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West: Meeting ID 224 079 6575, Passcode 6266025562

 ZOOM 341 MEETING OF CREDITORS – GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Parties may not record audio or video of the 341 meeting. An audio record will be made of the 341 meeting which will be held by the United States Trustee’s Office in Philadelphia. If a party needs a copy of the audio for the 341 meeting, it should be requested from that Office.

It is our intent to allow all parties to be present in the meeting room. As a result, it is important that parties mute microphones until you are asked to respond, or the case is called. We also recommend that parties leave their video off until their case is called or until the Trustee or Staff Attorney for the Trustee, asks that the video be turned on. If a party needs to get our attention for some reason, turn on your video. That will move you to a position on our screen where we can see you. Then you can un-mute your audio and speak.  If any parties are disruptive during the meeting, they may be moved to the waiting room or removed entirely.

If a party loses the Zoom connection, reconnect in the same way you logged in initially. If a party loses connection during the 341 meeting, or we ask you to hang up and log back in because of audio or video problems, we will pause for a short period of time to give you an opportunity to rejoin the meeting. If you are unable to reconnect timely, we will move on to the next case. If you are able to reconnect after that, we will recall your case at the end of the calendar. If you are not able to reconnect at all, your case will be continued to a new date. Please contact your attorney and let them know what happened. If you are a Pro Se debtor, you should contact our office by email 341@ph13trustee.com or telephone 215-627-1377, ext 113. Please be advised that we may not be able to get back to you or your attorney the same day.

In some cases, if it appears that the debtor(s) are unable to get the sound to work on their device, we will ask that counsel call the debtor(s) on the phone, place the phone in speaker mode, and use your phone as a bridge for the meeting audio. If the video does not work, the matter will need to be continued.

Mandatory Documents

Based upon new guidelines from the Office of the United States Trustee, picture ID and proof of social security number must be provided (Via Upload to Bankruptcy Documents (bkdocs.us) at least 14 days prior to the meeting of creditors.

Additionally, at least seven (7) days before the meeting of creditors, we must have received (Via Upload to Bankruptcy Documents (bkdocs.us) the following documents: (1) copy of your Federal tax return for the most recent tax year ending immediately before the commencement of the case and for which a return was filed, including any attachments, or a transcript of the return; (2) or for self-employed debtor(s) a completed Business Questionnaire and copies of tax returns for the past 2 years.  Additionally, pay advices or an affidavit of no pay advices must be filed on the docket.

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All other case documents requested such as pleadings, pay stubs, account statements, and tax returns are to be provided within this same timeframe and manner, unless otherwise indicated. It takes a substantial amount of time to review all of these documents and prepare for each case on a rotation. In addition, it takes a few days for uploaded documents to appear in our Trustee software.

 

As a result, in all cases where our office has not actually “received” all of the required documentation within the deadlines set above, the case will be continued. In addition, in any case where we cannot confirm identity, or the attorney is not present we will continue the meeting.

Each debtor should have their identification with them. However, the debtor should not display that information to the camera or otherwise disclose “personally identifiable information” like their social security number, phone number, or address. The debtor should also have copies of the bankruptcy statements, schedules and plan with them so the same can be referred to during the meeting or if the Trustee, Staff Attorney, Creditor or another party asks you questions about specific entries on the paperwork.

Cases will not be called in the order they appear on the Court website. This meeting was opened 15 minutes prior to the time set for the meetings to be held. If debtor(s) are logged in on a timely basis with the name that appears on the bankruptcy petition, we will have already noted your appearance on our calendar. Assuming debtor’s counsel is present, we will call those cases first before dealing with everyone else.

Parties for a 341 hearing will be assigned to a break-out room. After entering the room, we will then turn on our recorder and officially call the case.

We will then ask debtor(s) to raise their right-hand and swear to tell the truth. Then we will ask the debtor(s) to state their name for the record. Once that is done, the attorney should state their name for the record, and that they are representing the debtor(s).

We will then review the debtor’s identification on the record.

After that, we will ask the debtor(s) a series of questions as requested by the Office of the United States Trustee. We may ask additional questions.

Once that is done, we will ask if there are any creditors, or their agents present in the case who have questions for the debtor(s).

Creditors

Creditors should raise their hand to let me know they wish to ask questions. Creditors will be called upon one at a time. Please don’t speak until you are called upon. We may interject or follow up with additional questions. Before asking any questions, please state your name and who you represent. Those asking questions of the debtor(s) should be respectful. If the creditors debt is unsecured do not ask the debtor if they intend to repay the debt. Communicate such inquiries directly to debtor’s counsel after the meeting.

We have a limited amount of time to conduct these meetings. As a result, creditors should be organized, brief, and to the point. Please limit your questions to five minutes or less. If you want to conduct a more detailed examination of a Debtor, you should schedule a 2004 exam. If you believe that you have information regarding assets of the estate that I should be aware of, please send me an email with details and attach proof of your allegations. Pro Se creditors are encouraged to seek advice from competent Bankruptcy Counsel. We cannot give you legal advice.

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Once the debtor(s)’ examination is complete, they will be excused. All parties associated with that case should leave the meeting unless they will be participating in another case on the same hour.

If we ask for amendments to your pleadings or additional documents, Debtor(s) are requested to work with their attorney to get the requested documents to our office within 14 days of the hearing. If we ask to provide our office with additional documents or information, we may continue the meeting to provide our office the opportunity to ask questions about the documents once we have reviewed them.

The Office will complete a 341 Minute Sheet, which will be transmitted to the attorney upon completion of the meeting. Failure to comply with this protocol may result in continuance of the meeting or dismissal of the case.