditors. It cost me over $100 to do so since it was $1 in postage per envelope and the cost of the envelope. Then I realized my case manager was serving it as well. So when my first amended plan came around, I asked if she'd serve it, and she said yes! So my second, third and fourth amended plans were all serve via the BNC.

I guess they realize, at least in my District, that a Chapter 13 person having to pay out of pockets, perhaps hundreds of dollars in postage trying to get their plan confirmed, wasn't in anyone's best interest!

[tigergem]

Well, I had 64 creditors or so in my Matrix (most were duplicates... duh... but I didn't know) and I served the first plan to the creditors. It cost me over $100 to do so since it was $1 in postage per envelope and the cost of the envelope. Then I realized my case manager was serving it as well. So when my first amended plan came around, I asked if she'd serve it, and she said yes! So my second, third and fourth amended plans were all serve via the BNC.

I guess they realize, at least in my District, that a Chapter 13 person having to pay out of pockets, perhaps hundreds of dollars in postage trying to get their plan confirmed, wasn't in anyone's best interest!

Well that is really cool. When I have to do my next amendment, I will ask for that. But they told me I had to file the certificate of service with my papers, so I never figured it was an option.

[justbroke]

Well that is really cool. When I have to do my next amendment, I will ask for that. But they told me I had to file the certificate of service with my papers, so I never figured it was an option.

The BNC notices automatically get a Certificate of Service created. The certificate would be shown if you see a docket entry such as... "Chapter 13 Plan with Service via BNC". Those are my favorite entries!

[tigergem]

I guess the answer I will get if I ask for such a favor will depend upon which clerk I get when I call there. The one that normally answers the phone is kind of snotty about me being pro se. My case manager isn't - she's actually very kind and helpful when I can reach her, but she hardly ever answers the phone, and the last time I had a question specifically for her, she didn't even call me back. Quite disappointing.

[justbroke]

You should talk to your specific case manager. Don't talk to the other clerks.

[BankruptinNJ]

Well, I had 64 creditors or so in my Matrix (most were duplicates... duh... but I didn't know) and I served the first plan to the creditors. It cost me over $100 to do so since it was $1 in postage per envelope and the cost of the envelope. Then I realized my case manager was serving it as well. So when my first amended plan came around, I asked if she'd serve it, and she said yes! So my second, third and fourth amended plans were all serve via the BNC.

I guess they realize, at least in my District, that a Chapter 13 person having to pay out of pockets, perhaps hundreds of dollars in postage trying to get their plan confirmed, wasn't in anyone's best interest!

Wow, justbroke! 64 creditors! In New Jersey, if you have more than 50 creditors but fewer than 5000 you must submit them on a DISKETTE! Who has a place on their computers to make diskettes anymore? It's all CD-ROMs now.

[tigergem]

Wow, justbroke! 64 creditors! In New Jersey, if you have more than 50 creditors but fewer than 5000 you must submit them on a DISKETTE! Who has a place on their computers to make diskettes anymore? It's all CD-ROMs now.

No kidding. I had a multi-card reader that actually had a floppy slot, but the stupid thing never did work. Fortunately if it ever came down to it, my district likes CDs. But that wasn't necessary either. (whew.)

[justbroke]

Yes, mine was submitted on a CD-ROM, properly labeled in accordance with the local rules! They don't like diskettes anymore in my District. The local rule was updated to reflect as much.

[BankruptinNJ]

The NJ form for proper ways to prepare the matrix and other paperwork is VERY out of date! It mentions diskettes, typewriters, DOS, and WordPerfect 5.1! Really! If you have fewer than 50 creditors you can submit a diskette but must also submit the hard copy. If you have more than 50 creditors but fewer than 5,000 (!) you must submit it on a diskette!

[BankruptinNJ]

If they can't garnish my wages, how soon do they usually attempt to garnish my bank account? I just filed BK after getting the judgment notice, and I notified that particular law firm (for Chase) immediately. I'm just curious.

The BK court will send out notices.

They probably can't garnish your temp disability directly, but if the funds are deposited into a bank account, they could garnish the bank account.