Post-confirmation unsecured claims...

[Danglin]

Hypothetical here...

We were just confirmed this past week. Current total unsecured debts according to PACER are about $334,000. I don't believe there are going to be anymore claims, but I could be forgetting something.

What would happen if an unsecured claim or claims is/are submitted that would put us over $360,000 threshold? Can an objection still be raised, even though the plan has been confirmed?

Just wondering, as this is the only thing I'm even remotely worried about.

[kornellred]

What's hypothetical? There is a big difference between $334,000 and $360,000. If you have forgotten that you might owe some unsecured creditor more than $26,000, then you have problems that bankruptcy cannot solve.

[despritfreya]

Regardless of the very valid issue raised by Kornellred, you have a Confirmed Plan. You may or may not be beyond the claims bar date. Even if you are not beyond it, the Order Confirming is res judicata for all issues that could have been raised but were not raised prior to Confirmation. A Trustee (or a creditor - including one who has not filed a claim so long as that creditor was properly listed) could have raised the 109 issue before Confirmation. It won't be raised after.

However, as Kornellred points out, if you left out such a large creditor you have other problems, least of which is a possible attempt by a creditor to set aside the Order Confirming based upon fraud. See 11 USC 1330.

Des.

[justbroke]

Most jurisdictions go by what's scheduled (period). If a judge needs to take a 109(e) evaluation -- the section that deals with debt limits for a Chapter 13 -- then that is done pre-confirmation. It is considered to be res judicata (Latin for already adjudicated) because confirmation requires all "confirmation" issues to be resolved at confirmation. All of the cases that I studied on this issue -- since I thought I was going to be pushed to a Chapter 11 myself -- were all based on confirmation being "res" and that a 109(e) complaint can't be made after the fact.

In other words, relax!

[lillymarlene]

What's hypothetical? There is a big difference between $334,000 and $360,000. If you have forgotten that you might owe some unsecured creditor more than $26,000, then you have problems that bankruptcy cannot solve.

Unfortunately, I see how this could happen. Right before filing my chap 13, my attorney had me come in to read and sign a bunch of papers. It was just so painful for me and I had this terrrible sick feeling in my stomach. Of course I read everything, but I was in such a state I couldn't wait to leave.

Then a few days later, I reread everything and noticed one of my Amex cards was left off. I had 3 of them. The first two: a personal one for a $700 balance, and a "rewards card" for $1,200 were listed. The forgotten card, my Blue for Business had a balance of about $12,000. Fortunately, I was able to catch this before any filing. :-) Unfortunately, I had to add another year to my plan to keep my payments low.

So, I could see how that could happen, especially if you have a business with creditors and your own personal cards. I'm not even sure whose mistake it was, either my attorney's or myself. If you have a lot of creditors it can get very confusing.

[Danglin]

I didn't leave off any creditors. Just wondering what would happen "if."

Thank you for the explanation!