The meeting of creditors is a hearing you must attend during a bankruptcy proceeding. It is called a “meeting of creditors” because creditors are notified that they may attend and ask you questions pertaining to assets or any matter pertinent to the administration of your case. It may also be referred to as a “341 meeting” because it is mandated by Section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code. Your creditors are not required to attend these meetings. They do not waive any rights if they do not attend. The meeting usually lasts about ten to fifteen minutes. It may be continued if the trustee or US trustee’s representative is not satisfied with the information presented. The meeting of creditors usually occurs between twenty and forty days after you file a petition. The judge will not be present for this hearing. In Chapter 7, Chapter 12, and Chapter13 bankruptcy cases, the trustee assigned to the case runs the meeting. In a Chapter 11 case, a representative of the US trustee’s office conducts the meeting.

The meeting gives the trustee or the representative of the US trustee the opportunity to review your petition and schedules with you present. You will be required to answer questions about your conduct, property, liabilities, financial condition, and any other matter that may affect the administration of your case or your right to discharge. You must swear or affirm to tell the truth during the meeting under penalty of perjury. The trustee or US trustee’s representative will ask questions to ensure that you understand the bankruptcy process.

If you fail to appear and provide the information requested, the trustee or US trustee’s representative may request that the case be dismissed, or may seek other relief against you. If you are filing jointly with your spouse, both of you must appear at the meeting of creditors.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, Colorado Bankruptcy Help Email, personal bankruptcy free-consultation form.

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One of the documents you must file in your bankruptcy case is a Creditor’s Matrix. A creditor’s matrix is a list of your creditors. There is a list of regulations that must be followed so that it is compatible with the Court’s automated noticing system. If your creditor’s matrix does not meet the requirements, which are stipulated below, it will be declared deficient and this will delay the progress of your bankruptcy case or possibly result in the dismissal of your case.

Your creditor’s matrix must conform to the following regulations:

• The matrix should be saved as a TEXT file, i.e. with a .txt extension. It should be submitted to the court on a Compact Disk (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD) or a 3-1/2 inch 1.44 MB diskette. A hard copy of the completed matrix is not required.
• The name and complete address of each of your creditors must be listed. If your debt is in the hands of an attorney or other agent for collection, the full names and addresses of both the original creditor and assignee or agent must be included. Do not include your full account numbers, only the last four digits of an account number. Do not list the amount owed to the creditor on the matrix.
• The matrix must be formatted in the following manner:

o Do not include page titles, headers, or page numbers

o There should be a single column per page

o There should be a maximum of five lines per address

o Special characters, such as @#$%^&*()_+?, are not permitted

o City, state and zip code must be on one line, the last line of the address

o Be sure to triple space between each creditor’s address

o There can be no more than forty characters per line

• Do not include the names and addresses for the following people as they will be retrieved automatically by the system:

o You and/or your spouse

o Your lawyer

o Any Chapter Trustee (Ch. 7, 12, 13)

o U.S. Trustee

• The completed Verification of Creditor Matrix form must be filed along with the CD/DVD or diskette
• Any supplemental or amended creditor(s) matrix must include only creditor(s) not previously submitted
• If you wish to change the address of a creditor already submitted, file a completed Change of Address form. Do not file an amended matrix.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, Colorado Bankruptcy Help Email, personal bankruptcy free-consultation form.

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Today I will finish my discussion of bankruptcy discharge by answering some final questions:

·         Can you receive a discharge if you have a history of a prior discharge?

If you are filing bankruptcy under Chapter 7 and have received a discharge under Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 within the past eight years the court will deny your present discharge. The court will also deny a Chapter 7 discharge if you have received a Chapter 12 or Chapter 13 discharge within the past six years, unless you paid in full all of your “allowed unsecured” claims from the prior case, or you paid a total of at least seventy percent of the “allowed unsecured” claims and your plan was proposed in good faith and the payments made represented your best effort. You are not eligible for a Chapter 13 discharge if you received an earlier Chapter 7, 11, or 12 discharge within four years or in a Chapter 13 case within two years.

