Chattanooga Bankruptcy Debtors - Responsibilities After Filing

  After you file your Chapter 13 case, your obligations do not end.  First and foremost, we urge you to review every page of your filed petition - if you see any mistakes, or if you have experienced changes (i.e., new job, birth of a child, separation from spouse), let us know as soon as you can.

  If you have filed a Chapter 13 case, you need to make sure that payments are being made to the trustee - even if your case is set up to be paid by payroll deduction, you are responsible for making the payments directly until such time as the payroll deduction kicks in.

  You need to make sure that you have two forms of ID in preparation for your 341 hearing - one ID must be a picture ID and the second, separate piece of ID must include your full social security number.  Don’t wait until the day before your hearing to start looking for your identification.

  Every debtor in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 must complete a “financial management course.”  Similar to the credit counseling course that you took prior to filing, this second course is designed to teach you about budgeting and avoiding the debt problems that got you into bankruptcy.

  There are a number of approved financial management course vendors in the Chattanooga area:

  Chapter 13 trustee Kenneth Still offers a financial management course as do dozens of other vendors. Some vendors offer in-person courses while others offer the course by phone or over the Internet. The U.S. Trustee offers an updated list of approved course vendors here.