Ch-13 341 meeting and exemption form

[highnndry]

I set-up my payment plan in a way that there is no additional fund available after paying IRS and State tax. If the trustee finds a way then I will have to fight it and hopefully can drag my feet. One of the creditor sued me and I dragged them for a year to get a settlement but they refused so right before trial date I had to file ch-13.

The reason I'm worried about restarting the clock is because if the trustee comes up with additional fund then if I could drag it for another year I'll the the SOL. Its been 3 years since all my cards were charged off, except for this one company no one else have sued. This company sued me right in the 2 year mark and I bought time for another year until the trial date. They have disnissed the suit since I filed ch-13.

I have made payment plan with IRS and the state long before I have filed ch-13, thats not the issue here. I'll keep my fingers crossed and see what the trustee does, if not in my favor then I'll try to get an extension. Do they give extensions?

[justbroke]

Exactly... the statute of limitation is "tolled" during an active bankruptcy. Additionally, you shouldn't worry about how much the unsecured creditors are being paid. You should worry about having the best Plan which gives you the flexibility and "elbow room" in your payment to the Trustee so that you won't fail.

This is why filing pro se is usually not a good idea unless you can get some help. By help, I mean pro bono help from your local court. MomOf3 just found $800/month in potential "disposable income" without even trying. Be assured that the Trustee "will" actually try to find things to get more to the unsecured creditors.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[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]

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.

[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.