Getting Closer!

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...

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.

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!

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:

We received Confirmation papers from the trustee, but some of the language leaves us with questions.

*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?

She e-mailed back:

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.

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!

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!

Still Waiting

We're still here, and still going through a Bankruptcy. I think I knew Bankruptcy wasn't quick by any means, but I don't think I was expecting it to take this long!

The last time I wrote, we had attended the 341 Meeting (meeting of the creditors). It was basically our opportunity to sit down with the Trustee and go over filing and our proposed payment plan. After which, the Trustee would confirm the plan, as long as there were no disputes from our creditors and as long as the Trustee thought it was a satisfactory payment plan. The Trustee said most everything looked fine. He had a few questions, but in the end, said our proposed payment plan seemed adequate and that no adjustments were necessary at that time.

Well, imagine our surprise when we got a letter in the mail about a month ago saying that the Trustee wanted to dismiss our case! Apparently, he did not agree to some of the items and that we had to amend our filing, and it wasn't even in reference to the rental property we were worried about after the 341 Meeting - it was something entirely different. What in the world? Isn't this why we hired a Bankruptcy attorney????? So we don't run into these types of snags?!?!

We notified our attorney and they told us it was the Trustee's last-ditch effort to 'spook' us into backing out of Bankruptcy. They informed us our paperwork is correct as filed and all we needed to do was sign an affidavit and the problem was solved. Who would have thought the Trustee would try and use mind games to manipulate us? Of course, it's all new territory, so we don't really know *what* to expect, but it definitely wasn't that!

At this point, we are just waiting on the Confirmation papers from the Trustee, which will let us know the Trustee has finally approved our proposed payment plan and then we will be getting closer to the end. If all goes well, it will likely be another year or so before our case is completely discharged, but a plan Confirmation will take away some of our lingering doubt about this entire process. Almost four months after we first filed our papers and we're still in limbo! Now we know that Bankruptcy is not a short process.

***

Oh, and we did eventually get an answer about the extra payment the Trustee sent to the bank for payment on our vehicle. It was sent in error and the bank wound up sending the money back to the Trustee.

The 341 Meeting

We have now been to 'court,' better known as the 341 Meeting or Meeting of the Creditors or Creditors Hearing. Really, it wasn't even in a courtroom! What it was was m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e, if for no other reason than we were stuck there for literally twelve hours.

The first 3 hours was a credit counseling session - how to turn the Bankruptcy into something positive and not fall back into the same trap at some point in the future. Then, from noon until 7:00 that evening, we sat and sat and sat and sat and sat and sat... just waiting for our case to be called. It was a huge room filled with other people like us, with a table at the front of the room, and each case was called one by one to sit and answer whatever questions the Trustee (the attorney handling the case for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court) might have had.

When we were finally called, there were about 5 people left in the room. o_0 The Trustee didn't have any hard questions for us, but did raise an eyebrow toward our rental property. We are not behind in any of our secured debt payments, so we are not in immediate risk of losing anything. But, according to the Trustee, since we are not falling behind on the rental property, he said he didn't know if he could in good faith let us keep the property. Yet, when you look at what we owe and what it could be sold for, there would likely be a loss, so it's not like selling it would 'fix' anything. I really don't understand his logic - it seems counterintuitive. But, at the end of the meeting, he did say that the proposed Chapter 13 payment plan seems suitable, but he would still need to look closer at a few things.

We left feeling completely defeated. Demoralized. Deflated. Demeaned. Depressed. We were kind of stunned, since the paralegal had assured us that there was really no reason for the Trustee to be concerned with the rental property... its value and the amount we still owe being the main factor. It kind of leaves things completely up in the air, especially since we had hoped to get renters in there ASAP. Now, we can't in good faith rent it to anyone until we know its fate!

For now, it's a hurry up and wait situation until we hear back from the Trustee with an approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court that our Chapter 13 payment plan has been approved. Of course, before all of that, the Trustee has to wait 30 days from the date our creditors were informed of their right to file a claim against us for our debts, or something along those lines.

Really, I just want all of this to be over... and I know that won't be achieved for at least another year. I never would have known Bankruptcy was such a long process! Maybe it used to be?

