Info we received for Ch 13 Indiana pre new laws.

[bamabigjohn]

We finally cornered our attornies and made them answer our questions. Seems filing a complaint with our state bar association is a very good motivational tool. We asked the following questions and received the following answers. Bare in mind, we filed and were approved before the new laws.

Q. What does our trustee have a right to know about.
A. Trustee is only entitled to our yearly tax return information. Nothing more. (To be more clear...You only have to report an increase in regular pay. I do not have to tell him throughout the year when I get a bonus, commission or whatever. They will see this at the end of the year on my 1040 and make an adjustment if so inclined.

Q. I make commisions, do I have to report it to him.
A. No. Commisions are not guaranteed income. I can keep my commisions and any other money made. I do not have to report to him when I receive them. If the trustee notices a large income increase I may be asked to file a new budget. (Of course he's going to know about them, but I don't have to contact him when I receive them, he'll see it on the tax papers and adjust if he sees fit.)

Q. Can I buy a house or car. Do I have to have the trustees permission.
A. Yes I can, and no I don't. But it would be best to wait at least a year into my program before making any changes. Again, a request for a new budget may be asked for.

Q. Will the trustee take all of my tax return.
A. If my return is over 2500 he will usually take 1000 and ask that you adjust your exemption status. My BK trustee is very people friendly. (it is on tape from the 341 meeting quoted by the trustee that he is going to take 1000 of my return. There were several circumstances leading to this that I did not feel the need to type here)

Q. Can creditors still try and file claims against me.
A. Yes, but they will have to go through the bankruptcy court to win. If they did not dispute the debt prior to the 341 meeting, it will be nearly impossible for them to win unless I was trying to defraud.

Q. Can I pay off the program early.
A. No but yes. (This is a little shady) If I were to offer up a lump some payment of my own accord, the red flags would go up and my income would be investigated thouroughly. If a "family member" were to loan me the money, we could file a request for the funds to be used to pay off early. If the trustee ok's it your done, if he does not, it's the "family members money, not mine so no money is lost.

Q. How are student loans handled.
A. You cannot file on student loans. In Ch13, student loan payments are suspended until your program is completed. You are however charged 1.00 a day interest on these loans. You can make payments to the loan guarantors at any time you wish without working through the trustee. (No one quoted here that my attorney was trying to do anything special. I was just not aware that I would be charged 1.00 a day interest)

We were also able to avoid the garnishment process and make payments to the trustee on our own thus avoiding any knowledge by my employer. It was a simple request and no snags.

**Note** I am not a lawyer. I am just quoting the questions I asked and the answers I received specific to our case. Everyones case is different.

[Anj]

I'm in MO - and my student loan is covered in my 13 - that's why it is so high - in fact, it is by far the biggest chunk of this whole thing... now I'm curious...

Thanks for the great info!!!

[bkfiler]

Q. What does our trustee have a right to know about.
A. Trustee is only entitled to our yearly tax return information. Nothing more.

Q. I make commisions, do I have to report it to him.
A. No. Commisions are not guaranteed income. I can keep my commisions and any other money made. I do not have to report to him when I receive them. If the trustee notices a large income increase I may be asked to file a new budget.

Q. Can I buy a house or car. Do I have to have the trustees permission.
A. Yes I can, and no I don't. But it would be best to wait at least a year into my program before making any changes. Again, a request for a new budget may be asked for.

Q. Will the trustee take all of my tax return.
A. If my return is over 2500 he will usually take 1000 and ask that you adjust your exemption status. My BK trustee is very people friendly.

Q. Can creditors still try and file claims against me.
A. Yes, but they will have to go through the bankruptcy court to win. If they did not dispute the debt prior to the 341 meeting, it will be nearly impossible for them to win unless I was trying to defraud.

i dont know if its just they way you typed the answers but i have serious concerns with this answers given. maybe i dont understand the context of your situation but some of these answers are wrong.

- a trustee has the right to turn your financial ife upside down and backwards. he can ask for and get any documents he wants.

-commishions are part of income, some people only make any decent money off of commisions. thte trustee has to know what that is and can take it.

-are you talking about in a chap 13? thten the answer is yes they trustee has to know about any credit you are trying to obtain ahead of time and apporve it. if you are talking about a chapt 7 then after your discharge you can do what ever you want. and you probably could do it before discharge even.

-the amount the tax taken is prorated for that year. its a simple calc. i hope he doesnt take yours though.

