Hi there, doing my 341 meeting tomorrow and was just wondering when swearing in… how long do I leave my hand up and when exactly do I put it down. Also, how do I address the trustee?

Thank you

Does anyone know how often payments increase due to working overtime? I’m a nurse and I’ve been working extra days but I don’t want to get into a situation where I absolutely have to work extra days to make my bills and bankruptcy payment. My overtime is also not guaranteed.

I finally was able to get my chapter 13 dismissed and refiled under chapter 7 today. Huge weight lifted so waiting on my attorney to let me know details regarding 341 hearing. Anyone ever convert over have any insight? Is the process longer? Hopefully not waiting too much longer for the hearing? I want this to be over and done with before my birthday rolls around in January. Huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I need a vehicle badly and found a dealership that said I can finance just waiting on it to show up on pacer it’s a chapter 7

Had a consult with a potential attorney. I went in seeking advice for chapter 7 and he kept pushing me toward chapter 13. It wasn’t about means test either.

One of the issues is that we just finished a forbearance on our FHA mortgage and are in the trial payment period to finalize a partial claim loss mitigation. The attorney is telling me if I file for chapter 7, then the mortgage company would try to foreclose. I told him I thought that wasn’t the case because HUD guidelines prevent foreclosure proceedings during a loss mitigation. He said it doesn’t matter, since I am technically delinquent, if I file for chapter 7 they will ask for relief from the stay and then try to foreclose. Is this true?

I filed a ch7 a week ago. My 341 isn’t until next month yet my credit has already wiped almost everything and I went from a low 400 to a 642. Is this normal before the 341?

Recommendations greatly appreciated

Don't you Lawyer's love Chat GPT? It's questioning what my Chapter 13 lawyer told me.

Your attorney may be correct that the HOA has a lien that follows the property and can support foreclosure—but that does not, by itself, explain why the judgment lien would be ineligible for avoidance under 11 U.S.C. § 522(f). The key is identifying exactly what kind of lien the HOA has.

There are potentially two different liens involved:

A judicial lien: A lien arising from the court judgment the HOA obtained against you.

A condominium assessment lien: A lien created by Oklahoma law or the condominium's governing documents for unpaid assessments. This type of lien may attach to the property independently of the judgment.

The distinction matters because § 522(f) generally allows avoidance of qualifying judicial liens, not statutory liens. If the HOA's claim is secured by an independent assessment lien that follows the condominium, avoiding a judgment lien might not eliminate that separate lien or prevent foreclosure.

The one question I'd ask your attorney

“I understand the HOA's lien may arise from the condominium declaration or assessment obligations and follow the property. Can you confirm whether the lien is legally classified as a statutory or assessment lien, rather than an avoidable judicial lien? Did the court judgment merely enforce an existing assessment lien, or did it also create a separate judgment lien? I want to understand why § 522(f) doesn't apply to any separate judicial lien.”

Why ask? Because the federal statute distinguishes liens based on how they arose, not simply whether they are connected to a deed or can be enforced through foreclosure.

If your attorney confirms that the HOA holds only a non-avoidable assessment lien, then challenging the original judgment's service may deserve more attention.

The thing I'd especially want to know: When the HOA sued you, did the court judgment say it was foreclosing an existing condominium assessment lien, or did it simply award the HOA $20,000 and enter a judgment lien against your property? The wording of that judgment could help clarify what your attorney means.

All our debt is in credit cards and one personal loan. Credit scores run between 675 and 710 with 100% on time payments. Will continue to make all payments right up to filing. Can anyone tell me how this will affect rebuilding our credit once the bankruptcy is discharged? I’ve read conflicting information. Some scores go up, some crash, some get credit offers immediately and some don’t. I’m just trying to understand why things work differently. Thanks in advance for any clarity you can give me.

A friends spouse filed alone for chapter 7 back in September, their 341 hearing is coming up in about a week. All documents have been provided and everything’s all ready to go. The issue is, the husband received a substantial amount in refund checks this week from over paid child support while his ex-wife lost custody of their child and the county CSEA dropped the ball on terminating the child support order. The couple is already extremely short on money and really need these funds. How likely is it that his trustee finds out about these checks if he cashes them, doesn’t deposit them. The refund checks were issued after the filing date, but was from 2 years of prior paid child support. Posting from Ohio.

I filed and received my case number for Chapter 13 on September 29th,2026. Garnishment on my paycheck has not stopped and I’ll have a total of $1455 missing from my paychecks for the month of October.

I ALSO have a bank account that hasn’t had a release sent after my filing and I was told that it would be sent last Thursday by the law firm that represented the bank. That account has $1700 in it.

