Interesting Tidbits from the Last cdcbaa Meeting: Meet the Chapter 7 Trustees

The last cdcbaa meeting was a blast — Chapter 7 Trustees Amy Goldman, David Goodrich, Jason Rund, Jeff Golden and Wes Avery shared a ton of interesting “insider” information to our membership.

Here are some highlights:

  • The trustees routinely review the schedules and statements filed in prior cases
  • The trustees routinely check the ownership history for the property where the debtor currently resides
  • If your case has issues, do not ask for a continued Meeting of Creditors — big red flag!
  • Trustees routinely ask for the underwriting file from a lender to see what was disclosed by the debtor then versus in the schedules and statements
  • Do not put “unknown” for a value — better to be low/high than unknown — and $0 does not equal unknown
  • If the debtor does not know the value of their pending litigation claim, request the statement of damages filed in the state court
  • If you know there are issues in the case, call or email the trustee — the first taste of the case they get should not be from an angry creditor!
  • Asset cases are only 2% district wide
  • Trustee Rund recently saw a fraudulent conversion notice from 13 to 77 — neither the debtor or counsel filed it!
  • If you filed a motion to convert, still comply with the requirements of the current chapter
  • Meeting of Creditors pet peeves: late lawyer while debtor waits; no tax returns or Social Security cards
  • Comparison — Florida has an unlimited homestead exemption so the trustees there routinely send out agents to inspect the residences of debtors to see if they can put together personal property auctions — the exemptions are very limited other than the homestead.
  • Comparison — the trustees in Louisiana administer thousands of tax refunds, even for nominal amounts like $25!

And last but not least….

  • Amy Goldman’s uncle was Bugsy Siegal!
  • Trustee Rund took the bar exam on his 18th birthday

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