Update: please hold while your party is reached...

[olivies]

Attorney's paralegal sent an email, to set up a phone conference appointment next week to go over the status of our case. We'll find out more next Tuesday when we talk with him. But I gather the UST is not backing down if he wants to discuss where things are. We'll see what he has to say. I've got more fight left in me, but I'm tired and ready to move forward. If my case gets dismissed because the government and court are ridiculous enough to believe that $1000 a month is a sufficient amount to spend on rent for a family of 8, then so be it. And despite the attorney's emails to the UST twice, which I was cc'd on, asking what additional info she wanted and what as of date for schedules I&J she was looking for, we've heard nothing back that anything is needed. So I guess the extension is a stall tactic because the UST office is so busy. ??

It just stinks that if this was a home we owned, the amount we pay for a mortgage payment would be allowed and accounted for even if it were over the IRS standard and even if we were giving up the home and moving somewhere cheaper.

We're in a sense at a disadvantage for being renters, and apparently should be penalized for having a family larger than the family of 5 the IRS standards are calculated for. I guess we're also stupid for trying to be responsible and selling our house 3 years ago, instead of sticking it to the mortgage holder, and holding out another year beyond that trying to still pay everyone else.

[Dee]

Olivies - I am totally perplexed as to why the UST would think your rent was unreasonable for a family of 8. Our rent is about $200 over the IRS allowance for a family of 3, but the trustee never even blinked over it. Just curious - what part of Florida are you in?

I sure hope the judge is more understanding for you!

[olivies]

We are in the middle district.
When we filed, the allowance for the county we lived in for a family of 5+ was $1060, our rent was $1725.
Two months after filing, we moved one town south, but it's a different county. That allowance is $1002, our rent is $1550.

I've provided, to our attorney, real estate rental searches within a 300sq mile radius of our current location and came up with NOTHING for a 4BR rental in the $1000 range. Not a single thing. In fact, our $1550 is darned cheap for a 4BR rental (probably because it's a small house- just under 1500 sq ft, and no pool, no HOA rules). I've also researched the greater Tampa area, and found recent census info and found that the size of our rental and the rent are on the lower end for a family of 7+. (Interesting, the Census tracks and categorizes households all the way up to 7+, but the IRS standards choose to stop categorizing at 5+). We'll see. It could come down to the judge, and the attorney has said in the past if it does it can go either way. We can have a judge agree that $1000 is unreasonable and a family of 8 is not the same as a family of 5, or a judge can say "rules are rules".

[Dee]

Wow! We are also in Middle District, but we are over on the East Coast. I've heard that those Tampa trustees can be brutal! I sure hope it works out for you!

[SunshineGal]

So sorry Olivies....I've been following your posts and my heart goes out to you. Hopefully the conference call will clear things up for you and you can finally get that discharge!

[drowningNIL]

Olivies, I have been reading your story from before we even filed. I am so sorry you are still going through this. Hang in there - stay strong. I hope all works out for you soon.