341 CREDITOR HEARING IN BK COURT – WHAT IT IS – WHAT HAPPENS

Attending a 341 Creditor’s Meeting – What is it? What to Expect

Whether it is Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, everybody must go to a 341 meeting. Section 341 of the Bankruptcy requires a meeting with creditors. It is a very brief appearance. Your bankruptcy attorney will be there, you will be there (the debtor) and the Trustee will also be there.

Creditors are permitted to attend and question various things, but they will rarely show up and, in fact, almost never. Showing up as a creditor doesn’t change your rank. You don’t go from an unsecured creditor to a secured creditor just because you show up. So your credit card company cannot show up at a 341 hearing and acquire secured creditor status. There’s no point and it wastes time. Some credit unions might show up if they feel there has been some kind of fraud, like a lie on an application. They could show up and ask a couple of questions. Other times you might find crazy ex-spouses or girlfriends show up or people who just want to vent in which case the Trustee might let it go on a couple of minutes and then they will cut it off.

Basically it is just an opportunity to check your ID’s and make sure you are who you are. You have to show up on time with your driver’s license and Social Security card. They swear you in and then begini by asking some general questions (nothing that you haven’t answered on your Petition).

For example, (1) did you examine the petition before you signed it, (2) did you list all your assets? (3) are you a Plaintiff in any lawsuits, (4) do you have any other personal property you have not listed on the schedules, etc.?

The questioning is tape recorded and is basically 4-5 minutes long. It goes very quickly. Like I said, it is mostly an opportunity to verify your ID’s. Before you go there you meet with your Trustee and the Trustee will send out a Trustee letter a couple of weeks before your 341 meeting. It is a letter that requires you to fill out a form, and it is going to require you to submit the documents that he/she asked you to submit. So they might want 6 months of bank statements. You will want to mail all the requested items into the Trustee’s office before you show up and then when you show up he/she will have everything prepped and they will be ready to ask you about any assets you have and what not.

For the most part, 95% of the time it is only about 5 minutes long because they do about six every half an hour in Maricopa County. So it is like 5 minutes – six people every half hour, on the half hour. They call everyone in as a big group and they even call you individually into the main chamber and then they will go one at a time.

That is a basic overview of what happens in a 341 creditors meeting.