Discrepancy in payoff amount

[blerg]

I'm on these forums for Ch 7 info for myself, but a friend has a Ch 13 question that I told her I'd post here for her.

She's in a Ch 13 with her now-ex-husband. She has requested a payoff amount to get herself completely off the bankruptcy. There is a discrepancy between the amounts told to her by her attorney's office and by the Trustee's office... the Trustee's office says she owes $1900; her attorney's office says she only owes $973 more dollars and that's all, and to never trust what the Trustee's office tells her. She called back to the Trustee's office and they once again told her that the $973 figure is incorrect, and that they will continue to garnish her wages unless she brings in the additional (almost) $1K. She's freaking out because she doesn't know what to do nor who to believe, and she doesn't want them taking more money out of her check when she already did what her attorney advised her to do to wrap up the BK.

I told her that her atty is her best source of info - that she should call her atty ASAP and tell him what the TT is saying, and that the atty needs to contact the TT's office and clear all this up one way or the other... but I also told her I'd post the question on here and see if anyone has had a similar experience and how it turned out.

This is in Tarrant County, TX - if that makes a difference.

THANKS!

[justbroke]

When requesting a payoff figure, you must always contact the Trustee's office for the figure. This is pretty much in writing from every Trustee! They'll even tell you that your calculation, based on the months you paid in, are probably not accurate. Many times, a person believes that the Tax Refunds that were paid into the plan, pay towards the unsecured creditors. No, they don't. They are just "extra" money and don't cover what's known as the "plan base".

If the attorney wants to fight with the Trustee over it... good luck!