Please Help, Something Isn't Right With 13

[jojo446]

Please help me understand. I was told I had 6 months left in my chpt. 13 (under old law) I'm in the plan for 52 months as of this months. I contacted the trustee because something the paralegal said didn't sound right. And then the trustee says I still have 22 MONTHS left to go! I thought you could not go beyond 60 months in a chapter 13 (old or new law) please, those of you who are experienced, please help!!!!

[tofargone]

Call your attorney.

As far as I know you can not go beyond the 60 month mark no matter what. Your trustee may be confused or looking at the wrong case. I give your attorney the info that you have and let them deal with it.

[jojo446]

Thank you for the quick response. My attorney doesn't take or return calls, four plus years and I haven't seen or heard from him since my confirmation hearing. His paralegal is telling me then that is the time they go buy 22-24 months, she doesn't seem to know much and lumps all bk's together.

I want to consolidate my student loans which are in the chpt. 13 plan, THAT IS ALL I AM PAYING ON at this point! So why not consolidate something I will carry with me after the discharge? I can do this, but the paralegal says that is taking on new debt. I asked her how this could be when I am getting a lower interest rate and will continue to have the same debt? I re-contacted the trustee and she said that I CAN consolidate to discharge early. I am so confused, I was so happy since January, this has really put me into a depression today. I just got off the phone with the federal student aid consolidation dept. completed the application and will forward that to my attorney's office. I did remind the paralegal that I am the one paying for the service of the attorney, so I should be treated with respect and my wishes should be listened to because they are very reasonable and will put me in a better place financially than I am in now with these student loans. They will come off my credit report as listed in default. Sorry to blab on and on, I need to vent. The system doesn't even pay attention to its own rules.

[SinkingFast]

It's the Trustee that matters.

If you're not getting any help from the attny you paid, and your Trustee's Office is willing to work with you, then go for it.

I **believe** there's a form you have to fill out where you ask the Trustee if you can take on new debt. You have to explain what it's for. ie Student Loan debt consolidation. Then the Trustee has to sign approving that you can take on the new debt. Generally, you have to present the Trustee's Agreement to the Lender that you're borrowing money from.

You're an Old Law filer. Under Old Law, people could "buy out" after 36 on time payments. There have been several folks post here that refi'd their houses to buy out of their Ch 13's. So if you can do it, go for it. And screw your attny.

[jojo446]

And his paralegal for that matter! The lady at the trustee's office made it clear she could not give me legal advice. So I asked for a simple "yes" or "no" answer, can a person consolidate student loans in a chpt. 13 to have 13 discharged, she said yes. I already told the paralegal that I was doing it. I am not even going to go through my attorney since he can't be bothered. I told the paralegal I was doing it and she acted bothered and said, "You know it will take 30 days to get to the courts" and I just told her what is 30 days when you people are telling me another 22-24 months which exceeds the maximum 60 months?!
I am just so frustrated with the whole thing. 52 months of this crap and then they put up road blocks. Oh well, I have just completed the loan consolidation application with the federal student loan dept. via the telephone, then that will get forwarded on to the necessary parties.

Thanks for your quick replies, helps me relax a bit more!

[helpless]

Have you checked on 13network.com? That is where I get my information for time left on my 13. I know that it isn't accurate, but it is pretty darn close. The other website is 13datacenter.com, I believe. Good luck.

[SinkingFast]

Here's a link for you:

https://www.13datacenter.com/index.asp

You can check on your plan there. Monies in, monies out, who's gotten how much, how many payments you've made, and how much time remains.

[jojo446]

Thanks for the links everyone. I am probably too upset to see where I can get a rough estimate of how much longer I am in the the plan. I was able to look at my ledger and see everything that has been paid, and that looks good. Still confused about another 22-24 months though. Maybe they are trying to set a world's record for debtor holding longest record in chpt. 13 case, 2003-2010. Unfortunately I am not going to sit by and let that happen, I am going to contact the trustee again tomorrow, seeing how my attorney and his paralegal don't want to be bothered, told if I call again it is going to cost me $300. Hey, I only called them twice and the calls were very BRIEF and legitimate questions. Something sounds abusive in that threat.

[lrprn]

I am going to contact the trustee again tomorrow, seeing how my attorney and his paralegal don't want to be bothered, told if I call again it is going to cost me $300.

When you pay a retainer to a Ch 13 lawyer, it is be represented for the ENTIRE Ch 13 case. Now if the legal work that needs to be done now to sort out what's going on will take more than an hour or two, then your lawyer has every right to ask for additional payment. However, I would not place answering a few questions about this situation on the phone in that category. Has there been other unexpected legal work that had to be done on your Ch 13?

If your Ch 13 case has been a routine one up to now without a need for more than the typical amount of lawyer time, then a last-ditch thing to do would be to make one more call to your lawyer's office and quietly explain to whoever answers the phone that if your lawyer doesn't contact you within 48 hours or if he/she tries to charge you $300 more dollars (probably his/her hourly fee) for one phone call just so you can get necessary legal advice about your case while your case is still active, then you will be forced to contact your state's legal review board and file a complaint for abandonment. You've already paid for those services, so it's your lawyer's job to fulfill his/her part of the representation contract.

Hope you don't have to do it, but just in case here's the link that contains contact information to file a complaint against a lawyer in all 50 states - you can use the drop-down Search menu or scroll down to find your state's contact - http://www.nbtanet.org/public/discip...ne/index.shtml . So sorry you are having to deal with a balky lawyer on top of everything else

[jojo446]

Thank you. Yes, my attorney was paid his original retainer fee over $1300. I reviewed my ledger online with the trustee and noticed my attorney has been paid over $2500 over the course of these past 52 months. This is so upsetting, and I have been researching old and new bk laws. And each one states that a chapter 13 plan CAN NOT exceed 60 months. I am baffled, did I just get lost in the system? I am at a loss, unsecured debt owed is less than $100, the rest are student loans which I applied to have consolidated today and the trustee told me today it would get approved. Plus, the paralegal at the attorney's office was handing out legal advice, advising me not to consolidate loans because it will take 30 days to go through the courts. I also found out she isn't supposed to give her opinion or legal advice. This just sucks.

[jojo446]

After calming down. I re-contacted the trustee and my attorney's office. I RECEIVED apologies. It seems they were not paying attention to the type of debt still owed in the chpt. 13 plan nor were they paying attention to the amount of time I have been paying on the plan. So, it now seems that I have confirmed I will actually be done within the next 2 months, NOT 24. In the apoligies they stated they were sorry for causing me the worry yesterday and explained that they are very busy and overwhelmed in both offices. So thank you to everyone who provided feedback and allowed me to vent my anger and frustrations. I won't count my chickens before they are hatched though, not until I have received official notification I am discharged. My attorneys office did state they are going to contact the trustee to get the ball rolling.

[tofargone]

Congrats on getting where you are,

I am extremely envious.

[jojo446]

Thank you. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown thinking I would be stuck in this for another 2 years. It has been tough, and you have to learn to tighten those purse strings and survive. I think it is tougher on the kids because they really don't understand what is going on.

[lrprn]

After calming down. I re-contacted the trustee and my attorney's office. I RECEIVED apologies.

So glad everything worked out for you, jojo! Only two months left on your plan....that's fantastic! Great job being proactive for yourself with your lawyer and the trustee too. We'll be doing the happy discharge and closed dance for you very soon!

[SinkingFast]

I'm glad this was just a case of "busy office on Tuesday after a long Holiday weekend". Thank goodness for you your nerves were only fried for one day!!

Congrats on getting the mess cleared up and being so close to the light at the end of the tunnel, Jojo!!