·         Can a discharge be revoked?

A discharge may be revoked by the court under certain circumstance. For example, a creditor, trustee, or U.S. trustee may request that your Chapter 7 discharge be revoked if: there are allegations that your have obtained the discharge fraudulently; you failed to disclose information about property you were about to acquire; you supplied misinformation regarding an audit of your case.  Usually, a request for the discharge to be revoked must occur within a year of the discharge. The court will assess whether your discharge is revocable. Under Chapter 11, Chapter 12, and Chapter 13 cases if the discharge is obtained through fraud the court can revoke the order of discharge.

·         What can you do if a creditor attempts to collect on a discharged debt?

You can file a motion to the court reporting the creditor’s action and request the case be reopened to address the matter. The bankruptcy will usually do so to be sure the discharge is not violated. The discharge is a permanent statutory injunction that prohibits creditors from taking any action against you with intent to collect a discharged debt. The creditor may be charged with civil contempt by the court for violating the discharge and fined.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any further questions. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado personal bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, Colorado Bankruptcy Help Email, personal bankruptcy free-consultation form.

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My bankruptcy clients ask me whether or not their creditors can object to a discharge. Once again the answer depends on which Chapter you are filing for bankruptcy under.

If you file under Chapter 7 you do not have an automatic right to a discharge. Your creditor may file an objection to your discharge, and so may the trustee in your case, or the U.S. trustee. Soon after the case is filed, your creditors will receive a notice that will include the deadline for objecting to the discharge as well as other essential information.  Your creditors must file a complaint in the bankruptcy court prior to the deadline if they intend to object to your discharge. Once they file a complaint a lawsuit is initiated. It is referred to as an “adversary proceeding.”

A Chapter 7 discharge may be denied by the court for any of the following reasons (which are described in the Bankruptcy Code):

• failure to provide your requested tax documents
• failure to complete a course on personal financial management
• transfer or concealment of your property with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors
• destruction or concealment of your books or records
• perjury or any other fraudulent acts
• failure to account for the loss of your assets
• violation of a court order
• a prior discharge in a prior case that began within a certain time frame before the date the petition was filed (the issue of time frame will be discussed in a later blog)

If the objection to your right to a discharge goes to trial, the objecting party has to prove all of the facts essential to the objection.

In Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, you are entitled to a discharge after you complete all of the payments under the plan. Under Chapter 13 a discharge may not occur if you fail to complete a required personal financial management course, or if you received a prior discharge in another case that began within certain time frames to be discussed in my next blog. An important distinction between a Chapter 7 and Chapter 12 or Chapter 13 is that your creditors do not have standing to object to a discharge. Your creditors may object to confirmation of your repayment plan, but may not object to the discharge if you have finished making plan payments.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, Colorado Bankruptcy Help Email, personal bankruptcy free-consultation form.

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In the last blog I mentioned that during your bankruptcy case there may be a litigation involving objections to a discharge, today I would like to address that issue. The debts which are dischargeable vary under the Bankruptcy Code. There are nineteen categories of debt that are not dischargeable under Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 12. The list of exceptions applied to bankruptcy cases under Chapter 13 is less. Due to public policy motives, Congress has concluded that these types of debt are not dischargeable. Therefore you still must pay these debts after having filed bankruptcy.

The most common types of debts that are not dischargeable include the following:

• debts that you, as the debtor, have not added to the lists and schedules you must file with the court
• certain kinds of tax claims
• debts for alimony or child support
• debts for willful and malicious injuries to person or property
• debts to government agencies for fines and penalties
• debts for government funded or guaranteed educational loans
• debts for overpayments of benefits
• debts accrued as a result of personal injury caused by operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated
• debts owed to tax-advantaged retirement plans
• debts for some condominium or cooperative housing fees.

 Debts of the above type are usually automatically considered non-dischargeable. Whereas certain debts described in the Bankruptcy Code are not automatically considered non-dischargeable. Your creditors must ask the court to decide that these debts are exceptions to the discharge order. In the absence of such a request from the creditor these types of debts will be discharged.

