Chapter 13 Lawyer Cost

[Dclerk]

I was in a Chapter 13 for 3 years now and just bought out and the cost seems to never quit. The Law Firm we used got paid up front from the trustee and the trustee papers show no balance owed.

I was so proud when we paid our BK out and the trustee sent me a copy of a check made to me and my spouse for overpayment with a letter to the Attoney to forward it to us. When it never show I contacted the Attoney and they informed me that they were keeping it for their fees. Needless to say I was floored it may not seem like much to some folks but $1,300.00 is a lot to someone who is starting over. The Attorney said that it still didn't cover our fee but they would drop the rest. This was never a claim within the BK and I never understood, still don't.

Who do you call concerning their cost when they refuse to coment?

[SinkingFast]

You might start with the Clerk of the Court.

Also the National Data Center. You can access your Ch 13 Plan Payment history on line. Maybe it shows how the Trustee applied your payments.

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...al+data+center

You shoulda paid your attny about half of the fee in advance of filing. The rest shoulda been paid to the attny within the first few payments made in the plan.

[aa06a47]

I would definatly find out what the plan paid the attorney. Generally, administrative cost (lawyer fees are considered this) come off the top meaning they got paid before anybody else does. Your attorney should have been paid very early in the process unless they chose to lump it into 60 payments (which I think they can do as well).

[13inOR]

That does seem very odd. In our case, the total cost was 3,500. We paid $500
down plus the filing fee that was around $160 I think, and the remaining $3000
of the attorney fee was paid out of the plan, and was paid FIRST, right off the top, even before the mortgage arrearages, which seems to echo the experiences of the other posters here.
I would demand a printout showing just how they claim you owe that.
I also agree with SinkingFast, if you check your claims ledger on Data Center for Chap 13, it should show the amount paid everyone, including the attorney.

[GoingUnderInNV]

The attorney I'm (most likely) going with wants $995 up front to file, and then presumably the rest of the fees will come out of the payments (according to him). Does this sound about right to you guys?

[SinkingFast]

I said half the fee earlier, but if I remember correctly, attnys wanted about $1K plus filing fees up front. The remainder was to be paid in the plan payments. Attnys here charge $2500-$2800 for a Ch 13 BK.