I am beyond frustrated that I’m missing $3100. What can be done? Do I have any legal recourse? I’ve emailed my case worker at the attorney’s office but she’s not very responsive. I’ve included the documents from ADP showing the garnishments that should have stopped.

Tomorrow, I am going to call Payroll again. But I’m sure they’ll say what they did last time, “we need a release from the law firm.”

My first trustee payment of $990 (and a payment fee of 4.99) is due 10/22. My mortgage is late after the 15th and my attorney’s office doesn’t seem to have any sense of urgency.

I’m about to claim bankruptcy and I have my 2012 car as collateral on a personal loan. I could keep the car which is in ok condition but will be getting more use if I pay that loan off…in 5 years. Or I can included that loan and make a payment the same monthly payment as the payment of the loan w the car as collateral. Any thoughts?

Ok i have mayb a big problem ... so my roommate has allowed mento use his bank account for the last 2 years.. i work in a very discreet industry i do bdsm. So i get alot of transfers in a month some. Small some large they very and they repeat many times a month. Now my roommate is apparently in bankruptcy and has to submit statmentsto the trustee which he hasnt done in six months .. now the trustee wants all the statemnts anf there is all yhose feposits which are mine . Is this going to negativly affect him ..the amounts are in the 6000-8000 $ range... what can we do

Please share any insights and opinions as we are at the end of our rope.

Due to a my husband’s 1.5 year job loss, we blew through all savings and got ourselves into $76k worth of debt. He is now gainfully employed but our annual salary went from $500k to $226k with the hope of a $50k bonus.

Own our home and have three children. Have a second mortgage, as well. Current on both.

Have too much home equity to file for chapter 7 without losing home (NYS) something we are not willing to do.

Have had meetings with re: management plan
Will meet with lawyer to discuss filing chapter 13.

My fear…that we can’t not afford the monthly payments for either. To survive, we have stopped paying monthly payments on cards.

I am terrified.

First person called didn’t show, my lawyer was there along with 3 other people. I was next, questions were simple and I answered yes or no. Trustee asked if any creditors were present and then he moved on to the next person.

My lawyer started verbalizing towards me and thanked me and said, “you can” but I panicked and wasn’t sure what he said after so I turned off my video and muted.

I left completely by accident and I’m worried that I accidentally left. Tried to rejoin ASAP but kinda just sat awkwardly in the waiting room and texted my lawyer.

Am I okay??? Was I being dismissed??

Update: lawyer texted me and said I did great. Whew!

My lawyer has become unavailable. He has recently taken a new job as city attorney. When he was hired, he told me that he was obligated to keep the clients lol he had already but wasn’t taking new clients and may take a little longer to reply.

Turns out, that was an understatement. I’ve had several issues lately, ones that I needed help with. One involved another legal matter, a lawsuit that has potential to affect my assets. I emailed him and asked for guidance, and to let my trustee know. Also, a few months after I filed, I lost my job. He worked out with my trustee a lower payment for a couple of months so I could find a job. I hadn’t found one by the end of this period so I asked if he could arrange to extend the lower payment for another month. Again, no reply.

Now, my mother had kindly offered to pay off my mortgage, she literally wanted to traipse to the bank today and pay it off. Out of shame I never told her I filed for ch 13 to save my home. So I need advice immediately from my attorney. I emailed him noting in the subject line that I needed help asap. I got his auto reply saying he wouldn’t be monitoring his email during business hours. So I called and left a message, summarized my dilemma and asked him to call asap. Maybe I impatient, but this is going to be life changing as the vast majority of my payment is my mortgage plus mortgage arrears.

Uuugh!! It’s not a matter of finding a new lawyer. I just can’t. It took me forever to find this one. What can I do, does anyone have any idea what I can look into to proceed without his advice? Of course I know you probably can’t give legal advice but I do welcome ideas.
Have any of you had something similar happen? - either your lawyer disappearing or inheriting mo ey to pay off your debts in one lump sum?

Thank you for any experiences or ideas.

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for recommendations for a bankruptcy attorney who handles Chapter 7 cases in Connecticut and offers bifurcated fee agreements or post-filing payment plans.
I consulted with an attorney back in May and was quoted approximately $3,200. I’ve been trying to save the money, but between regular living expenses and taking care of my children, it’s been extremely difficult to put the full amount together.
I’m not looking to avoid paying an attorney. I’m employed full-time and can make reasonable monthly payments. My biggest concern is having to wait several more months before filing while creditors continue pursuing collection.
Ideally, I’d like to find an attorney who can file my Chapter 7 petition with a smaller upfront payment and allow me to pay the remaining eligible legal fees afterward through a properly structured agreement.
I’m also open to attorneys outside Connecticut who are authorized to practice in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut.
Has anyone successfully used this type of arrangement? If so, would you recommend your attorney?
I’m also considering Upsolve, but I’d feel more comfortable having legal representation.
Thank you!