-creditors can object up until the day of discharge. if he told you they cant object afterward then based on all these answers given i doubt he is a very good attorney.

i hope these answers just need some context though. im wondering how you reached your attorney on saturday?



it sure seems to be getting bright in here with some of these postings

[SinkingFast]

We were told the Trustee could take any type of windfall we may receive while in Ch 13. Inheritance, receipt of a life insurance policy, etc., for the whole time you are in the plan.

I also read the statement of a Ch 13. The plan proposes a $ amount to be paid each month for 3-5 years, for however long the plan is arranged. If you have 60 month plan for $100/mo to start, the statement says, "The debtor will pay at least $6000 over the course of 5 year. Any extra money they get, can be just that. Extra money. It's my understanding you cannot buy your way outa Ch 13.

We even asked the attny if our payments would increase if I got a job, or Hubby got a raise, and the answer was Yes.

We were told we could not take on any new credit while in the plan. The only thing we can finance is a home and the Trustee must approve that. Even then, the mortgage payments would have to be lower than our rent to allow for maint and repairs in the budget.

[QuietOne]

It looks like filing a complaint with the bar can make your attorneys contact you; but they can't change a bad attorney to a good attorney.

All those answers are wrong or misleading.

While no, the trustee won't see the income on a month to month basis, they will see it at the end of the year and can make you pay more $$.

You can buy a house or car, but only with trustee's permission. And the car pretty much has to be a necessity...and the house payment has to be about equal to your rent payment or whatever you were doing a tthe time of filing if you want approval.

If you expect a tax refund, then that should have been added ot income on your report...was it? If not, that was your attorney's mistake and yes, they can then change your amount to be paid each month.

I hate to tell you this, but your lawyer did nothing special regarding your student loans. A BK makes an automatic stay on all your creditors, regardless of whether the BK can pay them back or not. And my Trustee got my student loan in as part of the plan, perhaps because it was from a private industry..I don't know...my lawye4r was surpised at that. (Again, showing how bad they really are).

The sad thing about the bar is the same as the medical establoishment; the first line of action is always to allow the pepetrator to amend their mistakes.

[bamabigjohn]

I did not post that these answers were right or wrong. I posted that these were "the questions I asked and the answers I was given." I did not make any attempt here to lead anyone to believe that I was quoting the law. I am simply gathering all the information I can. In my case, I have every intention of converting to a chapter 7. As far as I'm concerned, Ch 13 is set up for most people to fail. When a judge, trustee or whatever asks me why I want to convert, I want to be able to show them the stellar answers I have been receiving from my attorney. I do however have some interesting information on tape. I did request a transcript of my 341 meeting. You have the right to have it. I specifically asked in that meeting on tape "if any extra payments made or monies taken by the trustee would be used to pay down the agreed upon balance of the program." The trustees answer was "yes, any extra funds collected would be applied toward the program balance and shorten the term." Now this may be a lie, but it is recorded and on record and I am going to fight for it. I have already retained a different attorney strictly for this purpose. And BK, I didn't talk to a lawyer on Saturday, I just posted the info on Saturday.

[bkfiler]

he could say that he thought you meant if you happen to make an extra payment for some reason and didnt mean that if you made more money that it wouldnt be added to the payments as extra funds.

the chance the trustee tried to mislead you purposely is not a good one. there is almost no reason for them to do so. why would they? they can and do whatever they want anyways. and they do it all day long.

they take lots of stuff that may not belong to them and they force people that make more money due to a raise he finds out about pay more of the creditors back. it happens day in and day out.

[QuietOne]

I agree with BKfiler. I don't know about all states, but here in this state the trustee's payment comes straight off as a percentage of what he collects on our debt...he has every reason to make sure it's more, not less.

It now appears we are going ot have to pay 100% although we don't have an explanation of why yet. We have conjecture...thanks to everyone on that...but not a real explanation from the trustee. We're having to bypass our attorneys because they're useless. if they wanted to change the laws, the first change should have been the attorney doesn't get their money off the top.

We have to mail our taxes to a different address during the terms of our agreement and that seems to be so the trustee can watch the income.

If you are not paying back at 100% than any income above what you put on your claim can be used by the trustee...no, it will not pay the amount down...but will change your % to a higher % (percent of debt). That's all. If you're paying at 100% then yes, it will drecrease the debt quicker.

I assume you've done the means test to see if you meet the requirements. Please keep in mind that as you pay your debt down through Ch 13; it will affect everything for filing a 7.