After Chapter 13 confirmed, collections questions

[mclawdawg]

Hi all,

Another brief question and I'm learning as I go. I just moved into a new residence, since my landlord wanted to sell the house I was living in. I cut my Utility service off for Electric because that ended up going into a roommates name. I had to pay for some dentistry work this month which left me down to the last amount of money in my bank. I've paid 6 installments already to my Trustee. Anyway the Electric plan was on a budget and it kicked out a $300 bill to pay by 9/18/21. I have every intention of making this payment or making payments on this to avoid collections, but my question is what happens if something does go to collections since I'll most likely only be able to give them $50 Bi-Weekly or a month.

Regards,

[flashoflight]

I'd call the electric company to setup an affordable payment arrangement. The amount is low enough that you can salvage it over 3 months with payments of $100/month. Presuming you need to use the same electric company at the new place, you want to resolve this debt rather than let it go to collections. If the electric company tries to collect, they can't attack your wages or bank account since they're protected by the automatic stay. They can trash your credit and get a judgment, but they can't collect until after you are out of the 13.

One of the things you absolutely have to do in a 13 is to save up as much as possible every month even though the trustee left you with a very tight budget. Start doing that after the electric bill is paid off. You won't survive the 13 if you don't save. Last year was a windfall because of all the stimulus payments that weren't seized by the trustee. You have to save aggressively since the 13 isn't good for dealing with frequent minor hiccups such as the unexpected dental work.