Ch-13 341 meeting and exemption form

[highnndry]

Ok guys those of you who followed my other thread here is follow-up and a few question.

So I filed my ch-13 on my own since I do not have any asset i.e. mortgage and stuff and had my 341 meeting the other day. First of all, I was embarrased to see that a high school aged women was conducting my 341 meeting and I'm in my 40. LOL!!!! She was asking me why I was filing ch-13 and so on and on ...... Oh god I wanted to shoot myself, ok may be she is not in high school but a recent college graduate but looked really really young.

Well after some formal question once the recorder was turned off, she asked me why I didn't file an exemption form, then she asked me if I filed it on my own? She then suggested that I should file an exemption form anyway even though I do not have any asset..... So my question is what to put it in there? What do you guys suggest?

She also asked me to call her or email her if I have any question, which I do now. My question is, well she asked me so you want to pay 1% of your unsecured debt? I wanted to say if I could get away with 0% that would be great, ofcourse I didn't. Can I put 0% in my ch-13 plan to pay to unsecured debt? My plan only pays to IRS and State tax and I just put whatever left upto 1% to unsecured creditors. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

She also asked me if I mailed my 13 plan to my creditors, I had no idea that I had to do it. She gave me some time to mail those and forward the proof of confirmations to her. How do I do that? Should I just faxed it over to the creditors and forward the fax cover sheet or do a Mail with return receipt and forward it to her?

I'm feeling much better now that I had my 341, it seems like she is someone I can work with. I also told her that I will have to buy a car in future since my current car is 12 year old, she told me thats ok you just have to ammend the plan. Ok guys time to help me.

[highnndry]

I'll post my links but it says I have 14 posts and need 15 to post the links, lets see if the next post posts the links.

[highnndry]

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?75965-Filed-ch-13-pro-se-is-there-a-form-for-ch-13-plan

Above are my other threads for referrence.

[justbroke]

Unfortunately you are in the deep end of the pool when it comes to filing cases. I hope that you actually know what a Chapter 13 Plan of Reorganization is and that you have one. I hope that you served the Plan on all your creditors. I hope that it is accurate and that you didn't leave money on the table.

The certificate of service has to be filed with the court... not the Trustee.

I would strongly encourage you to see if your District provide Pro Bono legal services for pro se debtors. You have issues with your case already. I suspect that, at this point, your case won't be confirmed.

You have a lot of work to do. This is why Chapter 13s are not typically filed pro se.

[SMinGA2]

Unless you own nothing - as in no clothes, no furniture, not a single $.01 in the bank or on hand, no automobile (oops - you said you own a 12 year old automobile) then you should have something to enter regarding exemptions.

I can't begin to offer help on how to/what to file - but you will need to get it figured out and quickly. There are procedural requirements and deadlines. Seeking pro bono help is a good idea. Perhaps you can also go into PACER and pull up ch. 13 cases filed for this trustee previously. Perhaps look at some filed 6-9 months ago, and find a couple that have been confirmed. That would give you an idea of what your paperwork should include.

[justbroke]

SM... since the poster is from California, the first avenue is to seek out the Pro Bono clinic in the California Bankruptcy Court. At least Southern California has these pro bono clinics that are staffed by attorneys. I'm afraid that there is nothing really to help other than a guidebook (NoLo's Chapter 13 guidebook or a similar book) or the clinic.

Someone may be upset with me for saying the following but let me qualify it first. I filed Chapter 13 pro se. I actually made it through confirmation. I actually also converted pro se to Chapter 7 and received a discharge almost 2 years ago. Now that I stated that... I would never have attempted to start a Chapter 13 unless I purchased a guidebook (which I did), consulted some attorneys (which I did) and dedicated hundreds of hours to my case (which I did).

SM makes excellent points which I glossed over. You do have "some" property... whether it's the clothes on your back or your car. I personally don't tell people what to put on their exemption forms precisely because you could lose property if you do it wrong (or follow my "non legal" advice and use the wrong exemption). Compounding that, California has two exemption Schemes known as System 1 and System 2. I would probably use System 2 in this case, but you do need to exempt your "personal" property.

I can't stress this enough. You really need to seek help from the Pro Bono clinic and you need to do it yesterday.

