Was just about to do the happy dance

[flowerchild]

My case is supposed to close on 8/28/2012. So I called to speak with the trustee this morning and was told that auditing started on my case in May and as of today everything would have been okay to close at the end of the month.....but since they received a personal check from me the 1st of this month that I would have to wait 30 days for clearing. That means that my case will not close until October. Okay no biggie because this has been a long a journey for me so what's the big deal with one more month? So all day today I've been happy as a lark dancing and singing all over the place. Awesome, awesome, awesome. It's been 65 months (I'm in Michigan ) and I just want this to be over.

So I get home and I get this email from my attorney saying that he audited my case and (1) he doesn't see my 2007 thru 2009 taxes and (2) it looks like I have a delinquent amount of $800 due. I'm thinking to myself well damn! My taxes I sent to him on the years that they were due and I have confirmation emails from him that he said he forwarded them to the trustee. And as for the $800 delinquency, well the trustee didn't mention that at all. She specifically said I have one more payment to make and I will send that this week. My attorney says that they can extend my case even further if they want to get that money. I say no way will that happen. If by chance I owe some money I will borrow $800 to pay it off now. But geez why does this crap always have to happen right when I'm at the finish line?

I had a moment relief and now I am all stressed out again about it

When I look at the 13datacenter it shows that there is $465 due to creditors and there is $527 on hand, plus there is still one more payment due so there is more than enough money to pay the last remaining balance to the creditors. I sure hope my attorney is wrong and the trustee correct. I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow to call the trustee back and confirm

[spidge]

Glad to see you are almost there. I wonder if your personal check from last month is on some type of hold. Could it show as received, yet not be distributed because the check has not cleared. They did say it could cause a delay. So if you add that payment and your last is that about what they say you owe to finish?

Just spit balling here.

[AngelinaCat]

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! I feel for you! Your Hamster Troupe will be here for you by and by!

Not a criticism to you, but why I tell people---

The above scenario is a perfect example of why I advise people to send in a Money Order, when you make a payment to the trustee. That way, you know that that particular block of money is already obligated to the trustee. You don't have to worry about some other check hitting your cheking account before the trustee's check hits. We tried paying with a check once, and ONCE ONLY. We were too worried about the check for the power company hitting first. Thereafter, it was via money order.

[TheBajan]

I'm in Michigan also but I'm at the beginning of this. Hoping your lawyer is wrong. Smart to keep your emails though. My lawyer set up for direct withdrawals for our payments from our checking account. At the time I figured that's just the way it's done as common practice. However, I think I'm the only one I know of that pays it that way. I hope it's not going to bite me later on... Best wishes.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I'm in Michigan also but I'm at the beginning of this. Hoping your lawyer is wrong. Smart to keep your emails though. My lawyer set up for direct withdrawals for our payments from our checking account. At the time I figured that's just the way it's done as common practice. However, I think I'm the only one I know of that pays it that way. I hope it's not going to bite me later on... Best wishes.

It's probably the wisest thing to do. Then you have good accounting and will not forget a payment. EFT is immediate clearing so that is not an issue. 'Hub

[kornellred]

My trustee does not accept personal checks - only money orders, certified bank checks and payroll deductions. I am surprised that there are any that do accept personal checks.

[slim]

I'm in Michigan also. They accept personal checks but put a hold on them before they disburse them. So you had to make 65 payments? I knew we did not get released until 60 months after confirmation, but I didn't realize they would make us pay more than 60 months?!

[flowerchild]

Glad to see you are almost there. I wonder if your personal check from last month is on some type of hold. Could it show as received, yet not be distributed because the check has not cleared. They did say it could cause a delay. So if you add that payment and your last is that about what they say you owe to finish?

Just spit balling here.

Yes its on hold for 30 days and as a matter of fact the trustee told me that all personal checks are put on disbursement hold for 30 days. I guess if I had questioned the 13datacenter putting "disbursement hold" on every payment I made I would have known. I just thought that notation meant that disbursements were on hold until they disbursed on the following month. That is what I noticed that all disbursements happened on the 1st of every month....guess I was wrong eh?

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! I feel for you! Your Hamster Troupe will be here for you by and by!

Not a criticism to you, but why I tell people---

The above scenario is a perfect example of why I advise people to send in a Money Order, when you make a payment to the trustee. That way, you know that that particular block of money is already obligated to the trustee. You don't have to worry about some other check hitting your cheking account before the trustee's check hits. We tried paying with a check once, and ONCE ONLY. We were too worried about the check for the power company hitting first. Thereafter, it was via money order.

