Creditor claim changed to "secured outside", lawyer ofc. explanation no help?

[schism7273]

I checked the status of my chap 13 case and saw that Wells Fargo had their claim marked "Secured Outside". We purchased bedroom furniture for my daughter when she got too big for her crib and it was on a 1 year no payments interest free plan. This was exactly one year before we filed before everything caved in on us.

I called the lawyers office and the assistant kept repeating that they can elect to be paid outside the plan but offered no help or explanation. We had set a monthly amount of $400 to the trustee with the only thing being set to pay outside was our car. Here is what I sent to the assistant with no help in her response....

Ok, I left you a message. I have a few questions.

Why is this claim any different than the others? Did they object and win (I saw no notification or paperwork if that happened, shouldn't I have?)

You say to make the monthly payments but what does that mean, the $400 payment to the trustee or a payment to this creditor?

If I am supposed to make an additional payment will my $400 payment to the trustee be reduced to account for the additional funds I will be paying out each month?

I do not understand your short explanation. Can you fill in the blanks here?

The $400 included this claim and now they want to be paid outside? I don't know what that means and if any creditor can do that why don't they? I'm so confused. I am waiting on a call from my actual lawyer and not the assistant.

[SMinGA]

Speak to your atty - the assistant will probably not be any help.

If you make the payment to the creditor directly, it should lower your plan payment. But you really need to discuss w/ your atty so you can get specifics as you would need to know how much to pay the furniture co, since you probably did not have a regular payment amount before.

Even so - its possible the way the claim is marked is simply how the creditor prefers it, and they may not get it their way after all... Your actual plan would need to be modified to make that change effective I believe.

[StartingOver08]

Well, what Wells is probably referring to is a Purchase Money Security Interest in the furniture.

What *I* would do in the same circumstance as you is contest the claim first, and surrender the furniture if they don't coorperate. You can't do either without speaking directly to your attorney.

Don't let them push you around.

[catleg]

The creditor does not get to choose whether they're paid inside the plan or not.

You decide that as part of your proposed plan.

So, assuming they file as secured and are paid by the trustee this just puts them ahead of the other unsecured creditors.

It shouldn't cost you anything extra.

Is it even remotely possible that the amount of their claim exceeds the pot of money to pay the rest of the unsecureds?