Payment for Chapter 13

[mountanddo]

I met with my attorney on 10th and gave her all the information to file. I am assuming the next step is to get some sort of correspondence from the attorney office saying that they filed my case and what date my 341 meeting is. At that point can I be assured that my bank account can no longer be seized. I am starting a new job on the 24th and would like to get direct deposit but only after I know there is no chance of this happening.

Also, when do you find out what your payment is going to be. I assume that it's before the 341 meeting as I understand you have to bring your first payment with you. Does it come in the same letter?

[IamOld]

mountanddo, did you sign your filings (lots of signatures) if yes, you can sign up for pacer BUT the atty should give you your case # once they've filed. If you didn't sign the filing docs, that may be one more appointment...

[AZNoName]

I just got my plan payment estimate today. We're filing next week. It really feels like the last minute before you know what you payment is going to look like. My consult, my atty told me 700-800. Today, its 1500-1600. I think I'm going to be sick...

[mountanddo]

Wow, how could they be THAT off? That is double the payment! The attorney told me when we met she would be able to get my payment at $100. As you can see by my low payment I have NO wiggle room so even if it's $150 I'm in trouble.

I called the attorney office and it seems that they are working on getting the paperwork ready and will mail it to me to sign. After I sign it it will be 1-2 weeks before it's filed. So I am estimating that my 341 will probably be in December sometime. I guess I will not sign up for direct deposit at my new job until I complete my 341 meeting just to be safe.

[IamOld]

AZ wow - did they say why??? I think they should over not underestimate so that you don't have a shock like this - BUT!!!!!!!!!! when you go over your schedules FINE TOOTHED COMB is an understatement...I can tell you that they do make mistakes in completing the form, miss amounts, typos, etc...

[salsa]

That's my biggest fear. Get that far in, and my payment is something that I can't do....

[mountanddo]

Yeah, I guess I don't understand. How are you supposed to make an informed decision without knowing what the approximate payment is beforehand? At that point you have already paid the attorney and paid the filing fees. It sounds like this came completely out of left field. You had no idea that your payment could end up at $1600? If my attorney had said something like your payment will be $300 for 5 years I would not have filed.

[IamOld]

Right - that's why I'm saying MAYBE HOPEFULLY...someone didn't enter the #'s right on the forms....

[salsa]

Of all the attorneys I saw, only two gave me ballpark values, totally far apart. The others won't even go there....

[LadyInTheRed]

An attorney cannot accurately estimate your plan payment until they go through all of your documentation. That takes significant time that very few attorneys will invest without first being paid.

If your payment is a lot higher than you expected, make sure you understand why, no matter how long it takes the attorney to explain it to you. That is the only way you can be sure there wasn't an error.

If you can't afford the payment, it is probably for one of the following reasons: 1. You are trying to keep assets you can't afford, 2. You aren't willing to make changes necessary to live within your means, 3. You should be in a Chap 7 instead of a 13, 4. You owe more in arrears on secured debt than you can pay during your plan (see item 1), 5. There is an error in your petition that needs to be found and corrected, 6. Your attorney is either not willing to work to get you into a liveable plan or is too incompetent to do so (in which case item 3 might apply too).

[mountanddo]

Mine was pretty easy. Low hourly wage, no car payment and car is worth about $500. Minimal expenses. All unsecured credit card debt only. So I don't think that I am going to be surprized. What might happen is they may say I don't have enough income vs. expenses to qualify for a 13. I left ALOT of expenses normally accepted off but it really is the truth.

AZ, did you do the means test before you saw the attorney. When I did it it came up with about $100 dmi which is what the attorney said. If you did the means test and pre-counseling you should of had some idea what the payment would be.

[mountanddo]

I was actually reading through the forums and re-read your post regarding the 12 month look back on your income AZ. http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...monthly-income

It looks like you have some special circumstances that affected what your payment might be. Though I don't completely understand your circumstances I'm sure that is part of the reason why your payment was so much different than first thought.

[lillymarlene]

For what it's worth, I was given an estimated payment of $200 for 3 years. Then, right after I signed a bunch of papers, but before filing, I noticed a creditor for about $10,000 had been left off. So the creditor was added and it would have made my payments about $275. I asked for another year, since I wanted to keep my payments closer to a doable $200 rather than a difficult $300.

[mountanddo]

For what it's worth, I was given an estimated payment of $200 for 3 years. Then, right after I signed a bunch of papers, but before filing, I noticed a creditor for about $10,000 had been left off. So the creditor was added and it would have made my payments about $275. I asked for another year, since I wanted to keep my payments closer to a doable $200 rather than a difficult $300.

Were you in a 100% payback plan? I didn't think that that amount that you owed mattered only your dmi unless you were in a 100% payback plan. If you were then that makes sense. if not....well, it seems the more I read the more I get confused!

[lillymarlene]

No, not a 100% payback plan. But again, depending upon the custom in your local district, the unsecured creditors may have to get something, even if it's a very small percentage. However, reading a few other posts on this forum, it looks like a few people are allowed 0% to unsecureds, but there doesn't seem to be that many of those.