You’ve read the millions of blogs, researched the hundreds of websites with information about bankruptcy and you still find yourself confused about all of the different “players” in bankruptcy. Here’s a list of the important people you should know for your Phoenix bankruptcy:
1. Debtor – that’s YOU!
2. Creditor – a bank, lender, or any person or company you owe money to, whether you are current on that payment or not; whether you are related to that person or not; whether you are a good friend or ex-friend of that person. Any person or place you owe money to is a creditor.
3. Chapter 7 (or Chapter 13) Trustee – oversees your case. He reviews your petition and case for any assets that can be liquidated to be paid out to creditors. It’s important to provide all information requested by the trustee in order for your case to run smoothly.
4. United States Trustee – this trustee “serves as the watch dog” over the entire bankruptcy process. This is the department that assigns the chapter 7 and chapter 13 trustees. The UST reviews each case for “abuse”.
5. Attorneys – as with any legal process, there are attorneys for every party. If you hire an attorney, you only need to know who your attorney is, and she will do all of the communicating with the other attorneys involved. Your attorney is a “Debtor’s Attorney”. A lender hires a “Creditor’s Attorney”, and so on.
6. Judge – the judge in your case is indicated by three letters at the end of your case number. Usually, you will not need to see a judge in a bankruptcy case. The judge lets the other parties handle the case. If there is a dispute, the judge becomes involved. Common reasons for this could be a hearing to determine if a reaffirmation agreement should be approved; if a creditor believes a debt should not be discharged because of fraud, or if a trustee believes a certain exemption should not be taken.
