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Here’s what you need to know
Who must attend?
The Trustee, you, and one of our attorneys. The Trustee is the person who runs the hearing and asks you questions.
Who gets invited?
All the creditors listed in your bankruptcy schedules get a notice in the mail. Many times none of the creditors show up. Some may show up to get basic information from you. Ultimately, while creditors may ask questions at the hearing, they rarely show up and the ones that do show up usually keep quiet.
Where is the meeting held:
This depends on where your case was filed. You should receive a piece of paper stating the exact location. They are rarely held in a courtroom. Many districts have specific 341 hearing rooms.
What should you brings:
Photo Id, Social Security Card, your car insurance information (occasionally a creditor may want proof you have it), and a copy of your last filed tax returns (these may have already been provided to your Trustee). You may want to bring copies of any documents requested by our office for the trustee.
What will you be asked:
The Trustee will ask you basic questions such as your name and address. The Trustee will also ask you basic questions to verify that the schedules filed in your case are true and accurate. If you own property, the Trustee will ask you questions pertaining to the property, such as the value of the property.
How long:
An Oregon 341 hearing itself last about 5 to 10 minutes. You will probably be there a little longer. Multiple people’s 341 hearings are scheduled for the same time. There is usually 30 minutes to an hour allowed for all the 341 hearings to be held. You will probably not know beforehand where you are scheduled on the calendar. You should arrive 10 to 15 minutes before the scheduled hearing. If you are feeling uncomfortable about the hearings, I suggest you arrive a little early to watch a few. Your nervousness will dissipate.
Other things to keep in mind:
The hearings are tape recorded. This means you really need to speak loudly and clearly. The Trustee is the one asking the questions. If you have a questions, hold it for after the hearing and ask your attorney.
The original post is titled Getting Ready for an Oregon 341 Meeting of Creditors , and it came from Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief .
If you fall behind on your student loan, you may not be in default.
The answer depends on whether the student loan is federal or private. But first, you need to understand the concept of default.
What Is Default?
A default is, technically speaking, a failure to meet the legal obligations of a loan.
The simplest type of default occurs when you fail to make your payments on time. But default can technically happen if there’s any obligation whatsoever in a loan agreement that you fail to make.
For example, mortgage loans may require you to maintain homeowners’ insurance. Fail to keep the policy in place and you’re considered to be in default of your obligations.
When Does A Student Loan Go Into Default?
Federal student loans don’t go into default when you miss a payment. In fact, If you repay your loan monthly, then default occurs when you fail to make a payment for 270 days. For the rare FFEL loan that requires payments to be made more often than once a month, you go into default if you fail to make a payment for 330 days.
Private student loans are different – remember, they’re no different than any other installment loan or consumer debt. You’ll need to look at the loan agreement to determine when default occurs, but it usually happens as soon as you miss a payment.
How To Prevent Default
When it comes to private student loans, you can avoid default only by making your payments on time. If you can’t meet that obligation, you’ve got no legal way to prevent yourself from going into default.
For federal student loans, however, there are programs available to keep you out of default. Consider deferment or one of the extended or income-based repayment options to make it easier financially. Start by calling your student loan servicer to investigate your alternatives. If that doesn’t work, calling a student loan lawyer like me may shed some light on the situation.
If You’re In Default
Default comes with some severe consequences.
For federal student loans, those consequences come without the need for a lawsuit and include tax refund offset, bank account freezes, and wage garnishment. Read more about the consequences of defaulting on your federal student loans here.
Private student loan default triggers collection activity and often a lawsuit. The lawsuit, if you don’t fight it, yields a judgment that can also cause wage garnishment and other enforcement actions.
If you find yourself in student loan default, keep an open line of communication with the lender as well as any collection companies. Work with the lender to come to an agreement on structuring payments, but if that fails then it’s time to talk with a lawyer and protect yourself before it’s too late.
Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyer If you search for a Chicago bankruptcy lawyer, you are going to find a wide range of talent, fees, experience, demeanor and success. You will find everything from the entry-level attorney who is trying to help his first client all the way to the seasoned attorney who is closing in on retirement+ Read More
The post All Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyers Are Not Created Equal! appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Medical Debt There is no question that a chapter 7 bankruptcy case will eliminate medical debt. However, if you only have one debt, you may not need to file bankruptcy at all. This is all going to depend upon the aggressiveness of the debt collector as well as your tolerance for ongoing collection efforts. In+ Read More
The post I Have One Huge Medical Debt. Is Bankruptcy The Answer? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
A common question that comes up when clients are considering chapter 7 bankruptcy is what impact bankruptcy will have on IRAs and other retirement accounts. When we file your chapter 7 bankruptcy, we have the opportunity to use what are termed “exemptions” under the U.S. and Arizona bankruptcy laws. The post IRAs and Bankruptcy appeared first on Tucson Bankruptcy Attorney.
