No Attorney 341 Meeting

Well it happened, my first meeting is behind me.

The 341 meeting was interesting. No creditors came. Since I couldn't
afford an attorney to help with the filing, I think I must've made
some mistakes in the paperwork. The trustee seemed to indicate so, but
stopped short of saying it outright.

The Trustee had questions about stock that I declared and said he
would be writing me a letter with additional questions. I hope that
this is just what he said it is, and not some sort of surprise in the
waiting. It didn't help that I signed on to my new job the same day. I
think he expects to find that I'm hiding something.

My stock in my failed business is worthless, but I don't think he
believed me. If I have to track down some of the other principals to
get supporting documentation, then this could take a while. The
corporation never made a dime and I invested at least $15,000 in it. I
never received a single payment from the corporation. It did earn
$5,000 before I became an active employee, but that money was divided
between the three principals involved in that consultation. Since the
bankruptcy court is in the same building as the IRS, I doubt he'll
have any trouble discovering that the corporation has zero value. As
I'm the contact for Dunn and Bradstreet, I already have a good idea
what the credit report looks like.

We declared some bank stock worth about $1700, but is difficult to
sell. If he wants it, he can have it. He made it sound like we were
doing something dirty in owning difficult to sell stock, while
declaring bankruptcy. I honestly don't see the crime in owning it and
declaring it. It was my understanding that he may demand it be
relinquished to him for liquidation, so I don't see why he should be
raising an eyebrow. Perhaps it's because he doesn't want to be
bothered with it?

At this time, I just hope that I haven't made a mistake that I can be
arrested for.

The trustee seemed to be a little more emotionally involved with my
case than I would like. I've learned in business, always smile, even
when being screwed. Perhaps my demeanor was annoying him and he now
feels he needs to prove something?

It has occurred to me also, that I may have done everything just
correctly enough to be legitimate, but not in the way that he and that
system is accustomed to, and so have created extra work for him. Where
attorneys have time to be trained into the system, I'm a one time shot
that he may have to spend extra time with.

I really didn't feel stressed until after the meeting. I knew
beforehand that the trustee has an adversarial relationship with us,
so I'm not sure why I was surprised that he acted in such a manner. I
suppose I expected him to be a little more honest and forthright. I
did learn that hearings are not designed to be anything more than a
formality. It doesn't appear that things are actually supposed to be
accomplished in them. I appeared to have screwed that part up.

As this continues, I'll keep you folks posted.

If no creditors object to the bankrupcty, then can the trustee do so
on behalf of the Federal Courts, or on behalf of the non-objecting
creditors? Is it sometimes the Trustee's role to goad the creditors
into objecting?

Jack Dingler