Notice of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case,
Meeting of Creditors and Deadlines
Within a few days after filing your case, you will receive a notice in the mail entitled “Notice of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case, Meeting of Creditors, & Deadlines. A copy of such a notice is reproduced below.
This is a very important notice because it sets out a lot of important information about your case. This Notice will be sent to you and to your creditors. You should read this Notice carefully.
First, it confirms that you have filed a case. If you are dealing with an aggressive or overzealous creditor, this notice will serve as official proof that you have filed bankruptcy and are protected by the automatic stay.
Second, this notice sets out your hearing dates. If you look towards the middle of the notice, you will see a section entitled “Meeting of Creditors.” This meeting is also called a “341 hearing” because Section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code requires your attendance at this meeting. Notice that the date, time and location of your 341 hearing is specified here.
Note also that the 341 section advises you to bring two separate forms of ID to your meeting of creditors hearing. One form must be a picture ID and the second form must have your full Social Security number. If you show up to your 341 hearing without two separate forms of ID, the trustee will not hold the hearing and you will have to come back.
The next section of the Notice shows various deadlines. Deadlines to file proofs of claim are creditor deadlines - although your attorney will want to make note of these dates because the attorney must perform a proof of claim review following the expiration of the non-govermental unit claim date (also called the “bar date.”). Creditors also have a deadline to object to your exemptions.
Towards the bottom of the Notice is the date of your Confirmation hearing. In my view this date should be near the 341 hearing date but this is how the form is set up. Although you will most likely not need to attend a confirmation hearing this date is important because you and your attorney will need to work to resolve trustee objections by this date.
The second page of the Notice contains a summary of relevant bankruptcy laws. This section is directed towards creditors, although you should read it as well. Towards the bottom of the second page is a phone number you can call for case information and information about the PACER electronic access system.
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