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The majority of Chapter 13 cases are written to extend over a 5 year period. This is the maximum amount of time you are allowed to remain in a Chapter 13 case. During the course of those five years many situations will arise which relate to your Chapter 13 case. Below are a number of common questions and scenarios that come up over the course of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Please read EACH one carefully.

Remember that it is up to you to monitor your case and read all documents sent by the court and our office. We cannot make your case work without your help. Below are links to the Chapter 13 Trustee's web sites. Please take the time to visit these sites for updated information related to your Chapter 13 case.

ONLY SEND PHOTOCOPIES TO OUR OFFICE. NEVER SUBMIT ORIGINALS!!! PLEASE ALSO MAKE A COPY FOR YOURSELF BECAUSE ONCE YOUR CASE IS CONFIRMED OR CLOSED YOUR FILE WILL BE SENT TO STORAGE AND THERE IS A $20 FEE TO RETRIEVE ANY DOCUMENTS.

Common Issues and Questions for Chapter 13 Clients

I received a letter from the trustee titled "Objection to Confirmation"...

After your 341 hearing you will hear the trustee announce several objections in your case. Most cases will draw small objections from the trustee . DO NOT PANIC . This is a standard letter that goes out. We are also served a copy of this letter so that we can ensure that all issues are resolved prior to confirmation. Before you leave the hearing the attorney will go over with you what needs to be done to cure these objections and will also give you a TO DO SHEET to remind you what you need to do to cure these objections. WHEN YOU GET THIS LETTER DO NO PANIC. NO ONE IS DISMISSING YOUR CASE. The trustee is only telling you that if you do not address these issues THEN your case will be dismissed.

STEPS TO TAKE:

1. Review the list of items given to you by the attorney and get these items to CONNIE FREIRE in our office ASAP. Connie's email address is cfreire@saediwellslaw.com and her direct number is: 404.885.6657. Our fax number is 404.885.6651.

2. Make sure that you have made two full payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee either directly or from the automatic employer deduction.

3. If you have a home that you are keeping, fax proof that you have made ALL mortgage payments (1st, 2nd, 3rd, ect...) since the filing of your case.

4. Review the piece of paper you received from the court that has your court dates on it. Your confirmation date is the date that the court will approve or deny your case. Contact CONNIE in our office NO LATER THAN 10 days BEFORE that hearing date to confirm if you need to attend the hearing. UNLESS YOU ARE TOLD BY OUR OFFICE NOT TO ATTEND THE HEARING BECAUSE WE HAVE ALL DOCUMENTS YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND. Failure to attend could result in your case being dismissed.

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I have changed jobs...

The court requires that your monthly payment be taken directly from your paycheck . In the event that you change jobs you will need to notify our office so that another Employer Deduction Order can be entered. While the court understands that some jobs have a 90 day probationary period after that time the court will require and Employer Deduction Order. Failure to comply with this order can result in the dismissal of your case.

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I received a Motion to Dismiss my case from my Trustee.....

A Motion to Dismiss is filed for usually two reasons:

1. You have fallen behind on your trustee payments AND/OR

2. The claims filed by your creditors have come in higher than anticipated and because of this your Chapter 13 Plan is running over the allowed 60 months. (The maximum amount of time you are allowed to remain in a Chapter 13 is 60 months)

If you have fallen behind on your payments to the court you will have to bring your payments current by time of the hearing date or else the court will dismiss your case for failure to comply with your Chapter 13 Plan.

If your claims have come in higher than anticipated please call our office immediately so that we may review these claims with you to determine if the claims are valid. If you believe that a claim is not correct YOU MUST PROVIDE OUR OFFICE WITH WRITTEN PROOF of the correct amount before we can object to the amount.

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I received a Motion for Relief From Stay from my mortgage company/car company.... .

If you received the Motion for Relief from the Mortgage Company : READ the Motion and see what months the mortgage company is claiming that they have not received payments. If you have made these payments please fax proof of the these payments to our office (in a neat and orderly fashion). If you have fallen behind on your mortgage payments you MUST come up with the arrears in order to retain your home. Contact our office BEFORE the hearing date so that we can try to work out an arrangement with the mortgage company and avoid a court appearance.

If you do not come up with the money to catch up your mortgage then the automatic stay will be lifted and your mortgage company will be allowed to take action against your property.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL INCUR ADDITIONAL ATTORNEY FEES FOR ALL MOTIONS FILED AFTER YOUR CASE IS CONFIRMED.

Yolanda Hood in our office handles all Motions for Relief from Stay. She may be reached at yhood@saediwellslaw.com.

