a few personal questions

[tictacsir]

I thouroughly enjoy this board and am becoming alot more educated on my bk than I was when I filed. I do have a few questions though. I've noticed several members' stats say they've been discharged within months of filing. How is this possible? Have you guys managed to pay off what you owed within months of filing or is it just from filing chapt. 7? I've got a long 52 more months to go, I would love to just win fear factor tomorrow and pay back everyone I know.

Another question I had was about the references being made to something called a pacer? I know a pacer has to do with monitoring legal documents or something like that, but how does that apply to personal bankruptcy cases?

Sorry if I'm being nosy but I figure that's what the board is for

[anonymuse]

You might be looking at the stats of people filing Chapter 7.

PACER allows you to track the progress of your case in the courts (there's a sticky on it.) You have to pay a small fee, but all of the legal documents are there.

Someone else can tell you the correct URL (I think is datacenter13.com or something like that) where people can track their progress on their payments for Ch 13. (Sorry I'm being lazy and not looking it up--but getting ready to hit the hay for the evening.)

People are so wonderful around here and so helpful. I've learned so much from them and thoroughly appreciate it. Coming into here, after a consult where I was told I was not eligible for BK, I found out that not even was I eligible, I'm eligible for a Ch 7.

Can't thank the people here enough for their support!

[lrprn]

Agree with Anon. Most Ch 7 cases are discharged within six months of filing. while Ch 13 cases run for three to five years before discharge. Sometimes after paying about half their plans, some 13ers are lucky enough to have sufficient equity in their homes to get permission to pay off the remainder of their plan in one lump sum by getting another mortgage. Currently there are some conflicting court cases ruling on how soon a Ch 13 plan can be paid off and whether the early payoff has to be 100% or just for the % total owed to creditors in the plan.

The website Anon mentioned is 13Network at http://www.13network.com/ . Scroll down the page and look for your state. If your trustee is participating in the website, his/her name will be under it. Click the name, then when their home page opens, request a userID and password. We got ours from our trustee's office the next business day. It's great to be able to check on payments, disbursements, creditors, etc. and best of all, unlike PACER which costs $0.08/page, 13Network is FREE!

[tictacsir]

thanks, i looked at the site and it looks like it's going to be really useful. now let's see if i don't get obsessed. ;)

[miss puff]

Don't get too obsessed-I have heard it can get expensive. I am not sure yet since I haven't filed yet but I thought I heard they charge per page or something like that.

[tictacsir]

Don't get too obsessed-I have heard it can get expensive. I am not sure yet since I haven't filed yet but I thought I heard they charge per page or something like that.

actually the http://www.13network.com/ is free...which is nice, now if only credit monitoring were free as well. does anyone know of any good deals on a credit monitoring service?

[miss puff]

actually the http://www.13network.com/ is free...

I stand corrected then. I wonder what I was reading that made me think it could get expensive...hmmmm... oh well. I am glad it's free then. I was wondering tictacsir, if you were forced into 13 or went voluntary. My biggest fear is being forced into a 13 because we are only $7,000 away from the median income

[lrprn]

I stand corrected then. I wonder what I was reading that made me think it could get expensive...hmmmm... oh well. I am glad it's free then.

You might be thinking of PACER, Miss Puff. PACER is the government's court case database - includes all the federal and state court cases, not just bk. PACER costs $0.08 for each viewed page. 13Network is a trustee website - many of the state trustees use it but not all. 13Network has much of the same information about your bk case that PACER does except that it's free. Hope this helps clarify the cost vs. no cost thing

[tictacsir]

I stand corrected then. I wonder what I was reading that made me think it could get expensive...hmmmm... oh well. I am glad it's free then. I was wondering tictacsir, if you were forced into 13 or went voluntary. My biggest fear is being forced into a 13 because we are only $7,000 away from the median income

I wasn't forced into a 13 although I should have filed 7 because my income was so low after my expenses were taken out. There were so many people filing bk in Louisiana at that time (it was right after the hurricanes) my lawyer highly suggested a 13 and I just wanted to get on with. However, my monthly payment is the smallest payment possible and no one has given me any crap *yet* about my expenses.

[anonymuse]

I wasn't forced into a 13 although I should have filed 7 because my income was so low after my expenses were taken out. There were so many people filing bk in Louisiana at that time (it was right after the hurricanes) my lawyer highly suggested a 13 and I just wanted to get on with. However, my monthly payment is the smallest payment possible and no one has given me any crap *yet* about my expenses.

It is possible to convert from a 13 to a 7.