After filing your petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, paying the necessary fees, and complying with the legal requirements, an “automatic stay” is granted to you by operation of law. This stay will effectively stop most collection actions against you and your properties (11 U.S.C. 362). This means that as long as the stay is in effect, creditors cannot initiate or continue lawsuits, wage garnishments, or even telephone calls demanding payments.
But note that there are certain types of actions listed under 11 U.S.C. 362(b) that’are not stayed when you file the petition. In some situations even, the stay is only’for a short period of time. So this should serve as warning.
After the bankruptcy case has been filed, the bankrupcy clerk will give notice to all creditors whose names and addresses you provided. Then, the case trustee willhold a meeting of creditors between 20 and 40 days after you filed your petition.This meeting is otherwise known as the 343 meeting, after the codal provision 11 U.S.C. 343 that provides for such.
In a 343, the debtor will be put under oath and both the trustee and the creditors will ask questions regarding your financial affairs and property. Your attendance is a must. Within 10 days of the creditors’ meeting, the trustee will then report to the court whether the case should be presumed to be an abuse under the means test described in 11 U.S.C. 704(b).
=== Cooperate with the trustee ===
The case trustee has a very important role in a bankruptcy case. His primary responsibility is to liquidate your nonexempt assets in a manner that maximizes the return to your unsecured creditors. He does this by selling your property, if it is free and clear of liens and as long as it is not exempt, or if it worth more than any security interest or lien attached to the property and any exemption that the debtor holds in the property.
In addition to having the authority to sell your nonexempt property, he also has the power to recovery money or property. This is called the trustee’s “avoiding powers,” which necessarily includes the power to: