Tips for Attending Your Telephonic

Section 341 (a) Meeting of Creditors

if you are a Pro- Se Debtor.

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Tip No. 1:  You must include your current telephone number and email address on your bankruptcy petition so that your Chapter 7 Trustee can call and/or email you information and instructions.

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Tip No. 2:  A "Chapter 7 Trustee" will be assigned to your case. Chapter 7 Trustees are not permitted to give you legal advice about your case and they cannot serve as your lawyer.

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Tip No. 3:  You will be required to attend a Section 341 (a) Meeting of Creditos about 30 days after your case is filed. You will get notice of the date and time for your meeting in the mail from the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court. The Notice will also provide you with the name and contact information of your Chapter 7 Trustee.

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Tip No. 4:  To participate in your required Section 341 (a) Meeting of Creditors, fill out a Zoom Registration Form , have it notarized and email it to your trustee, Thomas E. Springer. Link can be found here:  https://www.justice.gov/ust-regions-r11/region-11-northern-district-illinois. Once you have filled out the Zoom registration Form, you will be registered for the 341 call and the trustee will email you the Zoom meeting I.D. and passcode for your 341 call. You should recieve this information a couple days before the meeting.

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Tip No. 5:  The Bankruptcy Code requires that you provide your Chapter 7 Trustee with certain documents at least 7 days before your Section 341 (a) Meeting of Creditors. At a minimum, you will be required to provide pay stubs for the 60 days before you filed for bankruptcy and the last  2 years of federal tax returns that you filed with the IRS. You should contact your Chapter 7 Trustee to ask what additional documents they require and how you should transmit them. Documents can be emailed to Trustee Thomas Springer at testrustee @springerbrown.com.

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Tip No. 6:  To participate in your Section 341 (a) Meeting of Creditors, you are required to provide your Chapter 7 Trustee proof of your identification, including a photo ID and proof of your Social Security Number. To make your meeting go faster, you should provide these items to your Chapter 7 Trustee before your meeting. You will also need to provide your Chapter 7 Trustee a signed and notarized Declaration Confirming Identification and Social Security Number, which you can obtain at https://www.justice.gov/ust-regions-r11/region-11-northern-district-illinois by clicking on the PDF entitled Protocol for Telephonic Appearances for Chapter 7 341 Meetings.

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Tip No. 7:  To find out additional information about bankruptcy, you can read  Bankruptcy Basics by visiting https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics, published by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.