Posts Tagged ‘chapter 13’

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Lots of documents for the trustee

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Boy… She wants a lot of documentation. 14 months of bank statements, ALL checks written from all business and personal accounts, documentation where money was spent on a business loan from last year, two years tax returns, and more.

This is going to be a PILE of documents. There are over 400 checks alone, plus most of my business checking account statements are 15-20 pages each! (there are multiple business accounts, too)

I suppose this is her job. She is looking for things like illegal transfer of assets, preferential treatment, etc. Which is not a big deal for us… we didn’t do anything like this. But I suppose there are poeple who try to cheat the system, and trustee’s like her will find them! She needs all this by Novemver 14th. So at least I have a little time to get copies of the checks from the bank.

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Good news for a chapter 7 bankruptcy

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Tonight we went into our lawyers office to finalize the paperwork for filing and got great news! Because virtually all of the debt is due to our business, AND because chapter 13 has some limits on the amount of unsecured debt we qualify for a chapter 7. This makes us happy! With a chapter 13 bankruptcy, you are in a repayment plan up to 5 years based on the amount of debt. We we have absolutely no additional income, so I didn’t think there would be a way to repay anyway. Whew!

We still have to do the means test, although it doesn’t really apply due to our situation being “forced” into a chapter 7. The court and appointed trustee want to see the results. From what I understand the court tries to force you into a chapter 13 so creditors can get some of their money back, but it won’t apply in our situation.

We didn’t have time to complete the test tonight, but will go back next week and get it completed to be able to file. Finally, it seems like forever since we started the process. Now I’ve got to get some info from the NOLO chapter 7 book to refresh my brain.

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Submitting bankruptcy paperwork to lawyer

Friday, September 26th, 2008

Finally finished with all the paperwork! Whew! Since we own a business, all income, expenses, payments in last 6 months, all vendors (over 100) all business and personal credit cards, EVERYTHING has to be included. We must have spent 40+ hours getting all of the info and entering it into the online software interview.

I’m glad we did this, as I can see if you handed it over to an attorney that some could get missed or entered incorrectly. Especially if they have a lot of cases to deal with.

Now the attorney with review the info, and we will get together next week to review and sign the paperwork and actually file the case. I was hoping to get it done by the end of the month, but due to all the documentation it will take some time for him to review the entries.

We have decided on a personal bankruptcy, as opposed to business at this point as ALL debts to vendors, credit cards and even my business landlord are personally gauranteed. That means even if the business filed bankruptcy they could still come after me personally. I have no money!

We will have to see what happens to the business in the next couple months as sales are horrible, and we sre coming into our slower period of sales.

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Filling out bankruptcy paperwork

Sunday, September 14th, 2008

Our bankruptcy lawyer uses software called mycasefile to have us enter all the required information. I kind of like this, as although the attorney is paid to do this… I read horror stories on the web about some lawyers missing important information, or having incorrect numbers, etc. that can really cause problems. This way we can see exactly what is entered and ensure nothing is missed or incorrect.

The lawyer will then review it, and we will go over it together to ensure everything is correct prior to the actual case filing.

If you are a “pro se” filer (i.e. filing on your own, and not with a lawyer) there are places online to get the correct documents and instructions. I’ll post these links at another time and/or edit this post with the info.

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Retaining a bankruptcy attorney

Friday, September 12th, 2008

Well… today was the day. As I mentioned before we were trying to get some financing to avoid having to file bankruptcy. However due to the current credit crunch, no financing came through. It’s time to retain our bankruptcy lawyer.

We chose to go with the last one we spoke with who was refered by my business attorney. The others we spoke with just didn’t give us that warm fuzzy feeling.

We supplied him with 6 months of bank statements, last years tax return, information on our car loan, etc. Our attorney charges a flat rate for a chapter 7, or a chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 13 is about $1000 more than a chapter 7. We are in Florida, and I believe the amount a lawyer can charge is dictated by the laws. Of course if anything out of the ordinary happens during the course of the bankruptcy he charges a hourly rate in addition to the flat rate we already paid.

Based on preliminary information he thinks we will have to be in a chapter 13 plan. I really hope this isn’t the case as we have NO extra income. We already know we will have to surrender the house, as without the business there will be no way to make enough income to make the payment. This sucks! We are pushing for a chapter 7 but will need to do the means test required by the government.

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