What to Expect at the 341 Meeting of Creditors

When you file for bankruptcy relief in Fort Lauderdale, or throughout Florida, you are required to attend a 341 Meeting of Creditors. This meeting gives the trustee administering your bankruptcy case an opportunity to verify your identity, income, expenses, and to confirm that you disclosed all of your assets and debts in your bankruptcy petition. The trustee will do this by reviewing your bankruptcy petition and the required documentation in advance of the meeting and by asking you certain questions at the 341 meeting. Although the name is 341 Meeting of Creditors, and creditors certainly have the right to attend and ask you questions, they hardly ever do except in more complicated cases. The meeting itself usually takes less than 5 minutes. The following tips will help your 341 meeting to go smoothly and quickly.

7 Tips For Your 341 Meeting

1. Make sure to take your driver’s license and original social security card with you to the meeting. Without these original documents, the meeting cannot be conducted.
2. Arrive 20 to 30 minutes early as you will need some time to find parking, walk to the courthouse, go through security, and meet with your attorney prior to the start time.
3. Leave your cell phone in the car or somewhere safe as the federal court building does not allow non-attorney visitors to enter with electronics.
4. Submit all required documentation to your attorney timely so that your attorney may review the documents and submit them to the trustee before the deadline. If the required documents are not timely submitted, the meeting will not be conducted.
5. This next one is common sense, but definitely worth mentioning: do not miss your court meeting or your case will be dismissed. Obviously, sometimes medical emergencies happen, but other than that, missing your 341 meeting can be fatal to your bankruptcy case.
6. Respond to the trustee’s questions truthfully and don’t be evasive. When filling out your bankruptcy papers and testifying at the 341 meeting, you are doing so under oath. It is important that you respond completely and honestly (both when filling out the bankruptcy petition and when responding to questions) and review your bankruptcy papers carefully before your attorney submits them.
7. Dress appropriately. It is not necessary to dress up in a suit and tie, but shorts and flip-flops are not appropriate for a federal court meeting and will give the trustee a bad first impression.

If you do the above, your 341 meeting should be quick and easy and just another stepping stone to financial freedom.

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Loan Lawyers has helped over 5,000 South Florida homeowners and consumers with their debt problems, we have saved over 1,800 homes from foreclosure, eliminated $100,000,000 in mortgage principal and consumer debt, and have collected millions of dollars on behalf of our clients due to bank, loan servicer, and debt collector violations, negligence and fraud. Contact us for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help you. Call us at 1-888-Fight13 (344-4813).