If you received the Motion for Relief from the Car Company : You are required by Georgia law to maintain FULL COVERAGE insurance on all vehicles that being financed. If your insurance lapses your car company has the right to demand that they be allowed to repossess the vehicle to ensure that it is not wreck or damaged. If you receive a Motion for Relief regarding your car you must provide our office with a copy of the declarations page of your insurance policy which shows the policy date and the policy limits. In addition we also suggest that you mail a copy of the policy to the creditor certified mail.

If you do not have full coverage insurance by the hearing date the automatic stay will be lifted and the car company will be allowed to repossess the vehicle.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL INCUR ADDITIONAL ATTORNEY FEES FOR ALL MOTIONS FILED AFTER YOUR CASE IS CONFIRMED.

Yolanda Hood in our office handles all Motions for Relief from Stay. She may be reached at yhood@saediwellslaw.com.

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I received a letter in the mail regarding a late-filed claim.....

All of your creditors have a deadline in which to file a claim and get paid in your case. If a creditor files AFTER the deadline then we can object to their claim being paid since they missed the deadline. However, we must have your permission SO when you receive the letter CALL OUR OFFICE to let us know if you want us to object to the claim. These objections are VERY time sensitive so you MUST call us ASAP when you receive notice of a late filed claim.

PLEASE NOTE: If the late filed claim is for SECURED goods then we can still object to paying the claim in your case but when you case is over the creditor can repossess their property. So if you want to keep your property you will allow the claim to be filed with no objection.

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I have had an unexpected situation arise (illness, job loss, divorce) and may be unable to make my Chapter 13 payments for a couple of months....

If you have been in your Chapter 13 case FOR AT LEAST a year and a situation arises in which you know you will be unable to make your trustee payments please fax or email our office a written request (describing the situation in a one page statement) to suspend your trustee payments for 30-90 days. We can them file the appropriate motion with the court request a payment suspension. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE ALREADY LATE TO CONTACT US. Contact us IMMEDIATELY when you realize that you be unable to make your payments. Please note that there is NO guarantee that this motion will be granted since each case must be judged on its own merits.

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I want to sell my house....

Current Chapter 13 Clients Who Want to Sell Their Home:

First you need to go to your trustee's website and download their form for a sale of real property. Each trustee is different so make sure you have the correct form. Ms. Tami Wells Thomas of our law firm handles all Motions to Sell so AFTER you have ALL of your information gathered please remit this information to her at the following address: 1401 Peachtree Street, Suite 500, Atlanta GA 30308. If the information packet is incomplete your motion will NOT be filed. Please double check this application to make sure it is completely filled out.

Clients who wish to sell their home must fax over a contract to sell with a closing date set 45 days of from the date of the contract. In addition you must also provide us with the following information:

  • How much earnest money has been put down and WHO is holding it
  • HUD-1 Statement
  • Copy of the sale contract
  • Who the proceeds of the sale shall be paid to (this should be the Chapter 13 Trustee)
  • How much are the real estate commission fees and to whom are they to be paid to.
  • How much will be paid for filing fees and attorney's fees (closing costs)
  • Principal balance on the mortgage.

DO NOT HAVE YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT CALL US. THIS CAN BECOME CONFUSING AND CAUSE A DELAY IN PROCESSING YOUR PAPERWORK. YOU NEED TO GET THE INFORMATION FROM THE AGENT AND PROVIDE IT TO US. WE DO NOT DEAL WITH REAL ESTATE AGENTS. THEIR CALLS WILL NOT BE RETURNED.

Once we have received all the necessary paperwork we will file a motion to sell and request a hearing to obtain approval for the sale of your home.

If you motion to sell is approved then the proceeds will be paid to your case and any excess funds after your case is paid off will be paid directly to you.

Word of warning: Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous agents AND "investors" who attempt to take advantage of clients during this stressfully and difficult time. Please call out office to discuss ANY possible real estate transaction. Our goal is to protect our clients and guide them through this process to their maximum benefit. Please be aware that if you are selling your house and NOT making any money on it the court will want to know WHY since it would be easier to surrender the house back to the mortgage company instead of costing the court time and money on a transaction that you will not benefit from.

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I want to refinance my mortgage....

Current Chapter 13 Clients Who Want to Refinance Their Home :

Clients who wish to refinance their mortgage must contact their trustee's office an obtain an application to refinance. This application MUST be completed in full or we will send it back. Once you have completed the application and provided our office with the required documentation we will submit this application for approval. THE TRUSTEES WILL NOT TAKE THE APPLICATION DIRECTLY FROM YOU. We must review and sign off on the application before we send it in.

