Confirmation hearing this week

[Scottowl]

I am 3 months in on my 60 month repayment plan. The confirmation hearing is late this week.

The trustee has only filed one objection so far, which was to attach any tax refunds for 5 years. This was because my attorney first figured a 3 year plan, which I didn’t qualify for. It was a form letter that was worded something like recommending my case be closed.

Will this be taken care of at the hearing?
Also, is the trustee not recommending my payment amount be raised?

I don’t know the repayment percentage. It is not specified in the plan.

[justbroke]

Will this be taken care of at the hearing?

Yes it will. The confirmation hearing (especially if it's a "final" confirmation hearing) the Chapter 13 Trustee, creditor attorneys and debtor's attorney will resolve everything that needs to be resolved for confirmation. Procedurally though, most districts only have a "preliminary" confirmation hearing at 3 months because it's required by the bankruptcy code. Usually the Trustee just continues the hearing unless the debtor has not been paying or there are other technical issues with the case.

Otherwise, at least in most districts, this "preliminary" confirmation hearing is continued down the road (by at least 3 months). Many districts do this so that all of the claims would have been filed and the judge and adjudicate the confirmation without worrying about more things coming later (which could have been resolved at a "final" confirmation hearing).

I don't know how it works in Oregon, but the overall process is similar.

Also, is the trustee not recommending my payment amount be raised?

Chapter 13 Trustees don't always complain about the payment amount on a well developed plan. While they will do some boilerplate "we don't think the debtor is devoting 'all' of his/her disposable monthly income to the plan," it's just that... boilerplate.

I don’t know the repayment percentage. It is not specified in the plan.

Your repayment percentage doesn't matter... unless you're in a 100% plan.

[Scottowl]

My crude method of calculation is to add all claims in my case, tack on the lawyer fee, and add 10% for administrative’ fees.

I divide this sum by my monthly payment, and get 54. There were two creditors who did not file.

Does this mean I’m paying 100%, or is it much more complicated?

[justbroke]

Unless you are told that you are in a 100% plan, or that your plan required you to pay back 100%, then the percent payback does not matter.

The reason it matters to someone paying back 100%, is that they can do certain things in their plan that are not possible in a plan paying less than 100%. For example, a debtor who is paying back 100% can submit a plan which does NOT surrender all disposable monthly income (DMI0 to the custody and control of the Trustee. This is useful when you have a high DMI, but you'd rather still pay the minimum of the 100% over 60 months. If you're not paying back 100%, then you will be forced to surrender your entire DMI.

The only way to tell whether all your claims were allowed and what the total of the "unsecured" claims, is to see what the Trustee files in the Confirmation Report (or by using the NDC to add up all the actual filed claims and their amounts). (Or, and I don't suggest this at all, downloading every claim from CM/ECF and adding up the unsecured debt.)

[Scottowl]

My confirmation hearing was scheduled for today.
I got an email from my attorney two days ago with the confirmation order attached. Pacer shows my case confirmed.

is that to say everything is locked in, and all I have to do is comply for the next 57 months , or will it be 60? I have already made 3 payments?

[justbroke]

is that to say everything is locked in, and all I have to do is comply for the next 57 months , or will it be 60? I have already made 3 payments?

Unless you're in one of the unconventional districts in Ohio, it will be 60 months of payments total. Since you already made 3 payments, you have 57 payments left. (I think it's Ohio that has the rule where the plan durations lasts from the date of confirmation; but, even that may have changed.)

[Scottowl]

This has moved along smoother than I expected.
The rest seems simple.
Not easy, but simple.

[justbroke]

Chapter 13s are different from Chapter 7s in many ways. However, getting through a Chapter 13 confirmation is a bit of magic. Some Chapter 13 Trustees are really tough and others are realistic. In the end, as my Chapter 13 Trustee said, they are not successful unless I'm successful. The translation was that they don't get paid, unless I continue to pay! Their offices run entirely on commission fees.

Think of confirmation as a carefully orchestrated contract negotiation; because that's what it really is. Okay, maybe some are not so carefully orchestrated, but the plan binds the debtor, creditor and the Trustee to its terms. With a little luck, you could have a Chapter 13 plan that has a "little" wiggle room. (By "little" I really do mean little.)