Thanks because the Hamster Troupe is much welcomed at this point . As for the money orders, well I guess I am the lazy type that was not going to go get them twice a month for 65 months. I had my payments set on auto pay to coincide with my payroll deposit. So when payroll hit the check to the trustee went right out. My error was not talking with the trustee before now so that this last months payments would have been sent out as money orders

I'm in Michigan also but I'm at the beginning of this. Hoping your lawyer is wrong. Smart to keep your emails though. My lawyer set up for direct withdrawals for our payments from our checking account. At the time I figured that's just the way it's done as common practice. However, I think I'm the only one I know of that pays it that way. I hope it's not going to bite me later on... Best wishes.

Hmmm that is definitely different but very similar to what I did. I guess the only difference is that I set it up the payments. I get paid twice per month and I always made sure that the payment coincided EXACTLY with my payroll to avoid any of those horrendous overdraft fees . It worked out really good this way for me.

My trustee does not accept personal checks - only money orders, certified bank checks and payroll deductions. I am surprised that there are any that do accept personal checks.

I guess different trustees have different requirements. I don't see the issue with personal checks but I know that everyone isn't responsible with them.

I'm in Michigan also. They accept personal checks but put a hold on them before they disburse them. So you had to make 65 payments? I knew we did not get released until 60 months after confirmation, but I didn't realize they would make us pay more than 60 months?!

Yes I had to make 65 months worth of payments because payments starting at the 341 hearing and my case wasn't confirmed until 5 months later. You know the clock doesn't start ticking until confirmation right? It seems that Ford was making a big deal about their status being unsecured since I was in a lease with them. That was the entire reason it took 5 months on account of them. I was told that my case was the guinea pig for Ford to set a new precedent on how leases should be treated in bk cases. I just can't believe that I would be that lucky to be the one. I have no idea what the outcome was with their position but they were paid outside of the plan on time every month until the lease ended.

[flowerchild]

So I called and spoke again with the trustee this morning. Before I get into what she told me, I have to say that I should have been more on the ball in regards to dealing with my attorney. When I first had my consultation with him he gave me every signal that he had knew exactly what he was doing. I went into this with him believing that he would handle everything properly. Let's just say that I was wrong and I should have followed up with everything that he said and did with me. So I can only fault myself for what is going on now.

Okay so when I talked to the trustee this morning and told her that my attorney says that he doesn't see where my 2007 thru 2009 tax returns were received and that I have about $800 in delinquent payments. She tells me that she in fact does have the returns so I am good on that. However she said that my refunds (Federal) for those years which totaled $321 was not received. So either I pay that or my case will be sent to the court for dismissal. Now for each of those returns I owed to the State each year anywhere from $300 to $500 so I used one refund to offset one of those years, and the other year when I filed I just had the Feds keep the refund to be applied to the next year. The trustee said that they don't combine state and federal and they treat them separately so the refund should have been sent. Now when I sent the returns to my attorney he didn't say that anything was wrong that and that I should pay the refund to the trustee. I even asked him before hand what to do and he said that was fine to do. Again I have emails to substantiate all of this since that's the only we he prefers to communicate.

Secondly, in regards to the delinquency, again I contacted my attorney and told him about some financial changes in my income in 2008. Due the economic downturn, my employer mandated a 10% pay cut for 6 months AND we had to take a voluntary 2 week layoff sometime during that year. My attorney told me that there was nothing that he could do and that I should send in what I can which is what I did. I can't remember the dollar figures but I did send in lower payments. The trustee told me that since 2008 I have had a delinquency of $673.00. Now do you think that my attorney should have known that I had a delinquency when he was sending in all of his bills to be paid for his "auditing services"? I mean he's gotten over $8K during my case.

Third, the trustee tells me that that I have been sending in higher payments than I should have since 2009 (only about $50 a month). Well when I got a raise one year my attorney supposedly put in a motion to change my payments. He sent me the paperwork and I signed it and sent it back and have been paying the trustee the higher amount for 3 years. Obviously it wasn't enough to cover the delinquency but the trustee seemed a bit irritated by the miss information I had been given.