Oh yes, and the icing on the cake!!! I have sent 3 E-mails over the past few weeks to our paralegal and have not received any responses. In one instance, we got a packet in the mail a few days after I sent my E-mail, so I thought she had either read my E-mail and replied with the packet, or it happened to be a fortunate coincidence. Well, today we find out that our paralegal NO LONGER WORKS AT THE LAW FIRM! It was so nice of them to let us know that we now have a different paralegal! Thank goodness Mr. America called today to check on a few things, because there's no telling when we would have found out. Our new paralegal claims the E-mails should have been forwarded from the old paralegal's E-mail, but it doesn't seem if that happened. I was very pleased to see an E-mail from our new paralegal that pretty much answered some of my questions, but I do have two concerns.

First, she addressed me as Amanda. It's a beautiful name, but it is not MY name!

Second, she didn't answer the question about the payment the Trustee made to our automobile, even though the automobile is secured and should not be included in the Bankruptcy.

Amanda. Hmph.

OK, Wait... What?

Okay, so I am now thoroughly confused!

Even though we have not yet gone to court, we have still been responsible for making payments to the Bankruptcy Trustee. Since we are technically filing under Chapter 13, it requires that we be set up on a payment plan to 'pay back our debts.' According to our attorney, this form of Chapter 13 does not actually repay our debts, but it is merely the attorney's fees set up on a payment plan. In other words, $2,000+ attorney's fee is split up over a monthly payment for the next 18-36 months.

As I previously mentioned, this form of Bankruptcy also allows us to keep our personal property (home and vehicles), yet discharges our unsecured debt (credit cards and medical bills). As a result, we have stayed on top of all other payments while letting our credit cards go past due.

I logged on to check that our automobile payment went through and was a little surprised to see not only the regularly scheduled automatic payment, but a partial payment made in the form of a check. I did not send any extra money for our auto loan, so I called to ask what was going on. I was really thinking it was a misapplied payment that probably belonged to someone else.

Imagine my surprise when I was informed it came from the Bankruptcy Trustee! At first, the representative informed me that, as a result of the Chapter 13 filing, he could not speak to me in reference to anything on our account, and referred me to the Loss Department (or something like that). But, I did manage to get out of him that the payment came from the Bankruptcy Trustee.

So, the monthly payment that we thought was supposed to cover only attorney's fees is actually being split up and mailed to our creditors! Are they sending payments to *all* creditors or just the ones that own the property we are keeping? I hope they haven't been sending our money to the credit card companies!

Is it just a preliminary arrangement until we go to court and get a final ruling? Will we get that money back? Will it get sent to the attorney to cover attorney's fees, like I originally thought? Or have we been 'duped' by our attorney?

I have a feeling this whole process is about to get even more confusing.

This Is Where We Are

It's been a bit, so here's where we stand:

We finally got notification of our court date in September, so we're just waiting for that day.

The collection calls *did* stop, thank goodness! When I called one of the credit cards to give them our Bankruptcy Case #, the customer service rep was really nice and wished us luck in our filing - she really seemed concerned for us - so that was unexpected.

We received notification from our credit card companies that our accounts are now closed. Not because of the Bankruptcy, but because of non-payment and over-limit fees.

One requirement of Bankruptcy is that ALL of your creditors are notified, even if some of those debts are *not* being discharged. Co-signers are also notified.

Our car loan is with the bank we use for our checking and savings. Because of this, the attorney instructed us to open an account with another bank where we do not have any debts. This is just in case the bank decided to freeze our account upon getting word of our Bankruptcy. The temporary change in banking institutions has been an adjustment, but hopefully we won't have to do it much longer. Although, I'm contemplating staying at the new bank because their interest rate is a lot better than our usual bank.

Our student loans are not dischargeable in Bankruptcy, but they sent us notification that due to the Bankruptcy, they are now being administered by a different agency, or something along those lines. Kind of confusing.

Since the mortgage company was notified, our mortgage statements now indicate that no payment is due. We will continue to pay them, since we are filing under Chapter 13, but it's weird to see 'No Payment Due' on the statement.

We're still struggling financially, which just seems so bizarre to me. I thought once we stopped being 'responsible' for the debt payments, things would be happy and wonderful. I mean, it's tons better than it was, but it still seems as if we're living paycheck to paycheck. I know I should give it another month or so to really feel the effects, because part of the reason we're still 'broke' right now is because I was trying to catch up on late/past due payments from the past few months and we also had some unexpected car repairs. Right now, we're no longer late on our monthly expenses, and when the new bill-paying month starts on Sept 1st, we should be on track.

Just waiting for the moment we have our $1,000 emergency fund built up so we can start pouring money into our existing debt (automobiles & student loans). I've been trying to keep us on a budget, but since we haven't had the extra cash to put into the emergency fund, and with the unexpected car repairs this month, it's been difficult. This month will be better.

It has to be.