The Three Most Common Mistakes in Bankruptcy

Three of the most common errors that cause you to lose property in Bankruptcy. If you make any of these mistakes, you will lose property, time, or spend hundreds of dollars you don’t need to spend:

Mistake Number One: Failure To List All Your Assets.

You are required by the Court to list all of your assets. Under the bankruptcy code you are allowed to keep a certain amount of property. All of the rest of your property is turned over to the Bankruptcy Trustee as an asset to pay your creditors. You can also be charged with Bankruptcy Fraud as a crime by failing to list an asset or have your case dismissed for fraud and be barred from filing for up to 8 years.

Mistake Number Two: Failure To List All Your Debts.

You are required by the Court to list all your debts and all your assets. You do not want to miss a single Creditor when you prepare your bankruptcy, even if you wish to keep the debt or if someone is cosigned on that debt. If you want to keep your car, home, or a credit card, list it anyway. If you don’t think the debt can be bankrupted, list it anyway. If you do not list the Creditor, he may be unaffected by the bankruptcy until you amend and add him. Also under the new law, you must list him with an address the Creditor has used at least twice in mail to you. You are charged extra Court costs to add a Creditor later.

In preparation for filing bankruptcy, it is very important that a debtor create a list of their debts with correct account numbers and addresses for each and every Creditor. Most credit reports normally don’t list the addresses of the Creditors or the account numbers. Furthermore, it is highly advisable that the debtor in a bankruptcy case indicate the purpose of each debt and whether it was secured or unsecured and whether it belongs to the Husband, Wife or Joint. In an effort to conserve our precious natural resources and save paper, all of this information can be entered on our website (www.dunnelawoffices.com) under the "Stop My Bills" section of the website which is then transmitted to the Dunne Law Offices, P.C. through a fire-walled secure server with 256 bit encryption.

Mistake Number Three: Failure To Show Up At Your 341 Hearing.

If you miss the 341 hearing in Pennsylvania, your case will be dismissed. If your case is dismissed because you missed your hearing, you will probably have to pay another Attorney fee and filing fee. Every year, people file for a bankruptcy and then fail to come to their 341 hearing. They oversleep, they get lost on the way to the courthouse, or they simply forget the hearing or don’t care. In any bankruptcy, you will have a 341 hearing (also called the Meeting of Creditors) in about four to six weeks after you file. The Bankruptcy Court in Pennsylvania, like most federal Courts, rarely accepts excuses for missing a hearing. Miss your 341 hearing and your bankruptcy will be dismissed. The Courts have very little tolerance for missed hearings or missed payments.

Dunne Law Offices, P.C.
(215) 854-6342
1500 JFK Blvd, Two Penn Center, Suite 200
Philadelphia, PA 19102
dunnelawoffices@gmail.com
www.dunnelawoffices.com