If my plan said I was going to surrender a boat

[James H]

Do I really need to? I only have about 5 payments left and would like to keep it.

also, I know I have to ask the trustee before I sell anything

does anybody know how strictly this in enforced? for example, next spring, if i call and ask for permission to sell the boat is he going to ask why i didn't just surrender it?

in fact, how would he even know if i sold it? But if I do tell him (or he finds out some way) will he want that money?

[Minnymouth]

Questions,

Are you in a Chapter 13 payment now? Is the boat one of the payments in that plan?

How long have you been in your plan? % of payback? and how many months?

Yes, its enforced......... your finances are in the hands of the Trustee until your case is closed. Everything must go through him buying and selling of items.

Will he find out if you sold the boat..............probably not......... but if you said your surrendering it, the creditor is going to want it back......

If you sold the boat, yes, probably he will want that cash................

[James H]

Questions,

Are you in a Chapter 13 payment now? Is the boat one of the payments in that plan?

How long have you been in your plan? % of payback? and how many months?

Yes, its enforced......... your finances are in the hands of the Trustee until your case is closed. Everything must go through him buying and selling of items.

Will he find out if you sold the boat..............probably not......... but if you said your surrendering it, the creditor is going to want it back......

If you sold the boat, yes, probably he will want that cash................

Yes, I'm in the payment plan now but this is only my 3rd month and my plan just got approved this monday and the boat is not one of the payments because I said I would surrender it.

I just spoke with the lawyer a half hour ago and here is her take


She said I would surrender it to so the trustee would see that I had enough money to make the monthly payments, but plus it looks bad to keep a boat

she told me to call the bank and tell them i'd like the stay lifted and would like to make payments again. and she said since the bank already started the paper work the trustee is not going to know that i still have it.

she did not say directly but kind of implied that I'd be fine selling it.

I'm really not trying to scam anybody It's just that it's kind of crazy to just give the boat up because i owe hardly nothing on it and can get about 5 grand from it.... and I really really need to make some major home repairs that the trustee didn't seem to care about.

one of them is my well for water is messed up and always run dry. We can keep paying to have water brought in but the town i live in just put city water in and we have to come up with about $2000 to get hooked up to.


Does it sound like i'm doing anything wrong here?

[James H]

also one more thing, this trustee was really really tough. he kept fighting over very little things and rejected my first plan.

I asked my lawyer if i would need to send taxes or anything while in the plan and she said that he is really tough to deal with until he approves of a plan but after that he just wants you to send the check each month and doesn't really care what you do.

Found this kind of surprising but It made me feel a little better.

[aa06a47]

There is a difference in what is legal and what you can get away with. A good lawyer will only tell you what is legal and may imply what you can get away with. The Chapter 13 plan would have you paying at least what they would receive in a chapter 7 liquidation. So, technically, the equity in the boat is already in the plan to pay to the creditors. If you claimed in your filing that the value of the boat much less than what it is actually worth, then the trustee may have an issue with it. If the trustee finds your able to pay him and also a boat payment, he may want to raise your monthly payment.

Good luck in whatever you do. Just remember you take a chance of having your bk thrown out if you get caught. I don't think trustee's have the time or resources available to check up on everybody, but you never know.