If you are currently in a plan where you are paying your unsecured creditor less than 100% you will be required to pay back ALL creditors at 100% in order to purchase the item.

DO NOT HAVE YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT CALL US. THIS CAN BECOME CONFUSING AND CAUSE A DELAY IN PROCESSING YOUR PAPERWORK. YOU NEED TO GET THE INFORMATION FROM THE AGENT AND PROVIDE IT TO US. WE DO NOT DEAL WITH REAL ESTATE AGENTS. THEIR CALLS WILL NOT BE RETURNED.

 

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I want to buy a vehicle...

Current Chapter 13 Clients Who Want to Incur Debt:

Many times a client will need to purchase a car or other necessary item. In order to do this you must contact your trustee (please see the sites listed above) and obtain an application to incur debt . You must then fill this out COMPLETELY and submit to our office to review. Please note that incomplete applications will be sent back. If you are currently in a plan where you are paying your unsecured creditor less than 100% you will be required to pay back ALL creditors at 100% in order to purchase the item.

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I inherited/came into some money...

By law you are required to pay all additional money received into your Chapter 13 case. The funds will be applied to your case (i.e. paying off the debts you owe) and if there are any excess funds available the trustee will cut you a check for that portion. Please contact our office immediately if this situation arises.

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I have a pending lawsuit...

Any pending legal actions MUST be disclosed on your bankruptcy petition. Failure to do some may result in you being forced to forfeit your recovery to the Chapter 13 Trustee. Please notify your attorney immediately if you retain an attorney for ANY matter.

The bankruptcy court must approve your attorney in order for your attorney to recieve payment for their work on your case. In addition, once a settlement is reached, this settlement must also be approved by the bankruptcy court.

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I just received my 6 months case status report...

Your Chapter 13 trustee wll send you a status report every 6 months to show what claims have been filed and how much has been filed. It is very important that you review this report to make sure that the claims are correct. Please remember the following when reviewing your status report:

1. Secured claims (other than mortgage arrears) may be split into secured and unsecured claims. The secured claim is the portion that is paid first in your case. The unsecured portion is paid last. Your report will show two claims filed.

2. Many times a creditor will sell their right to collect to a third party or use a third party to collect their bankruptcy debt. If you do not recognize a creditor please review the actual claim to see who held the original debt. You can get 24/7 information on your case by clicking on the link at the top right of this page.

3. Check to make sure that all secured creditors have filed a claim in your case. Unlike unsecured claims, if there is no claim filed for a secured claim and the case is discharged you will still be responsible for the debt.

Please notify our office IMMEDIATELY if you see any errors or have any questions about your status report.

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My spouse and I are divorcing ...

In the event that you are and your spouse decide to divorce while still in bankruptcy you MUST contact our office immediately and come in for a review of your present case and a consultation.

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My car was totalled in a car accident...

If you car is totaled in an auto accident and you are covered by auto insurance, the insurance company will pay off any outstanding claims for the totalled car in your bankruptcy. If for some reason you receive a check from the insurance company you MUST pay these funds directly your Chapter 13 Trustee so that the money can be applied to the outstanding debt. Failure to do so can have serious consequences and is a violation of the law.

If you need to obtain another vehicle you will need to complete an application for outside loan once you find a dealer that will give you financing.

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What is a consent order?...

A consent order is an order that is entered into after negotiation by your attorney and the party that filed a motion against you. Typically these orders are entered into after a creditor has filed a Motion for Relief from Stay against you for falling befind on your mortgage payments or the Chapter 13 Trustee has filed a Motion to Dismiss your case because you have fallen behind on your trustee payments.

These orders are a memorialized agreement with the creditor or trustee that you will make your payments on time and cure any balances that are owed to them. In the event that you default (do not do what you are supposed to do) then a default order will be entered and you the stay can be lifted from your case or your case can be dismissed all togather.

Whenever you receive a notice of a motion against you please contact our office immediately so that we can attempt to negotiate a consent order and avoid a court appearance for you.

 

The Chapter 13 Trustee took my tax refund ...

Once you file for bankruptcy protection from your creditors any excess income over that listed in your initial budget filed with the court MUST be paid to the Chapter 13 Trustee so that he or she may pay your creditors off quicker. The trustee is not keeping your money for themselves but simply paying off your bills.

Although a motion to retain a tax refund can be filed by our office IF you have an emergency need for the funds THAT CAN BE DOCUMENTED you will be charged a fee by our office for this motion and it may or may not be granted by the judge. In addition a court hearing will have ot be set and you will be required to attend such hearing.

