We mailed off our final Plan Payment! It's really the smaller, final payment that is due the 1st of October, but since we're so close to the end, we wanted to go ahead and get it out of the way. Once the Trustee receives and cashes the payment, we wait for them to send the necessary paperwork/notification to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Once everything checks out, we will receive confirmation that our case has been discharged. The paralegal said it's usually about 2 weeks from the day the Trustee receives our payment, so I'm hoping no later than the middle of October!
So close...
Monday, September 20, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
August Update
Okay, so last month I called the paralegal to get an idea as to how much longer we have left on our plan. She said we didn't have too much longer, but it wasn't the $12 I was expecting. She also said something along the lines that the Chapter 13 Trustee charges his own fee - "He doesn't handle these cases for free," was what I came away with. I asked her to send a statement of our payments so I could get a better idea.
Not easy to read. At all. The Chapter 13 Trustee's fee is not clearly stated, and it doesn't help that there have been two random payments sent to him in the almost 12 months we've been paying. Not a monthly % or a stated flat %. So how much ARE we paying him, exactly? I still don't know and the paralegal didn't know either. Better yet, who informed us that we'd even be paying a Chapter 13 Trustee fee? I have looked over our paperwork and I cannot find where we were informed that this would be coming down the tube. Not that I'm saying the Trustee doesn't deserve to be paid for his services - he will be paid - my main objection is that I do not recall ever being informed of this aspect of our Payment Plan. It just sort of came as a surprise. Obviously, since I thought we were down to $12. In reality, it was more like $512.
It's only a few more months, but not what I was expecting. So, we'll be around here for a bit longer. Waiting... to see how this all ends.
Not easy to read. At all. The Chapter 13 Trustee's fee is not clearly stated, and it doesn't help that there have been two random payments sent to him in the almost 12 months we've been paying. Not a monthly % or a stated flat %. So how much ARE we paying him, exactly? I still don't know and the paralegal didn't know either. Better yet, who informed us that we'd even be paying a Chapter 13 Trustee fee? I have looked over our paperwork and I cannot find where we were informed that this would be coming down the tube. Not that I'm saying the Trustee doesn't deserve to be paid for his services - he will be paid - my main objection is that I do not recall ever being informed of this aspect of our Payment Plan. It just sort of came as a surprise. Obviously, since I thought we were down to $12. In reality, it was more like $512.
It's only a few more months, but not what I was expecting. So, we'll be around here for a bit longer. Waiting... to see how this all ends.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Our Plan Has Been Confirmed!
I know on my last post, I discussed that we found out the case was confirmed... apparently, the Trustee sends one letter to let us know what is in store for our case, and the US Bankruptcy Court sends another letter making it official? I'm not exactly sure what the whole process is, but we got a second confirmation letter, except this one came from the US Bankruptcy Court. Almost a whole year after filing, and our plan is just now being officially confirmed, which basically means we are THISCLOSE to being done and fully discharged. If my calculations are correct, our remaining balance is $12 and August 1st will be our final Bankruptcy payment.
I know I'd mentioned that we were going to pay the plan off early, but we decided against it, for several reasons. Most importantly, as is always the case, LIFE got in the way and that 'extra' tax-refund money had to go to other, more important things.
But anyway, I'm going to e-mail our paralegal (we'll see how far that gets me - I never did receive an adequate response to my last e-mail) just to make sure we only owe $12.
Here's hoping!
I know I'd mentioned that we were going to pay the plan off early, but we decided against it, for several reasons. Most importantly, as is always the case, LIFE got in the way and that 'extra' tax-refund money had to go to other, more important things.
But anyway, I'm going to e-mail our paralegal (we'll see how far that gets me - I never did receive an adequate response to my last e-mail) just to make sure we only owe $12.
Here's hoping!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Getting Somewhere!
Ok, so we did get a letter of Plan Confirmation from the Trustee, but there was some confusing info pertaining to the amount we've already paid toward the plan. The letter stated $0 had been paid, but that couldn't be correct, else our case would have been dismissed a long time ago.
I sent an e-mail to the paralegal and addressed my concerns:
Okay, so how much do we really owe? When we last heard from the paralegal, she said we were all paid and our case would be ready for discharge. We went around and around for a few days and finally, on Friday, I called because we got a letter in the mail stating there was a hearing scheduled for the Plan Confirmation with very short notice, and I needed to speak with someone to make sure we did not have to be there. She told us we didn't need to go to the hearing. While I had her on the phone, I asked about our account balance, and we finally got the information we were looking for.
We are not all paid, but that's fine. It was kind of surprising to us that we could have been all paid, so we didn't immediately get our hopes up. Technically, we still have 6 more plan payments, but now that the plan has been confirmed, we are free to make a lump sum of the remaining balance. And that is what we will do. When the next plan payment is due, we will make a payment in full and then we will be on the way to discharge!
If all goes as planned, the next post should be something about the case being closer to discharge.
I sent an e-mail to the paralegal and addressed my concerns:
We received Confirmation papers from the trustee, but some of the language leaves us with questions.She e-mailed back:
*It would appear the Trustee is saying that $0 has been paid on our Plan
*There was also something in reference to $#### for attorney's fees and $#### for filing fees or something of that nature - I do not have the papers with me at the moment, so I'm probably not relaying my concerns 100% clearly - we thought our Payment Plan covered both of these costs.
*You left us a message prior to receiving the confirmation papers and you said we were all paid.
Can you help to explain some of the above concerns, and also give us an idea as to where we stand at this point in time? How many more Plan Payments do we have?
Everything is fine. It is just a standard letter confirming the terms. You are correct attorney fees are going to be paid through the plan. That is a good thing that the case is confirmed. Nothing for you to do. Just put to file.
