UTAH
BANKRUPTCY LAW HANDBOOK After your case is filed you can read this page and if should give you the timeline of what to expect during the course of your case. The time and date of your bankruptcy hearing (Section 341 Hearing or First Meeting of Creditors) will be sent directly to you when your case is scheduled by the Court. Please make note of the hearing date on your calendar to ensure that all filing parties are present at the hearing. In joint bankruptcy cases, both husband and wife must attend. Your attorney must also be present at the hearing. The hearing will be conducted in the Boston Building located at #9 Exchange Place in Salt Lake City, Utah. A map will be mailed to you before your hearing. It is mandatory that you attend this hearing. If you fail to attend the hearing, the trustee will request dismissal of your case. (In the event of a medical necessity or other emergency, the Court may authorize re-scheduling of your case.) Approximately eight to ten hearings are scheduled each hour; and although your portion of the hearing will involve examination time of about five to ten minutes; it is not possible to ascertain in advance when within the hour, your case will be called. You must, therefore, set aside the entire hour on your calendar. Remember to schedule sufficient time for traveling and parking prior to the hearing. Your attorney will meet you at the hearing room approximately fifteen minutes before the scheduled hearing. Parking for the Boston Building can be difficult at times. You may find parking at one of several metered parking spots on Exchange Place and Main Street. In addition, there is a covered parking terrace to the east of the Boston Building where you may park for a fee. Reminder: If there is any unpaid portion of the attorney's fees still owing for your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case at this time keep in mind that the final payment must be made to our offices no later than one hour before the Hearing. If you have any questions contact our offices at 501-0100 or email jody@utahbankruptcy.com TIMELINE FOR YOUR BANKRUPTCY DURATION Date of Filing – At the time your case is filed with the Bankruptcy Court, a Bankruptcy Case Number will be assigned to your case. A Chapter 7 Trustee and a Bankruptcy Court Judge will also be assigned to your case. 10-14 Days from Date of Filing you will Receive Notice of Your Hearing from the Bankruptcy Court – Within 10 to 14 days from the date your case is filed, the Bankruptcy Court will send Notice of your bankruptcy filing to all Creditors listed on the bankruptcy schedules and statements filed with the Bankruptcy Court. You will receive a copy of the same notice sent to your creditors within the same time frame. The notice you receive will specify the date of your bankruptcy hearing and will set forth other important dates and deadlines relevant to your case 30-40 Days from Date of Filing you Must Attend a Hearing Regarding your Case - Your Bankruptcy Hearing will be conducted about 30-40 days following your bankruptcy filing. You must appear at the hearing (spouse must also appear if joint filing), and an attorney from our office must represent you at the hearing. If you fail to appear, your case will be dismissed. Re-scheduling the date and time of your hearing is extremely difficult, and in many cases, impossible. Just as we must rearrange our schedule to ensure we are present at your hearing, it will be necessary for you to do the same. If you unavoidably and unexpectedly must be out of town, we may be able to obtain Court permission to conduct the proceedings telephonically, provided we have sufficient advance notice of your inability to appear in person. 14-30 Days From Date of Hearing you May Be Required to Comply with Trustee Directives - At the time of your Bankruptcy Hearing, the Trustee assigned to your case may request that you supply him/her with additional documentation regarding your debts, assets or any other matter relevant to your case; or may request that you do certain tasks such as take a vehicle or other asset in to be appraised, surrender an asset, file tax returns, etc. You must comply with the Trustee’s instructions within 14-30 days following the hearing. If you fail to do so, your bankruptcy discharge may be denied. In most cases, the Trustees issue no directives or instructions, and you are not required to take any specific action following your hearing. 30 Days From Date of Hearing you must make Arrangements to Return Assets to Your Secured Creditors - Within about 30 days following your Bankruptcy Hearing, you must make arrangements with your secured Creditors to return property (such as vehicles) you have elected to surrender in your bankruptcy case. Remember, if you desire to retain a vehicle, home, computer, etc., Continue to make the Monthly Payments against these Assets. As long as you are current on your payments to your Creditors, they cannot repossess or foreclose. 60 Days from Date of Hearing - Creditors have 60 days from the date of your Bankruptcy Hearing, to contest the dischargeability of their debts. The process for contesting the dischargeability of a debt is complex and expensive, and Creditors do not generally pursue this remedy unless they believe they have a strong likelihood of prevailing on their argument and there is enough money at stake to make it worth their while. In the vast majority of cases, Creditors do not contest the discharge of their debts. However, if a Debtor(s) has incurred a large debt (over $2,000) with one creditor within 60 days of filing, the Debtor(s) may run the risk of being forced to defend an action by that Creditor. If any Creditor does file such an action, we will assist you in attempting to reach a negotiated settlement with the Creditor based on the evidence. 60 – 80 Days from Date of Hearing – The Bankruptcy Trustee assigned to your case will issue a formal notice indicating all of your debts have been discharged in bankruptcy, generally, within about 60 – 80 days following the bankruptcy hearing. If the Trustee is administering assets for the benefit of your Creditors, discharge will be delayed. Other events may delay discharge such as Creditor actions. In most cases, your case will be closed at about the time the discharge notice is filed. The notice will be sent to you and all Creditors in your case. Communicating with our Office via E-mail – We have found the use of e-mail to be a very efficient means of communicating with our clients. If you have any questions or concerns not addressed in this brochure or on our website, please send your questions to our office via e-mail and we will promptly respond to any concerns that you may have. We endeavor to provide clients with individualized service to the extent possible; and our focus in our office is on processing your case in the most efficient manner possible, and expeditiously and effectively resolving all issues involved in your case. The use of e-mail communications assists us in accomplishing these objectives. Oftentimes, we must communicate with you by telephone or in person to address more complex issues which may arise in your case, and we will contact you by telephone for this purpose. You may address your e-mail questions to Jody L. Howe at jody@utahbankruptcy.com If you feel that it is impossible to communicate with us about a particular problem via e-mail or if you do not have Internet access, please feel free to call our office and we will attempt to address your problem as expeditiously as possible. Communicating with Creditors after Filing - Your Creditors are strictly prohibited from communicating with you following your bankruptcy filing or from taking collection action of any kind such as garnishment, repossession, eviction or foreclosure. Remember, your Creditors will not receive notice from the Bankruptcy Court of your bankruptcy filing until about 10-14 days after we file for you. We will notify them of the bankruptcy sooner if necessary to stop a garnishment or foreclosure, or to prevent a repossession. Therefore, if a Creditor communicates with you after you have filed, First, double check to make sure they are listed in your bankruptcy schedules. If they are not included in the schedules, we will need to add them. Then inform them you have filed and provide them with your case number and date of filing. This Should be the End of the Conversation (even for Creditors you need to add). Most Creditors understand the legal significance of a bankruptcy filing. If they persist in attempting to collect from you, please request their Name and Telephone Number. E-mail this information to our office, and we will communicate with them and make them cease all efforts to collect from or communicate with you. Until you have a Bankruptcy Case Number, we Cannot prevent your Creditors from Contacting you or taking action to Collect their Debts from you. Do not give them our name and telephone number as there is nothing we can do to protect you without a case number. It Is not unusual for Creditors to Continue to Call or send statements for Several Weeks following your Bankruptcy Filing - Even though all of your Creditors will receive Notice from the Bankruptcy Court of your bankruptcy filing within 10-14 days of the filing date, it often takes time for this Notice to be directed to all appropriate departments of huge, institutional Creditors. Therefore, you may still receive Creditor communications for several weeks after you file. If you receive telephone calls, simply give them your bankruptcy case number and date of filing as described above, and instruct them to update their records regarding your account status and bankruptcy filing. If you receive statements in the mail, write your case number on the statement, indicate you have filed bankruptcy, and return it to your Creditor Adding
Creditors After Filing - You may add Creditors after you file your
bankruptcy case, provided the debt you desire to add was incurred PRIOR TO
the filing date. You may not add debts incurred AFTER the filing date.