Should I File for Bankruptcy?You lost your job and were living on credit cards to make ends meet. You suffer from medical bills. You are separated/divorced from your spouse. These are real life issues that have made you wonder whether to file for bankruptcy. This is a very personal decision.Considering Bankruptcy ChecklistIf several of the following apply in your situation, you might consider bankruptcy:
- Your salary is garnished or your bank account is attached
- Most of your bills are credit card bills, hospital or doctor's bills, etc.
- Your bills is more than you could reasonably pay over three years
- Collection agencies are calling you at home and/or at work
- Your payments are more than 30 days behind
- You are being sued by creditors
- You owe income taxes that you are currently unable to pay
- You have few assets
- You have little or no savings
- You have had property repossessed (such as a car)
- Your mortgage lender has threatened or started foreclosure proceedings against your home.
Food and clothing in the bankruptcy means test One of my jobs as a bankruptcy lawyer is to make you look good on the bankruptcy means test. Here in Northern Virginia, I claim an extra 5% on your food and clothing allowance. The bankruptcy means test law talks about that 5% in 11 USC 707(b)(2)(A)(ii)(l). […]The post Bankruptcy Means Test: 5% Additional for Food and Clothing by Robert Weed appeared first on Robert Weed.
Chicago Bankruptcy Trustee In certain circumstances a Chicago bankruptcy trustee can take your tax refund. It all depends however on the facts of the case. Let’s start with the chapter 7 situation. If you receive your tax refund prior to your chapter 7 bankruptcy case being filed and you exhaust that refund prior to the+ Read More
The post Will The Chicago Bankruptcy Trustee Take My Tax Refund? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
A recent client came to see me many months back to talk about potentially filing for bankruptcy. He was not even thinking about a bankruptcy release at that time. This person knew that he had debt, but he was reluctant to file for some reason. Many people think that if they just keep avoiding lawsuits+ Read More
The post Will Bankruptcy Release The Freeze On My Bank Account? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
If you’re in over your head with student loans, chances are you’re getting desperate.
You’ve seen the ads claiming that there are ways to get your student loans forgiven, and that new programs exist to help you. But when you make a phone call, you find out that it’s the same old bait-and-switch maneuver that won’t get you anywhere.
You know it’s an uphill battle to wipe out student loans in bankruptcy, but maybe … just maybe … your claim of undue hardship will prevail. Tell the judge your story, beg for mercy, and maybe it will work.
But then you talk with a student loan lawyer and are told in no uncertain terms that an undue hardship claim will cost a small fortune and chances of success are slim at best. We’ve talked about the cold, hard reality in the past.
Collectors are coming at you, demanding payment. You’re waiting for the lawsuits, wage garnishment, and tax refund offset.
But wait – maybe there’s something you can do.
Is Bankruptcy May Be The Hidden Solution
Even if you can’t wipe out the student loan debt in bankruptcy, there’s a lot that the process may be able to do for you.
Take, for example, those credit card debts. Bankruptcy may be able to wipe those out for you. Same with medical and dental bills, personal loans, and some tax debts.
Remove those obligations and suddenly you’ve got a few bucks left over to pay down the student loan debts. It won’t make the problem go away immediately, but at least bankruptcy will give you some breathing room so you can work with the student loan creditors.
Using Bankruptcy To Force A Student Loan Repayment Plan
Even if you don’t have other debts to wipe out, you may decide to use bankruptcy as a way to structure a repayment plan for your student loans.
The repayment plan will run up to 60 months and won’t result in the balance of the student loan debt being wiped out (in fact, the balance may rise if your repayment plan doesn’t cover the accrued interest). It will, however, give you room to breath more freely.
When the repayment plan is done, maybe your income will be high enough to resume regular payments. If not, you can go back to bankruptcy court.
A Tool For Debt Relief
All too often, we look at the bankruptcy process as a way to get out of debt immediately. If bankruptcy won’t help with one specific debt right away then it doesn’t seem worth it.
But dig a little more and you’ll see that bankruptcy may be able to help with student loan problems even without a discharge.
The goal is to get into a better financial position, and that means a review of the big picture. Looking at things on a debt-by-debt basis will only serve to make things worse.
Updated daily, this blog will keep you informed on the latest bankruptcy news! 
Learn more about how Bankruptcy works and what you need to know.