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It can be scary to file for bankruptcy. There are many true and not-so-true rumors about bankruptcy. People filing for bankruptcy fear for the loss of privacy the most. They don’t want the court people to visit their house or snoop through their belongings and they don’t want people, in general, to know about their bankruptcy filing.
All your belongings become a part of the bankruptcy estate as soon as the filing for bankruptcy is done. The court appoints a trustee, who sifts through your listed property and judges its reliability. The estate is administered by the trustee in case it passes the smell test. This stops the people from poking their nose in your business. However, if the trustee finds something wrong in your schedules and you fail the smell test, he or she can ask for permission from the court to visit your house. This can typically happen if either of the two problems occurs in your Schedule B (Personal property):
- The trustee suspects that you have not listed an actually possessed property.
- You have undervalued property in order to keep more properties than you would have otherwise been allowed to under exemption.
In case of a visit from an appraiser, the appointment is scheduled at your convenience. During the inspection, the appraiser creates a separate list of all the valuable property. This list is then handed over to the case trustee, which might be used as proof against the bankrupt.
Another question that troubles the filers regarding their privacy is that who can know that someone has filed for bankruptcy. Technically, it is public information. It is certain that your creditors will get the notice, and if a person desires, he or she can find out if you have filed for bankruptcy or not. It is not as easy as typing and searching on Google. Setting up a special account and a credit card is needed to do so. The charge to view per page is about $0.08. This process can prove to be expensive, as an average petition for bankruptcy is about 50 pages.
Thus, there is a possibility of an invasion of your privacy in filing for bankruptcy, as the news of your filing becomes public which people can find about easily, and also there are chances of a visit to your house by an appraiser.
You can consult a competent bankruptcy attorney to resolve your queries about your privacy in bankruptcy. Visit www.recoverylawgroup.com or call on 888-297-6203.