Continuing Instructions for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Some Reminders About Your Chapter 7 Case
FIRST MEETING OF CREDITORS: Shortly after filing, you will receive a notice from the court giving you the date, time and location of your First Meeting of Creditors. You (and your spouse, if you have filed jointly) must attend this meeting, or the court will dismiss your case. The meeting is usually scheduled for about 30 days from the date your petition is filed, and can only be rescheduled in the event of a dire emergency. The trustee will require you to take picture ID as proof of social security number to your 341 meeting. Picture ID is a valid driver’s license, government issued picture ID card, U.S. passport, government employee photo ID card, military photo ID card, legal resident alien card or student ID card. Proof of social security would be a SS card, SS statement, a pay stub or an original W-2 for the most recent tax year. An insurance card, other than a Medicare card, is not proof of social security in IL, but will suffice in MO.
CONTACTS BY CREDITORS: It normally takes about a month (or two months, for large corporations) for the creditor to get your notice from the Court to their correct department and into your computer file, in order to stop your bills. If, after your petition has been filed for 30 days, you continue to receive bills from the creditors listed in your petition, please forward the bills to our office, and we will send the creditor a letter notifying them that they must stop trying to collect on this debt. If you receive any phone calls from creditors after your Chapter 7 has been filed, please refer them to us.
MOVING? CHANGING PHONE NUMBERS? NEW JOB? Be sure to notify an office immediately , so that we can reach you as needed. In MO, an unpaid sewer bill can be discharged, but the liens on your property would remain until the debt is paid.
UTILITIES: Although the past due amounts on your utilities may have been wiped out by the Chapter 7; you do need to continue to pay your current monthly utility bills directly to those companies as they become due. The utility companies do have the right to require a deposit from you before they re-establish your service, but they must stop billing you for the past due amounts listed in your petition.
MORE CREDITORS: If, after filing your bankruptcy, you realize that you have forgotten to list one or more creditors, it is possible to have them added. The court charges $26 per schedule each time you make an addition, but you may add as many creditors as necessary. Please note that, in order to be added, the debt must have been incurred before you filed your petition. If you order a credit report that arrives after filing, it will be your responsibility to go through the credit report and check it against your creditor matrix to determine if there are creditors that need to be added to your bankruptcy.
After your bankruptcy has been discharged, it may still be possible to add the creditor, but it will be much more costly.
Before your case is discharged, you may occasionally receive notices from the court giving you the date and time of a hearing, such as a Hearing for Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay. Except for the first meeting of creditors, you will probably not need to go to any further court hearings. If you will need to be at a hearing, we will notify you.
REAFFIRMATION AGREEMENTS: Some of your creditors may send out a "Reaffirmation Agreement" for you to sign. TBC does not negotiate or obtain reaffirmations for our clients.
SURRENDERING SECURED PROPERTY: If you decided to allow a creditor to take back their collateral, you can contact them to make the arrangements for the return. You can either return it yourself to where it was purchased, or the creditor can come to your home to pick it up. If the creditor is to come to your home, and they have not been there in what you would consider a reasonable amount of time, the collateral does not become yours to sell: it still belongs to the creditor. Please notify us and we will instruct you how to proceed.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT COURSE: This course must be completed in order for your debts to be discharged art the end of your case. Your TBC attorney will help you find a class that qualifies for this requirement, and will advise you of the cost (normally about $70)
SALE OF ASSETS: IF YOU HAVE LISTED ANY ASSETS IN YOUR CASE, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SELL THEM WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE TRUSTEE, OR OF THE JUDGE.
FILING TAX RETURNS: During the time your Chapter 7 is in effect, DO NOT FILE ELECTRONICALLY IN IL, OR DO RAPID REFUND IN EITHER IL OR MO. Your tax refund may be taken by the court to pay your bills.
CREDIT REPORTING: A credit report can reflect a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing for up to 10 years from the date the bankruptcy was filed. If you have a co-signer on a debt, that person's credit report will reflect your filing for the co-signed account. This could adversely affect your co-signer's future credit. You should keep any papers you receive in connection with your case for up to 10 years after your case is discharged.
Specifically you should make copies of and retain the following:
-
The listing of creditors included in the case, a copy of which we will send just before your first meeting of creditors;
-
The Discharge Order entered by the Court upon completion of your case;
-
The Order closing your case.
These and other documents could be valuable in proving to a future creditor when your case was filed, closed, and what creditors were affected by your case.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, in regard to your case, please feel free to contact our office. If your attorney is not available when you call, just ask to speak to one of the paralegals. They will answer your questions, if they can; if not, they will have the attorney answer it for you.
TBC assists clients throughout Southern Illinois, including Madison County and St Clair County with offices in Belleville, Mount Vernon, Effingham and Marion, The Bankruptcy Company assists clients throughout Eastern Missouri with offices in Brentwood, MO.
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based upon advertisements.
Belleville, IL
618-236-7000
618-236-7002 (fax)
Marion, IL
888-400-5884
618-244-1842 (fax)
Edwardsville, IL
618-656-7941
618-656-7910 (fax)
Mount Vernon, IL
618-244-1840
618-244-1842 (fax)
St. Louis/Brentwood, MO
314-961-9822
314-961-9825 (fax)