Okay, so how much do we really owe? When we last heard from the paralegal, she said we were all paid and our case would be ready for discharge. We went around and around for a few days and finally, on Friday, I called because we got a letter in the mail stating there was a hearing scheduled for the Plan Confirmation with very short notice, and I needed to speak with someone to make sure we did not have to be there. She told us we didn't need to go to the hearing. While I had her on the phone, I asked about our account balance, and we finally got the information we were looking for.
We are not all paid, but that's fine. It was kind of surprising to us that we could have been all paid, so we didn't immediately get our hopes up. Technically, we still have 6 more plan payments, but now that the plan has been confirmed, we are free to make a lump sum of the remaining balance. And that is what we will do. When the next plan payment is due, we will make a payment in full and then we will be on the way to discharge!
If all goes as planned, the next post should be something about the case being closer to discharge.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
March Update
So, it's been several weeks since we've received any documentation from the Trustee and we were starting to get a little bit worried. No news is usually good news, right? We were hoping so, at least. Last we heard, they had dropped the motion to dismiss, but we hadn't heard anything in regard to the Trustee confirming our payment plan, which we thought was supposed to be the next step in the process.
Mr. America contacted the paralegal - a different one, again. This makes Paralegal #3 that has worked on our case, and the second time we were given no notification that, should we need to contact someone, the contact info had changed. I can't say for certain how I feel about the customer service/client relations we've received, but as long as we don't run into any more issues, I won't do much complaining. But, we probably won't use them for Bankruptcy representation in the future. ;-)
But, where was I? Oh yes, the paralegal didn't show anything in the file concerning confirmation of the plan, so she said she'd contact the Trustee and call us back with any information. Mr. America got a voicemail from the paralegal yesterday and she said the Trustee has confirmed the plan and will be sending out a letter this week. And she also said that we have already fulfilled our payment plan, so once the confirmation letter has been received, they can file the official Bankruptcy Discharge! That means we will be done!
Of course, I'm not getting my hopes up (yeah, right!), because I know anything can happen, but if all goes well, we should be done with all of this Bankruptcy business by the end of March. Wow. Officially Done? I'll believe it when I see it... We have so many plans!
Mr. America contacted the paralegal - a different one, again. This makes Paralegal #3 that has worked on our case, and the second time we were given no notification that, should we need to contact someone, the contact info had changed. I can't say for certain how I feel about the customer service/client relations we've received, but as long as we don't run into any more issues, I won't do much complaining. But, we probably won't use them for Bankruptcy representation in the future. ;-)
But, where was I? Oh yes, the paralegal didn't show anything in the file concerning confirmation of the plan, so she said she'd contact the Trustee and call us back with any information. Mr. America got a voicemail from the paralegal yesterday and she said the Trustee has confirmed the plan and will be sending out a letter this week. And she also said that we have already fulfilled our payment plan, so once the confirmation letter has been received, they can file the official Bankruptcy Discharge! That means we will be done!
Of course, I'm not getting my hopes up (yeah, right!), because I know anything can happen, but if all goes well, we should be done with all of this Bankruptcy business by the end of March. Wow. Officially Done? I'll believe it when I see it... We have so many plans!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Finally Some Progress
We're still here. Still dealing with the Bankruptcy! I've said it once and I'll say it again: I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD TAKE THIS LONG
A few months ago, we got a letter from the Chapter 13 Trustee stating that he was making a motion to dismiss our case based on some of the information in our filing. The attorney had us come in the sign an affidavit in regard to the motion to dismiss and he assured us we had nothing to worry about - it was just the Trustee's last-ditch effort. Mind games, I say. A test to see if we'd give up.
We waited to hear something. And waited. And waited.
Then, we got another letter from the Trustee and it was the same thing: A motion to dismiss our case based on the same information and we were requested to appear in court. Very frustrating. We met with the attorney again and he said he didn't understand why the Trustee was pressing the issue on something so small, but assured us it wasn't big enough to jeopardize our Bankruptcy. He said the affidavit was very clear and we did not need to go to court - it would be straightened out.
The court date was fast approaching and we hadn't heard anything. Then, the Friday before the court date, we got a letter in the mail from the Trustee stating that the motion to dismiss had been withdrawn! Whew.
Now, we wait again, but for what, I'm not exactly sure. We're just happy all that dismissal mess is done and over. We can move forward on this whole process instead of feeling like we're standing still, spinning our wheels, getting nowhere.
The end is closer!
A few months ago, we got a letter from the Chapter 13 Trustee stating that he was making a motion to dismiss our case based on some of the information in our filing. The attorney had us come in the sign an affidavit in regard to the motion to dismiss and he assured us we had nothing to worry about - it was just the Trustee's last-ditch effort. Mind games, I say. A test to see if we'd give up.
We waited to hear something. And waited. And waited.
Then, we got another letter from the Trustee and it was the same thing: A motion to dismiss our case based on the same information and we were requested to appear in court. Very frustrating. We met with the attorney again and he said he didn't understand why the Trustee was pressing the issue on something so small, but assured us it wasn't big enough to jeopardize our Bankruptcy. He said the affidavit was very clear and we did not need to go to court - it would be straightened out.
The court date was fast approaching and we hadn't heard anything. Then, the Friday before the court date, we got a letter in the mail from the Trustee stating that the motion to dismiss had been withdrawn! Whew.
Now, we wait again, but for what, I'm not exactly sure. We're just happy all that dismissal mess is done and over. We can move forward on this whole process instead of feeling like we're standing still, spinning our wheels, getting nowhere.
The end is closer!
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