Nonetheless, she tells me that I owe the $321 for the tax refunds, the $673 in delinquency plus one more payment for August of $156 for a total of $1150 in order to close my case. Sighhhh....what a bummer. Like I said, shame on me for not following up to make sure things were in order. But I should not have had to do so because the attorney should have known before I did. I guess you can't pay a person to do a good job huh? So I will send in this money when I get my check because there is no way I will let my case get dismissed at the 11th hour. In all honesty, I guess things could be worse if I hadn't called the trustee and not found out all of this information prior to my case ending date. I should have spoken with the trustee a lot sooner and I hope that anyone who reads this can learn from my mistakes.

[spidge]

Well, flowerchild a big Thanks for sharing. I was always wondering about the state vs federal tax offsetting question, but now I know because you shared it here. I do find it a bit strange that the trustee would allow your delinquencies to linger and wait until the end to share the info. I would think he/she would at minimum be required to inform your attorney, then again my trustee sends out an annual statement which I would think should show this info.
At any rate at least you know know what it will take from the horses mouth. Is the trustee demanding the payment asap or will they allow payments to simply continue until it is all paid in full?

[flowerchild]

Well, flowerchild a big Thanks for sharing. I was always wondering about the state vs federal tax offsetting question, but now I know because you shared it here. I do find it a bit strange that the trustee would allow your delinquencies to linger and wait until the end to share the info. I would think he/she would at minimum be required to inform your attorney, then again my trustee sends out an annual statement which I would think should show this info.
At any rate at least you know know what it will take from the horses mouth. Is the trustee demanding the payment asap or will they allow payments to simply continue until it is all paid in full?

Well maybe the delinquencies did show on the annual statements but I don't remember seeing it. I guess if it was on the statement I just didn't pay attention to it . That's why I was saying that I can't blame anyone for the 11th hour because I should have been more on top of things. When I look back I think I was just coasting and being lackadaisical waiting for the end to come. In some sense I had become accustomed to just making that payment to the courts twice per month and living on a budget. Well that's not a good thing to do but thank god because it sure could have been worse.

As for the money owed, well I just went today to get a money order for the full amount due. My bank wanted $8 for a money order!!! I said no thanks just give me the cash. Since I was grocery shopping and the bank was inside Krogers, I just took the cash and walked a couple of feet down to the Kroger counter and paid .59 cents each for the money orders. I had to get 3 money orders because Kroger's limit is $500, but I still only paid less than $2. That is a crock of BS to charge so much for money orders. But anyway no, the trustee said that is what I owe and I'm not taking any chances on a dismissal nor am I going past the end of this month because I have been waiting for this day too long. I'll just have to suck it up and eat really light, drive less and maybe even sell a few things to get my money built back up for my bills.

[spidge]

Well maybe the delinquencies did show on the annual statements but I don't remember seeing it. I guess if it was on the statement I just didn't pay attention to it . That's why I was saying that I can't blame anyone for the 11th hour because I should have been more on top of things. When I look back I think I was just coasting and being lackadaisical waiting for the end to come. In some sense I had become accustomed to just making that payment to the courts twice per month and living on a budget. Well that's not a good thing to do but thank god because it sure could have been worse.

As for the money owed, well I just went today to get a money order for the full amount due. My bank wanted $8 for a money order!!! I said no thanks just give me the cash. Since I was grocery shopping and the bank was inside Krogers, I just took the cash and walked a couple of feet down to the Kroger counter and paid .59 cents each for the money orders. I had to get 3 money orders because Kroger's limit is $500, but I still only paid less than $2. That is a crock of BS to charge so much for money orders. But anyway no, the trustee said that is what I owe and I'm not taking any chances on a dismissal nor am I going past the end of this month because I have been waiting for this day too long. I'll just have to suck it up and eat really light, drive less and maybe even sell a few things to get my money built back up for my bills.

I agree with your line of thinking. I would do the same thing, in fact I have sold some model stuff here and there just to relieve some pressure.
If you were close enough I would invite ya for dinner here and there to help out, instead I'll have a drink for ya.

Cheers

[flowerchild]

I agree with your line of thinking. I would do the same thing, in fact I have sold some model stuff here and there just to relieve some pressure.
If you were close enough I would invite ya for dinner here and there to help out, instead I'll have a drink for ya.

Cheers

Well yea you are a few minutes away in Cali and all .

I think I'll have one for myself too because I need it bad...LOL!

[LadyInTheRed]

Flowerchild, I'm so sorry you were hit with this surprise at the end of your case. I'm glad you are able to get the payment made.

My bank charges $8 for a money order too. No thanks, I'll walk 4 blocks to the post office and get one for $1.25. I need the exercise anyway.