You may add as many Creditors you desire for an additional fee of $50.00
(per Creditor list), which includes the Court filing fee. Creditor Actions to Recover a Home - After you initiate your bankruptcy case, Mortgage Creditors are strictly prohibited from taking any action to continue or begin proceedings to foreclose on real estate. If foreclosure proceedings are underway at the time your case is filed, the proceedings are terminated. Mortgage Creditors file Motions with the Court to get Court permission to begin or recommence foreclosure proceedings following a bankruptcy filing. (The Motions are generally titled, “Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay”.) If a Mortgage Creditor elects to file a Motion, the Mortgage Creditor must file the original copy of the Motion with the Court, and mail a copy to you and to our offices. Be assured that we will receive a copy of any Motion you receive from any Mortgage Creditor at the same time you do. If you Desire to Surrender your Home - If you have informed us of your desire to return to the Mortgage Creditor the home addressed in their Motion, we will not respond to the Motion and any hearing scheduled on the Motion will be cancelled within approximately18 days from the date the Motion was mailed out as indicated on the last page of the motion. The Mortgage Creditor will then be free to begin or recommence foreclosure proceedings. Another option available to Mortgage Creditors is to wait until your bankruptcy case is closed at which time they are also free to begin or recommence foreclosure proceedings. The foreclosure process, which cannot even be commenced without Court permission or until your case is closed, takes about three or four months; and individuals often continue to reside in the home during the foreclosure process. If you opt to continue to reside in your home during the foreclosure process, you must properly maintain the home while you are living there and may not do anything to damage or deteriorate the premises. If you Desire to Keep your Home - If you desire to keep your home you must be current in your mortgage payments or bring them current as quickly as possible. If you have informed us of your desire to keep your home, we will file a response and objection to the Mortgage Creditor’s Motion on your behalf, and contact you and the Mortgage Creditor regarding the status of payments on your home mortgage. If you do not bring your mortgage current by the hearing date, the Court will grant the Mortgage Creditor permission to begin foreclosure proceedings which they will do unless you can make some arrangements with the Mortgage Creditor to bring the mortgage current within a particular period of time. Some Mortgage Creditors are willing to work with individuals in this regard, others are not Creditor actions to recover assets and Vehicles - After you initiate your bankruptcy case, Creditors are strictly prohibited from taking any action to repossess vehicles or other assets securing the debt you have with them. Creditors may however, and often do, file Motions with the Court to obtain Court permission to go forward with a repossession. (The Motions are generally titled, “Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay”.) If a Creditor elects to file such a Motion, the Creditor must file the original copy of the Motion with the Court, and mail a copy to you and a copy to our offices. Be assured that we will receive a copy of any Motion you receive from any Creditor at the same time you do. If you Desire to Surrender the Vehicle or asset - If you have informed us of your desire to return to the secured creditor the vehicle or other asset addressed in their Motion, we will not respond to the Motion and any hearing scheduled on the Motion will be cancelled within approximately18 days from the date the Motion was mailed out. The Creditor will then be free to repossess the vehicle or asset (unless you have already returned it to them) and to proceed to sell the vehicle or asset. A secured creditor may not sell a vehicle or asset you return to them during your bankruptcy case without first getting Court permission or relief from the automatic stay. Otherwise, they must wait until your case is closed before they can sell the vehicle. If you Desire to Keep the Vehicle or asset - If you desire to retain possession of the vehicle or other asset addressed in the Motion, you must be current in your payments on the vehicle or bring them current as quickly as possible. If you have informed us of your desire to keep the vehicle or asset in question, we will file a response and objection to the Motion on your behalf, and contact you and the Creditor regarding the status of payments on the loan secured by the vehicle/asset in question. If you do not bring the debt against your vehicle/asset current by the hearing date, the Court will grant the Creditor permission to repossess or sell which they will do unless you can make some arrangements with the Creditor to bring the obligation current within a particular period of time. Some Creditors are willing to work with individuals in this regard, others are not. Any Deficiency remaining on any Vehicle or Home Repossessed or Foreclosed either before or Following the Commencement of your Bankruptcy Case, is included in your Bankruptcy. In other words, the Secured Creditor cannot seek to Collect from you any remaining Balance on the Obligation Secured by a Vehicle or Home. Reaffirmation Agreements – If you desire to retain an asset subject to a security interest, such as a vehicle, it is not necessary for you to execute a reaffirmation agreement. Provided you remain CURRENT IN PAYMENT of the debt against secured assets, the Creditor cannot repossess the asset, and the Court will not generally give a Creditor permission to repossess. We do not advise our clients to sign reaffirmation agreements unless the Creditor is offering a reduction in terms of the underlying debt such as a reduction in the loan balance or interest rate which we will attempt to negotiate on your behalf if you desire. Similarly, you can opt to continue to pay any Creditor included in your bankruptcy without signing a reaffirmation agreement, although you will have no legal obligation to do continue to pay. What to Expect at the Hearing - Creditors are invited to attend your bankruptcy hearing, although they are not required to do so, and in most cases, they do not attend. The Bankruptcy Trustee assigned to your case will have reviewed prior to the hearing, all statements and schedules we submit on your behalf. They may question you regarding any aspect of your statements and schedules they desire. In general, the Trustee in a Chapter 7 case is focused on identifying assets they may sell or administer for the benefit of your Creditors. They are also concerned that you have made a full and accurate disclosure of assets and other information requested in the schedules. We take these hearings very seriously and try to present all information on your behalf as accurately and completely as possible. Although it will be necessary for you to allocate one hour for the hearing, your individual portion of the hearing will last only five to ten minutes. An attorney from our office will be present with you at the hearing during the entire period of questioning, and afterward to negotiate agreements with any Creditors who appear at the hearing. We will also review with you following the hearing, any directives or requests for information made by the Trustee.
DISCLAIMER |