[highnndry]

Thanks guys, I'll seek some pro bono help. The answers I'm seeking here are for research purposes of course and to see what else I could do. I was under the assumption that upto certain amount is automatically exempted, since my entire asset is less than $10 grand (including car) I didn't think anything was required. Thats why I'm asking question here.....

Everything I did is accurate, no hanky panky here. The only hanky panky is that I have over stated some expenses such as, gas for car $400 per month and so on. However, all my creditors and assets have been filed truthfully and completely. Just to let you also know that I do not have any disposable income either after stating all expenses.

[justbroke]

There is no such thing as automatic exemption. This is probably one of the largest mistakes that you could make in your case. The fact that the Trustee's office was nice and pointed you to the right direction, is commendable on their part.

What you believe is your disposable income may actually be different once the Trustee performs their calculation! This is why I really need you to seek help. If you calculate your expenses incorrectly or allow the Trustee to use their own calculations, you may find that you do have "disposable income" and that your expenses just got more tight.

[highnndry]

I'll post my expense schedule once I go home and hopefully will get a lot of feedback, pointers, pittfalls and support. I need all the feedback I can get, good ones and bad ones.

[justbroke]

While we can all speculate, the Pro Bono office will be the best since they actually work in your District and know the specific rules, practices and customs in your District. I don't expect it, but the Trustee could really take advantage of you... if you even make it to confirmation..

[highnndry]

As promised below are my expenses, please let me know if you think I can increase or have to decrease any of them, again thanks in advance.

Rent 700.00
Food 550.00
Utility 105.00
laundry 15.00
Car 310.00
med and dental exp 200.00
auto Insurance 120.00
transportation excl car payment 130.00
recreation 100.00
auto repair exp 300.00
Health Ins 180.00
clothing 100.00
Entertainment 200.00
cell 60.00
Internet 30.00
Phone 50.00
Cable 45.00

[justbroke]

Rent would be based on what the rent allowance for your County. Have you looked at the USTP's IRS Standards? Utilities are also covered in part of the non-rent/non-mortgage expense... I can't tell if you're in the right range for your county. That would be the same for food and clothing as well. Your numbers need to be in the right ranges.

Recreation is almost never allowed, but I wouldn't change it from $100.00. An auto repair expense of $300/month will certainly be questioned. Since you claim $100 for recreation and now claim $200/month for entertainment, these will definitely be questioned. The cell phone is covered under the basic non-mortgage expense (for utilities)... so are phones, cable, and internet services.

You really need to look at the USTP's allowances (known as the IRS Standards) to see if you're in the ranges. I'm assuming you are single? Also, your Trustee has a website and may provide a Chapter 13 handbook and give some guidance.

[momofthree]

Here is a link to the IRS standards: http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa..._standards.htm

Food, household supplies, personal care products, and services, clothing, and misc expenses are listed at $534/mo for 1 person. You are claiming $665. That could pose a problem. The $300 in recreational funds will definitely raise eyebrows. Can you prove the out-of-pocket medical expenses. $200 a month seems rather high for a single person and is well over the IRS standard of $60/mo. Auto repair expense is occasionally allowed when a car is paid off and older, but it appears you also have a payment of $310 listed. You can't have both. Just these expenses listed put you over by over $800/mo. The trustee will probably have a field-day with this budget.

Is your "transportation expense" for gasoline? $130/mo seems quite low for that--especially with rising gas prices, and you do need to budget in your yearly registration fees as well.

[highnndry]

Thanks you guys for your suggestions, I think I switched the auto repair and transportation expense I need to fix that.

On a side note, does the trustee will let me know before hand that he/she will make "X" amount of payment towards unsecured creditor "A" and or "B"? My SOL expires next year, I would rather that the trustee doesn't forward any money to unsecured creditors and restart the clock.

I appreciate every bit of help, thanks again.

[SMinGA2]

Filing bankruptcy, assuming you complete the plan, ends the SOL 'clock'. All unsecured debt that remains at the end of the plan will be discharged. If your plan is confirmed, any $ that goes to unsecured is split on a pro-rata basis among all those who file claims. Such as if creditor A files a claim for $10,000, and you have $50,000 total in unsecured debt that files valid claims, then creditor A gets 20% of any $ that goes to unsecured.

If your case is NOT confirmed/completed, and gets dismissed, my understanding is that the 'clock' picks up from when you filed. Such as if you file in January and its dismissed in July, those 6 months do not count against the SOL.