Welcome! This post reflects on the 341 meeting I attended in Charlotte on Wednesday, August 27, 2008. The location was different from last week and this was a chapter 7 meeting. The location was ACROSS from the Federal Courthouse. First picture is the courthouse at 400 Trade St. That was easy to find.

Federal Courthouse Charlotte, NC

The location for the meeting was actually across from the courthouse and was not as obvious. It was marked but not a large entrance at all. It was very nice inside. There was a security gate, but the x-ray machine conveyor was broken. This held things up a bit. There were two men fulfilling the Trustee duties. The first arrived after I did and carried a big box of files. He was the attorney for the members in our case. I introduced myself, and he said we would have to wait until after the hearing to discuss our case.

402 W. Trade St. Charlotte, NC

The members had filed their bankruptcy during a workout agreement we had with them. It was a bit sticky, because we had no signed loan modifications. This was not procedure, but things happen sometimes that we need to work around. There were two vehicles loans – each 1999 models. My only question during the hearing was to ask the members if they had intentions to reaffirm their loans. They said – yes. I wanted that on the records, though I knew they wanted to pay. After the member’s attorney had finished his part of the meeting, we proceeded to conference room. He talked to his clients first, then brought me in to the room. The attorney asked about the signed documents, I said there were none for the last payment adjustment. We had discussed previously the options for payments, and he had talked to the members before I went into the room. After making it clear that the members would be struggling to pay $200/month for each loan, I accepted that arrangement, and we completed  loan modifications with the attorney’s blessing. We will forward official reaffirmations to the attorney, and he will have no problem with the loans being paid. So, what did I learn? When facing a situation like the one we were in with no signed documents or some other error, talk to the attorney BEFORE the 341 hearing and discuss options. Do not wait and spring demands or surprises on the attorney. You get further that way. I had taken time to fax amortization schedules to the attorney to explain to him that the present payment amount will not pay-off the loan in a reasonable time frame. He quickly agreed. Remember the member’s attorney has to sign that he agrees that the reaffirmation will not place “undue burden” on the member/debtor or their dependents. In the words of a very good Credit Union defense attorney in SC, when a mistake is found, be the first to correct it, and it will work out better all the way around.

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