Bankruptcy Attorneys in Oklahoma Discuss The Meeting of The Creditors

Meeting of the Creditors and Filing Bankruptcy

Right after a person files for bankruptcy, the court does several things.  It issues a case number, which identifies your bankruptcy, it notifies your creditors by mail that you have filed, it assigns a bankruptcy trustee to your case, and it schedules a hearing called the “First Meeting of the Creditors.”  That meeting of the creditors, often referred to as a “341 hearing” after the section of the bankruptcy code that creates it, is often a source of worry and tension for debtors unfamiliar with the bankruptcy process.  Fortunately, for the vast majority of consumer debtors filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the 341 hearing is a simple and relatively painless process that doesn’t need to be a source of concern.

The 341 hearing has three purposes.  First, it is, as its full name implies, the first chance for all the creditors to have a meeting with the debtor.  To many, that sounds like they will be questioned by all the people to whom they owe money, but for Chapter 7 debtors, this is practically never the case.  Rarely, a creditor unfamiliar with the process may appear at the meeting, or a secured creditor (like one holding a mortgage or auto loan) may appear to ask a specific question, but even those appearances are fleetingly rare.

The second purpose is for the appointed trustee to meet with the debtor and the debtor’s attorney.  The trustee is an attorney appointed by the court to handle the day to day dealings of bankruptcies that don’t require the attention of either the Bankruptcy Judge, or the Federal Bankruptcy Trustee, who generally oversees Chapter 13 cases.   In a Chapter 7, the trustee’s job is to determine if there is any non-exempt property that must be turned over to the bankruptcy court for sale and distribution to the creditors.  He or she makes this determination after reviewing the debtor’s petition and after meeting with the debtor.

The process of that meeting of the creditors is fairly simple.  The debtor and his or her attorney arrive at the designated meeting site, usually a conference room at the bankruptcy court.  They wait to be called by the trustee, who may take them into a private room, or just to a table at one end of the conference room.  In some jurisdictions, the trustee may even call more than one debtor at a time and conduct the meetings in groups.  The trustee will place the debtor under oath, and ask to see the debtor’s driver’s license and social security card.  It is very important that the debtor bring those two documents to the meeting, as the trustee will be forced to halt and reschedule if they are not present.  After confirming the debtor’s identity, and that the social security number matches the one on the petition, the trustee will ask the debtor if he or she was provided with information about bankruptcy, if he or she read the bankruptcy documents, if he or she signed them, and if the documents are an accurate representation of the debtor’s property and creditors.

In some cases, the trustee may have questions concerning taxes, real estate, or personal property.  The trustee may address these questions to the debtor’s attorney or directly to the debtor.  Occasionally, the trustee may ask the attorney to provide further information after the hearing, such as a tax return filed late, or ask for clarification about property or creditors.  Once the trustee has asked the necessary questions, he will dismiss the debtor, ending the meeting.  The entire process usually takes just a few minutes.  It is entirely possible that the debtor will spend more time waiting to be called than actually in the meeting.  After the meeting, the debtor’s attorney may remind him or her to bring any additional documents necessary, or if the debtor education course has not been completed, to finish it and send the certificate to the attorney for filing.  The 341 hearing may sound intimidating, but in reality, it is a quick and simple procedure on the road to financial stability through bankruptcy and the bankruptcy process in Oklahoma.

 

Bankruptcy Attorneys in Oklahoma Discuss The Meeting of The Creditors

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