Expediting Ch. 13 Discharg

[spartanfan96]

Hello,

I finally paid of my 13 in july. The trustee office confirmed that they made final disbursements on Aug. 1st. What is the process that the trustee go through to discharge the case? Is it possible to expedite the process? How long does it normally take to get the discharge order signed?

[ez2bgramz]

Congratulations!! another 13 crosses the finish line!! Welcome to the club Spartanfan96... hope you have a bright and happy future... as for the timeline, our clase closed on 1/26/07 and our discharge was on 3/8/07... hope that helps!!
ez2bgramz

[lrprn]

Congratulations on making it to the Ch 13 finish line, spartanfan! What a fantastic achievement! Way to go!

Is it possible to expedite the process? How long does it normally take to get the discharge order signed?

When a Ch 13 finishes, the trustee has to go back and audit the plan, ensure all the creditors were paid appropriately, etc. This can take up to six months to cross all the Ts and dot the Is depending on the complexity of your case. Hopefully it won't take that long for yours!

[Elf]

I made my last payment in February.

I got the discharge in September. Once you're not paying, you're no longer the priority.

You'd think that so few of us make it to the end of one of these, and we've paid back at least some of what we owe, that the poweres that be would look kindly on us and clear us out.

Not so. Your trustee has very little motivation to move it along. You are certainly not a motivator. Your judge might be, but they really don't want to hear from you, either.

Sorry. I hope your's goes faster than mine.

Elf

[SinkingFast]

As Lrprn said, the Trustee has to perform a Final Audit of your case. An accounting of all the funds that came into and were disbursed out from your Plan Pot. Who all got paid how much.

About the quickest we've seen a Final Audit completed that someone posted here was in the 2-3 month range.

You'll just have to sit tight a wait for a bit. Maybe 4 months or so from now, you can start calling the Clerk of the Court to see if you can push things along. Sometimes the Clerk will prompt the Trustee to get a move on.

[spartanfan96]

I talked to the trustee's office on Friday and the woman said that they do the final audit and report 10-14 days after final disbursements and then the discharge order should be done by the end of the month. I checked the NDC Website and the case status went from "J-Completed" to "K-Completed", does anyone know what this means?

[CityGirl]

Probably just the steps of the entire program. Parts J and K are completed. You have to look at your case to see what J and K are.

[spartanfan96]

I'm done

Hey Guys,

I just pulled my discharge order off the Pacer system. I am Officially DISCHARGED!!!!!! Thank you for your help!

[lrprn]

I just pulled my discharge order off the Pacer system. I am Officially DISCHARGED!!!!!!

IT'S 13 PARTY TIME!! ........(streamers).......(balloons)........(confe tti)........ Hip hip hooray! (clink) A toast to Spartanfan96 - congratulations for completing your Ch 13 successfully!!

You've just given every Ch 13er here hope that we too can make it to join you at the finish line some day!

[arkienurse]

Hey Guys,

I just pulled my discharge order off the Pacer system. I am Officially DISCHARGED!!!!!! Thank you for your help!

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO
Congrats on sticking with it. And save a spot for me!!!

[start-n-over]

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have 9 payments left and can't wait to be free of this ball and chain. I will look at credit and money in a different way for sure.

I'm planning on seeing the Blue Man group in orlando to celebrate our discharge!

[CityGirl]

Am I losing my mind or what? I don't think my payment will be a ball and chain. I only have to pay $900/mo including my car ( which is $646 right now. to pay $250 over that is a piece of cake. Why is everyone stressing? Am i missing something?

[leftyf]

City,
I stress about 13 because:
1) I am a financial "professional" and will need to inform employer for payroll deduction. Will seriously impair my credibility.
2) May lose job...I know I can't legally, but they can come up with other reasons.
3) I understand my own luck and I hate to be pessimistic, but I'm pretty confident that I will get about 3 years through a 13 and something "bad" will happen. Job loss, most likely.
I don't think you're missing anything...you're just very confident about your income stream for the next 5 years and you're probably in a line of work that is not "tainted" by poor personal financial management. You also may have a lenient trustee that made your payment very reasonable.
My attorney said that he has had very few 13 failures, which is contrary to what I have read (30% failure rate) on this forum and in books, but I guess we'll see.
I'm just telling you why some people, like me, stress out about a 13. I am still having a hard time figuring out any benefit to a 13 besides falling off of my credit report earlier. Maybe we'll get a President and Congress that will repeal BARF and let all of us retroactively file a 7.
Good luck with your plan.
Lefty

[CindyLou]

City Girl,
I think the time that most people become a little more comfortable is after the confirmation....anything can happen before then. Plus if someone has a large family, owns 2 cars, a house, has kids in private schools, medical bills, etc...a 13 can be quite a huge restricting ball and chain that literally leaves a few dollars a month left over for maybe a blockbuster movie or two (if they are lucky). The new BK laws for the 13 filer really do favor the single filer that does not own a home that has primarily unsecured debt and is not doing 100% payback. You get the advantage of the IRS allowances without all of the acutal bills, so you will have more disposable income that the average 13 filer I suppose. There are many people here in really really really tight situations where 13 was the last resort from literally becoming homeless and/or having their paychecks garnished to the point where could have afforded more than ramen noodles and faucet water. Remember there are just so many situations and the longer you are here the longer you will realize that. You are in the beginning of your BK and sometimes it seems easy and sometime is can be easy. Mine was pretty cut and dry. I was lucky with the old law. High income, high debt and no questions. But others were not. But the point is that we are here to support not to question. So I didn't have a hard time, but maybe the next person comes along is; so I support them. Then maybe next week I don't get my car loan, so Sara4 supports me. Thats the way it works.

Oh, and lefty,....you can request the trustee to allow you to pay the bk monthy directly to the court in the form of money order. My brother did and he was approved no problem. You can state "potential employer issue in financial industry" as a problem

[JRTLover]

When a Ch 13 finishes, the trustee has to go back and audit the plan, ensure all the creditors were paid appropriately, etc.

My last payment is next month! 1 week left! Been 3 long years.


That "etc." is what I would like to know about.

How "thorough" are typical final audits? I mean, in addition to ensuring creditors are paid according to the original plan/claims, do they go back and look at what has happened over the last 3 years? Like salary changes, inheritances, divorces, purchases/new debts incurred.

I guess I am asking, how do they find out about financial changes during chapter 13, other than looking at a credit report?