Impatiently awaiting discharge.

[lolly78]

Well it's officially been over 6 years since we filed our petition and I'm still waiting on this to be over. I made the last payment December 15th and that payment was disbursed on January 20th.

I sent my attorney the DSO form over a month ago. There has been no update to PACER or NDC. I know there is a process with steps they have to follow but they are NEVER able to give me any update when I call (weekly). All they tell me is that I have a zero balance...DUH!!!

Equifax is reporting Bankruptcy completed. Any idea why that would have updated without a discharge?


I left a VM with the managing attorney at the trustees office, and have not heard back. Anything else I can do to speed this up? Just really ready to get my life back and get from under this dark bankruptcy cloud.

[dmc-2008]

Thats so long!!! Gah!!! Sorry no answers, just gah!

[justbroke]

Congratulations.

There is really nothing you can do. This part is purely administrative. It is up to the Trustee to complete their audit, button up everything, and get the case closed. In some Districts the debtor (or through his/her attorney) needs to file a motion for entry of discharge . I can't tell you how your particular District works. Who are you calling "weekly"?

In the end, almost all Chapter 13 debtors wait between 60-90 days (and even more in some Districts) from the last payment to the point where the discharge/close happens.

You technically are done. You just need to make all your payments to your creditors directly and on time. (If you had things paid through the Chapter 13 Plan and now need to pay direct, such as mortgages, then you need to do those.)

If my calculations are correct, then your would be discharged 60-90 days from January 20th, so that means March 20th to April 20th on average. The Trustee, after sending out those checks on the 20th, will typically wait 30-45 days to make sure no checks are returned. Then they'll do a final accounting, submit the final report, and button up the case.

Maybe to keep your sanity, look at the process for Illinois (Southern) which appears below. Were you on Wage Order? Did the Trustee file the Report of Plan Completion? I don't think the Trustee would file whats in "A" below until the checks are all done and cleared.

http://www.ilsb.uscourts.gov/sites/d...uct_120111.pdf


A) Trustee’s Notice of Completion

The Chapter 13 Trustee shall file a “Report of Plan Completion, Request for Termination of Wage Order and Notice Concerning Discharge” (“Trustee’s Report/Notice”) after all payments have been received.

B) The Debtor’s Required Pleadings

*Within 21 days of the filing of the Trustee’s Report/Notice, eligible Debtors shall file a Motion and Notice to all creditors and parties in interest, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §1328 and Bankruptcy Rule 2002(f), setting forth their eligibility for discharge. Failure to timely file said Motion and Notice will result in the Clerk of the Court closing this case without entry of an Order of Discharge.

*Prior to filing said Motion and Notice, the Debtor’s counsel shall verify Debtor’s eligibility to receive a discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §1328

C) Closing and Reopening

If the case is closed due to an eligible Debtor’s failure to timely file the Motion and Notice as required by subparagraph B above, and the Motion and Notice are subsequently filed after the case has been closed, the Debtor must also simultaneously file a Motion to Reopen Case with the required filing fee. The Motion to Reopen must set forth the reason(s) the case was closed without
discharge.

[lolly78]

Thanks for your empathy dmc!

Thanks Justbroke! I paid the trustee and my mortgage directly. No car notes and no plans to get any! I'm in the Northern District, but I presume the process is the same. The trustee hasn't filed anything with the courts. I check PACER often. I call the trustee office every week or so just to try to make sure my case is on their radar, but I guess it's wasted breath since they never tell me anything! My lien strip is dependant on the discharge, so that's my main concern. Especially since they still report it as open on my credit report and never filed a claim so they didn't get a dime. I have a feeling I'll have to send them a copy of the AP and discharge paperwork if they try to pursue that money ~$45K.

Honestly we're ok. Bumped my 401k contributions to 12%. I have my money back in my pocket, saving again and looking forward to starting some much needed repairs on the house that we've had to put off.

[justbroke]

You may or many not have trouble with the creditor holding that lien which is pending to be voided upon discharge. Many Chapter 13 people end up needing to directly deal with the creditor, file some papers, make some phone calls, have their attorney threaten the lender with contempt of court. It may take a little work but it will work out in the end.

Some lucky people have their Release of Mortgage and Release of Lien done automatically by the creditor within 30-60 days. Even if I weren't so lucky, I would start putting pressure on the creditor about 7-14 days after the discharge is served on the creditors. At least that would "tickle" the creditor and you may be able to find out if it's going to be easy or difficult! Just like you're finding out now with trying to get a Chapter 13 Trustee to speed things up!