Note that a slightly wider range of discharge of debts applies in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case than in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. For example, debts dischargeable in Chapter 13 but not in Chapter 7 include: debts accrued for willful and malicious injury to property, debts to pay non-dischargeable tax obligations, and debts arising from property settlements in divorce or separation proceedings.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, Colorado Bankruptcy Help Email, personal bankruptcy free-consultation form.

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In my last blog I discussed the what and when of bankruptcy discharge and today I will examine how you, as a debtor, obtain a discharge. Usually you will receive your discharge automatically after your case is settled, unless there is a legal disputation involving an objection to the discharge. The clerk of the bankruptcy court will mail a copy of the discharge order to all of your creditors, the trustee in your case, your trustee’s attorney, if there is one, and the U.S. trustee. You and your bankruptcy attorney will also receive copies of the discharge order.

The notice will not specify the debts which are determined by the court to be non-dischargeable, in other words, any debts not covered by the discharge. The notice will simply be a copy of the final discharge order. It will inform your creditors that the debts owed to them have been discharged and that they should not make any more attempts to collect from you. They will be warned in the notice that such attempts at collecting on your discharged debts could result in punishment for contempt.

If the clerk unwittingly fails to send you, or any of your creditors, a copy of the discharge order within the time dictated by the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure this will not affect the validity of the discharge order.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570,                      Colorado Bankruptcy Help Email,  personal bankruptcy free-consultation form.

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What does it mean when there is a discharge in your personal bankruptcy case? It means that you are no longer legally required to pay any debts which are specified in the discharge. The discharge is a permanent order prohibiting your creditors from taking any action to collect on discharged debts. Discharged creditors may not make any attempt to communicate with you. If there are any liens on your property that could not be avoided in your personal bankruptcy case a secured creditor may take the steps necessary to recover the property secured by the lien.

When the discharge occurs depends on which chapter you have filed. In a Chapter 7 case, the court will often grant the discharge immediately after the fixed time for filing any objections to a discharge and for filing a motion to dismiss the case based on substantial abuse has expired. This usually will occur approximately four months after the date you filed your petition with the clerk of the bankruptcy court. In a Chapter 11, Chapter 12, and Chapter 13 case the court will grant the discharge as soon as possible after you complete all payments under your bankruptcy plan. Since a Chapter 13 or Chapter 12 plan may provide for payments to be made over three to five years, the discharge typically occurs about four years after the date of filing.

Be aware that the court may deny your discharge in a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case if you fail to complete a financial management course. The Bankruptcy Code provides an exception to the requirement to take a financial management course if:

• the U.S. trustee or bankruptcy administrator determines there are no adequate educational programs available to you,
• you are disabled,
• you are incapacitated, or
• you are on active duty in a combat zone.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado personal bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, Colorado Bankruptcy Help Email, personal bankruptcy free-consultation form

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I’ve been hoping to supply additional information that might be helpful to someone considering filing personal bankruptcy. Then I remembered an issue that is often on a couple’s mind when preparing to file bankruptcy. They want to know what a joint bankruptcy petition is and whether just one of the spouses can file.

A joint bankruptcy petition is when a husband and wife file for bankruptcy under one petition. Only a man and woman who are married—common law or otherwise—on the date of filing for personal bankruptcy may file a joint petition. People who are unmarried, corporations, and partnerships must file separate petitions.

As an aside, you may not file a single petition for yourself and your business, be it a corporation, a limited liability company or a partnership. In that case, you must file separately for yourself and your business.

It is permissible for one spouse in a marriage to file alone. In other words, spouses do not have to file jointly. But, in order for the court to have complete knowledge of the petitioner’s financial situation, the spouse who does not file must also supply the data about his or her assets and wages.

I hope this information has been useful. If you have any more questions related to filing personal bankruptcy please feel free to contact me for a FREE personal bankruptcy consultation.