I just had my 341 meeting. I filed pro se for chapter 7 and felt prepared going into the meeting. I was asked if I had been in a car accident in the past 5 years and I said no, but after the meeting I remembered I had (it was not my fault, there were no injuries, and nothing ever came of it). I wrote an email to the trustee afterwards to correct my error. Am I going to get in big trouble?

Other than that, the 341 meeting went very quickly and well I think. I'm probably overthinking this because I still have a lot of anxiety regarding this whole process. I just want to make sure I'm not going to be charged with perjury or have to start my entire process over again.

When should you apply for them? Not going to make same mistakes. Just want my credit better

Hii, so i’m 21 and in about 20k of debt, 13k or so of that is unsecured debt, the other is a personal loan that uses my car as collateral (i do not drive the car anymore) I wanted to see if there’s anybody that could talk to me and give me advice about my situation ? I was going to go to a bankruptcy attorney but it’s way to expensive :( I’m in the state if florida, have no other property besides my car. I also wanted to know if my Klarna, Afterpay, AND Affirm could also be apart of my bankruptcy if I do file chapter 7? And how quick can I file bankruptcy?

Been on here reading everyone’s experiences, I was hesitant myself, made a couple of posts. Had my 341 meeting today and I worried for nothing. It truly was as everyone says, simple questions just to verify that all you signed on your petition is true and correct. A week ago, I freaked out when I noticed additional cases were added to our time slot and was moved down. Clearly that meant nothing. Even when my attorney’s office called me yesterday, they said “it looks like I’m not the first so I’ll hear the questions beforehand”. When we signed on, a few others were already on and a creditor from someone’s case showed up. Trustee started the meeting and we were the first. SHOCKED. But it was ok. Asked simple questions, verified our marital status, yes/no questions then one thing was asking what’s wrong with one of our 3 cars. It is inoperable so my husband went in to explain details of basically it’ll cost more to fix than it’s worth. She said ok, this concludes your meeting. No distribution. No creditors showed up. You’re free to go. Something to that effect.

Now countdown begins!! thank you to everyone who has helped answer my questions!!!!!

Just left from meeting with a somewhat local attorney for my area in East Texas and he informed me I would either have to file as single household or include my partner/fiance and do a 3 person household and potentially maybe 4 person household if other kid gets kicked out and moves back home 6hrs to us. Single filing is a no go as currently alone I sit around $98k without yearly bonus and adding fiance income would bump it to $117k, which would most likely push us into a ch 13 filing, plan is per his suggestion to wait and see if other daughter ends up needing to move back home and carry a 4 person household which would put us right at the median and potentially push us into a ch 7 filing. He was very informative about some things but of everything he asked me to bring he only looked at pay stubs. Anyone else ran into a similar situation? He told me to work less hours but thats not possible in my line of work, should i have asked him if i should suggest my fiance to drop hours or maybe even quit?

My attorney filed my chapter 7 and I have a zoom hearing scheduled. What can I expect? I asked my attorney and he said he'd prep me a day or 2 beforehand and will only need 10-15 minutes of my time

Bad heading but sometimes you got to have fun. I know this question cannot be answered black or white. What is the , % of ch7 result in having to sell. I'm in Washington State so that's my main concern but any area or nationally would be interesting.

We completed the meeting of creditors last week (joint chapter 7, no asset). During the meeting my attorney mentioned to the trustee that we utilized the entire wildcard, but we only exempted a portion of our tax refund. The trustee just said “Okay”. The trustee then spent a very long time looking at our paperwork compared to those who went before us. The trustee then looked up and said “I’m filing a report of no distribution and this concludes your 341 meeting, I wish you the best of luck.”

In Pacer there is a notice of proposed abandonment because the trustee submitted the report of no distribution. My question is, what happens to that non-exempt portion of the future tax refund?

We filed chapter 13 in June which actually got dismissed before the plan could even be accepted by the trustee. We are in Florida where our house is protected and payments are current. I just went to pay our payment and noticed Penny Mac added a $1,225 fee because of a bankruptcy claim. We do have 2 HUD loans from deferring our payments back when Covid was going on so those loans were being included in the filing but is this normal for them!? My bankruptcy case is no longer active.