If you regularly receive large refunds each year please talk to your human resources department about deductions made from your paycheck each month and see what can be done about decreasing tax deductions from your paychecks.

 

The stay has been lifted on my property ...

If after a Motion for Relief from Stay has been filed and you were unable to come up with at least half of what you were due to the mortgage company OR if you defaulted on a consent order and the stay has been lifted you will have the following options:

  1. Work directly with the mortgage company for a repayment plan on the amount owed. We do not negotiate repayments with your creditors. You will have to do this yourself. You will also need to contact our office to ensure that this claim has been removed from your case since the stay has been lifted.
  2. Within 30 days from the date that the stay was lifted on your property come up with the entire amount that you fell behind on in CERTIFIED FUNDS. Make an appointment with our office and bring these funds so that we can file a motion to reimpose the automatic stay and place the property under bankruptcy protection. YOU MUST HAVE THE ENTIRE AMOUNT IN CERTIFIED FUNDS TO OUR OFFICE OR WE WILL NOT FILE THE MOTION.

If you do not work something out with the mortgage company or reimpose the automatic stay the creditor can foreclosure on your property. You CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE to try to reimpose the stay! This must be done 30 days from the date of the stay lift. This is your responsibility to monitor.

 

I have changed addresses. What do I do?

If you need to update your address information you will either need to come into the office to personally make this change OR fill out the form below and fax/email back to our office for processing.

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I need to authorize someone to discuss my case. How do I do that?

If you would like our office to discuss your case with anyone other than yourself we will have to have your written autorization to do so. You will either need to come into the office to personally make this change OR fill out the form below and fax/email back to our office for processing.

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I need to be able to speak directly with one of my creditors. What is the process?

If you would like speak directly with a creditor in your case they cannot do so unless we consent. Once you are represented by counsel the creditors cannot talk to you unless this consent is received in writing. You will either need to come into the office to personally give us wirrten permission to authorize direct contact between you and the creditor OR fill out the form below and fax/email back to our office for processing.

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The Chapter 13 Trustee has filed a motion to convert my case to a Chapter 7. What are my options?

If you are currently in a Chapter 13 case and have fallen behind on your payments the Chapter 13 trustee may move to convert your case to a Chapter 7 case. What this means is that the Chapter 13 trustee thinks that you may have assets (such as your house or car) that have enough equity in them to be sold and the proceeds distributed to your creditors.

You have the following options:

1. Catch up your payments to the trustee and continue with your case.

2. Voluntarily dismiss your case before it is converted into a Chapter 7. (Please note that you will need to meet with an attorney before this can be done)

3. Allow the conversion and begin a Chapter 7 case.

Please contact our office immediately if you receive this notice.

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The United States Trustee has requested additional information. What do I do?

The United States Trustee Program is a component of the Department of Justice that seeks to promote the efficiency and protect the integrity of the Federal bankruptcy system.  To further the public interest in the just, speedy and economical resolution of cases filed under the Bankruptcy Code , the Program monitors the conduct of bankruptcy parties and private estate trustees, oversees related administrative functions, and acts to ensure compliance with applicable laws and procedures.  It also identifies and helps investigate bankruptcy fraud and abuse in coordination with United States Attorneys, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies.

Typically, some clients will receive a request to provide the documentation related to their case. If you receive sucha notice you will need to provide BOTH our office and the UST's office a COPY of all requested documents.

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One of my creditors in my Chapter 7 case has filed an objection to discharge. What do I do?

In chapter 7 cases, a discharge is not an absolute right of the debtor. An objection to the debtor's discharge may be filed by a creditor or by the trustee in the case. Creditors receive a notice shortly after the case is filed with the deadline for objecting to the discharge.

To object to the debtor's discharge, a creditor must start a lawsuit called an adversary proceeding before the deadline set out in the notice. The code section that addresses thisis Section 523.

If an objection to your case is filed you will have the option to either make a payment arrangement on the debt that is in dispute OR respond to their complaint and have the matter heard before the judge. Please remember that if a reponse is filed there will be additional fees involved since this is a seperate case outside the realm of a standard Chapter 7 case.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING CHAPTER 13 PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING LINKS:

Chapter 13 Handbook: An informative guidebook to the Chapter 13 process

Individual Debt Adjustment: Chapter 13

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IF YOU ARE A CURRENT CLIENT AND HAVE QUESTIONS WHICH WERE NOT ADDRESSED ABOVE PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL US AT twells@saediwellslaw.com or lsaedi@saediwellslaw.com OR call the office 404.885.6650.

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