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado personal bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, Colorado Bankruptcy Help email, Colorado personal bankruptcy free-consultation form

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After filing personal bankruptcy in Colorado, clients are concerned about their options for obtaining a decent credit card. As I have said on my Colorado Bankruptcy Help FAQ page: In today’s competitive lending environment, credit is available to the recently bankrupt. It may be more expensive than before, and available with lower limits, but it will be offered. It does take some effort, but it is possible to find a card that will offer you reasonable credit and will help you reestablish your credit rating.

It might seem like getting a good credit card after filing personal bankruptcy is unlikely. But some companies assume that after having had serious financial problems, you will do what is necessary to avoid having similar problems in the future. In other words, they assume you will have learned from your mistakes. That being the case, some of the better credit card companies are interested in clients who have declared bankruptcy. Particularly since there is at least a two year delay before you are eligible to file bankruptcy again. (The length of time allowable between bankruptcies depends on which Chapter you file. For more information on this issue go to my Colorado Bankruptcy Help FAQ page under the question “Does a previous bankruptcy prevent me from filing?”)

Be aware, as soon as your credit rating drops, notoriously bad credit card companies will start sending you applications. These cards have extremely high interest rates and poor policies, such as massive late fees. Don’t be fooled into applying for one of those credit cards. Even after bankruptcy, you can do better than those disreputable companies.

A secured credit card is usually available post bankruptcy at lower rates than unsecured cards. Maintaining a thirty percent balance on a secured credit card may be the best approach to improving your credit score. It will increase your options for obtaining decent unsecured credit cards in the future.

Remember that establishing great credit after bankruptcy will require a commitment on your part to use your credit wisely and to pay your bills on time. Refer to a site like Credit Card Whiz for suggestions on how to manage your credit. Exercise caution when using credit so you don’t end up in financial difficulty once again.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado and have questions you would like a Colorado personal bankruptcy attorney to answer please contact me.

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado bankruptcy lawyer

Phone: 303-955-7570

website: http://COBankruptcyHelp.com

email: help@cobankruptcyhelp.com

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If you are thinking about filing personal bankruptcy you may be concerned about the impact it will have on your small business. As with many bankruptcy issues the answer depends on your specific situation-in other words, there is no simple answer. The first matter that needs to be established is the kind of business you are running. There are three major categories that businesses fall under.

One is called a corporation. A corporation is an entirely separate legal entity. The corporation operates mainly as an independent person. It may own property under its name. You are considered to be a shareholder not an owner. Therefore you do not have any interest in any property that belongs to the corporation, except as a shareholder during liquidation. Any action of the corporation must be through an agent acting on the corporation’s behalf.

Another is called a sole proprietorship. A sole proprietorship is operated by you only. You have no partners and are not incorporated. You are the sole owner of the business.  You may have employees working for you under a sole proprietorship, and also may have a separate business checking account.  But legally, there is no difference between your business and you. You own all the equipment and are legally liable for any business transactions.

The final one is called a partnership. A partnership is when you are in business with someone else but have not formed a corporation or other legal entity. A partnership also may be treated as a separate entity. It may also hold property in its name. But, each partner is liable for the partnership debts.

So, how will filing personal bankruptcy affect your business?  As stated above, it depends on the type of business. If it is a sole proprietorship, your business debts are your debts.  There is no distinction.  If you have either too much business debt or too much personal debt you must include all of your debts. You are also required to disclose both your business and personal assets.

Keep in mind that if you do file personal bankruptcy your business creditors may be reluctant to extend any further credit to you. Also, any business property will be considered an asset of your bankruptcy estate and might be sold by the trustee to pay your creditors.

Usually if a sole proprietorship files bankruptcy, the business is shut down, particularly if you file under Chapter 7. But with careful financial planning it is possible to continue your business even though it has limited or no credit available.

If you are struggling with too much debt and are operating your own small business, please contact an experienced personal bankruptcy attorney. If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado please feel free to contact me for any consumer bankruptcy assistance you may need.

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado bankruptcy lawyer

Phone: 303-955-7570

website: http://COBankruptcyHelp.com

email: help@cobankruptcyhelp.com

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