payments to trustee question

[quietsound]

I'm alittle...........puzzled...............and i'll explain why. I filed 13 and my trustee meeting is jan 22nd. I am to make payments by check for like three months or so until the court finalizes the plan and so on and so forth. I get that. that's not the issue. what I have a problem with is that after this, they must take it from pay checks. I have a major problem with this because it's going to be taken from my husband's pension which he gets once a month. They say they can't take it from mine because i'm a 1099 employee or rather self employeed yet i'm the one who makes the most money.

the problem is, if they take it from his pension on the first (and the payment is not due to the 17th) I use THAT money to pay the mortgage, utility bills, etc. how am i suppose to make a mortgage payment that is not going to be enough left over to pay it.

I asked my lawyer if they can just electronically take it from my checking account each month when it's due on the 17th and he said no they cannot do that. I myself do not understand that at all ....

I mean what would have happened if my husband got no money and i was the sole provider whereas i'm a 1099 self employed person.........how would they get their money then?????? puzzling, isn't it????

[bowlingmt]

We got a letter from our trustee stating that they would initiate automatic paycheck withdraw, unless I contacted them. So, I called them and I was told I can make the payments monthly with a money order. I wish they took electronic payment for could do automatic withdraw from my checking account, but this is the next best thing.

My payment is due on the 20th. I mail it by the 5th and send it with delivery confirmation, just in case.

[quietsound]

I'm wondering if I should indeed contact the trustee myself and talk to my case worker there and explain this and send a letter explaining this. I just don't want it coming out of that pension check the first of the month when I need to pay the mortgage with it. I don't care if I have to mail it in. but i mean there has to be an answer to this. I mean suppose it was just me and I get paid as self employed...........does that mean they wouldn't qualify me for the program.....that's nuts. there has to be some way to work this out

[lrprn]

I'm wondering if I should indeed contact the trustee myself and talk to my case worker there and explain this and send a letter explaining this. I just don't want it coming out of that pension check the first of the month when I need to pay the mortgage with it. I don't care if I have to mail it in. but i mean there has to be an answer to this. I mean suppose it was just me and I get paid as self employed...........does that mean they wouldn't qualify me for the program.....that's nuts. there has to be some way to work this out

Each Ch 13 trustee sets the way his/her office will accept payment. Some trustees will take a personal check (ours will), some will accept only automatic withdrawal straight from your account (sounds like that's the case for yours).

Your payment due date is typically set by the date you file (file on the 1st, your payment is due on the first). Is that what happened in your case?

I feel your frustration about working out the money flow every month. We have two mortgage payments - one due on the 1st and the other on the 14th - plus our Ch 13 payment is due on the 1st as well. Our paychecks come every two weeks, so we know that one two-week period every month is 90% spent right off the bat by one mortgage payment and our trustee payment. That means we have to save everything left over from the "lighter" two weeks (only one mortgage payment to make then) to live on during the "90% already gone" two weeks. This pattern repeats every single month and will continue to do so for the five years of our plan.

Will your monthly money flow allow you to take the extra from the lighter part of the month to put towards the heavier part of the month the same way we have to?

[quietsound]

our payments are due on the 17th of every month. we filed on the 17th. I get paid on the 15th through paypal since I am an independent contractor. He gets paid on the 1st of every month and it's pension.........the mortgage payment is due on the 1st. I was told that they will deduct it from his pension and not from me because i am an independent contractor a 1099 self employed person. they won't withdraw it from the checking account on the 17th, they will only take it from his pension check. this is puzzling to me because if he didn't even have an income i wonder how they would get the money since they claim they can't take it from my check because i'm an independent contractor and they won't take it out electronically from the bank. it's very puzzling to me how they would be getting paid if it were just me and i didn't have a husband.

[lrprn]

I was told that they will deduct it from his pension and not from me because i am an independent contractor a 1099 self employed person. they won't withdraw it from the checking account on the 17th, they will only take it from his pension check.

My guess is that your trustee sees your husband's pension as a reliable source of payment vs. your independent contracting which can ebb and flow.

Still, trustees do try to accommodate filers preferences for payment options when it's possible to do so. Just because your lawyer said the trustee won't take electronic payments (and most Ch 13 trustees won't - their offices aren't set up to receive them) doesn't mean the trustee won't take a personal check or consider taking the payment two weeks early via automatic withdrawal from your checking account.

Because most Ch 13 lawyers don't like direct contact between their client and the trustee without their involvement, start by asking your lawyer again to contact the trustee's office to explain your concerns and see what other payment alternatives may be available to you. If your lawyer can't/won't do it, you can then call the trustee's office yourself, but be sure to be very polite and agreeable no matter what is said. No guarantees, of course, but you won't know unless you try. Keep us posted on what you decide to do, and I hope you can find a payment alternative that makes making your monthly payments on time easier.

[Granny]

Payments to Trustee

Have your checked the website for your trustee? I was told by my attorney that since I don't have a steady income, I must send certified funds each month, but after visiting the website for my trustee, I found an ACH form to download and complete for them to draft my account each month. Again, each trustee has different rules, but just maybe you will get lucky