New to forum with chapter 13 questions

[sarakay5]

Hello everyone. I am very new to this forum. I have been reading a lot but just officially joined. Since finding this forum I see we have made many mistakes. We were scared and filed very fast. I now realize we could have waited a bit and done some homework first. Anyway, here are some of my questions:

1. Does anyone out there have a plan with a decreasing payment throughout the 60 months? Our plan is $535 for 6 months, $315 for 11 months and $205 for the remaining 43 months. Is this common. I have not found anyone talking about this yet.

2. We just had our 341 last week and today recieved a notice that Trustee is recommending to confirm original plan. (Good news I think ) It also states that in 9 months he will audit the file and modify payment schedual as he sees fit. What is involved hear? Do they review paycheck stubs and taxes? Is he checking for more disposible income?


Just some basic info. We filed Chap. 13 on 5/2006. We are below median income and our Lawyer showed our budget upside-down by $500. Our plan is 0% unsecured and 100% secured.

Thanks for any info

[bkbiker]

Hi sarakay5,

Welcome to our forum,

So you must be on a 100% payback plan? That being the case the trustee is probably not very interest in you,

Hopefully your case will run smoothly,

I am more familiar with the old law, but I sure some other member will have a say here.

Good luck, bkbiker

[sarakay5]

Not sure, but I believe our plan would be considered a 0% payback plan since nothing goes to the unsecured creditors. We only have to pay the lawyer, trustee and our auto loan back within the plan. Our home is being paid outside the plan.

I still have so much to learn about this whole process.

[13inOR]

I have never seen one where the payment changed either. Hmmm. I know more about the old law too but I will help where I can. I have been there, done that, I know how it is!!! : )

[bkbiker]

Hi sarakay5,

So, are you saying that you have no un-secured debt?
And that all your debt is secured, and on this debt you are paying back 100%

Just a note, lots of plans has a different payment amount schedule, so this is not unusually, although most seem to have an increasing amount.

bkbiker

[sarakay5]

Sorry for the confusion. We do have a lot of unsecured debt. (cc) It is the main reason for our filing. In our plan they just get nothing. Our lawyer said because we are below the median they would get nothing. I asked about filing a 7 and she said they could not promise we keep our home and van and a 13 would be the safest route.

[bkbiker]

[lrprn]

SaraKay5, our lawyer discussed the possibility of a staggered payment schedule so we could continue to repay my husband's ill-advised six loans he took out against his retirement. We would start at a lower trustee payment amount for the first two years and increase the amount the last 3 years so at the end we will have paid in the same amount to our creditors. It depends on how our 341 meeting with the trustee goes next week.

Also a bk lawyer who answers questions on another bk message board told me that she has set up staggered trustee payment plans for her clients as well - they are a good option when you have required payments that will drop off as your Ch 13 plan progresses.

Although staggered Ch 13 payment plans may not be typical, they certainly are not unheard of.