Timeline for status to change to discharged??

[cr4555]

Hello! We made our last Chapter 13 (5yr plan) payment in early January. We are in the Middle District of Florida. All payments were on time and there is no child support, alimony, or tax debts. Of course we're anxious to receive the discharge and have our case closed. The trustee finally distributed our final payment to creditors in late February. At that time NDC.org status changed to "completed pending audit". For the past week our status changed to "completed pending certifications". Does anyone know what this stage means? We completed the post course and alimony/child support (required ) declaration forms and those were submitted by our attorney. What is the timeline for this wrapping up (especially for any of you in Florida)? I'm reading that after the discharge, you then wait for the closure. My husband and I have been milking the life out of our vehicles (both 14 yrs old) and we are hoping to buy a "newer" used car soon.

[justbroke]

I can't say which each "stage" means, but unless and until the Trustee files the "Notice/Report of Completion of Plan - Ch. 13 & 12" then you won't have the discharge. Unless you have access to PACER, you won't know if that document was filed. Once that document is filed, the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court will issue your discharge.

As for case closing, it's a little more complex. It generally takes at least 30 days from the mailing of the final payments for the Chapter 13 Trusted to produce her "Chapter 13 Trustee's Final Report and Account." This is because the Trustee wants to make sure none of the checks bounce back (which would cause all sorts of accounting issues if she already filed her "final" report.

The bottom line is that there is no "specific" timeline. It's all case specific and depends on many factors including whether any checks bounce back. For example, my last payment was in May but my discharge was in very-late August due to a SNAFU. That delayed my discharge by 2-3 months. My case closed 3 months later. It was mostly my fault.

So... any day now (and it may already be in PACER).

[shipo]

While not at all applicable given I live in New Hampshire, but my case switched from Active to Discharged in exactly four weeks; three days later it switched to Complete (where it stands today). Hopefully the Closed status shows up in the next few weeks.

[cr4555]

Thank you! The waiting is painful. Yes, I do have access to Pacer but the status is not updated in case summary section. Maybe I'm not utilizing it properly?? I actually think NDC.org is easier to use. Looking at pacer, there's be no motions or court activity since 12/2019 when my attorney filed the mandatory alimony/child support forms. The most recent case summary date is the plan confirmation in 2015.

[justbroke]

You would use the History/Documents link and not case summary. The History/Documents is the real docket. But, they charge $0.10 a page for viewing that list and it can cost from $0.10 to an average of about $0.50 to view that list. (Mine has about 200 entries and cost about $0.70 per view... but I had a lot of things in my docket.)

Also, once you search for your case and look at the top information, it would have a date with a title of "Debtor discharged" if the discharge has been entered.

At some point, the NDC is useless when it comes to the case actually closing on the docket.

[cr4555]

Thank you! That certainly helps. I will make sure I'm looking at history/documents. I just logged in and last activity was 12/3/19 when attorney submitted 1328 child/spousal support form. The letter I received from trustee a few days ago stated that discharge wouldn't be entered until 1328 notice and financial certificate received. The history shows both of these listed, so hopefully the trustee will see that these have already been provided. I reached out to my attorney to make sure everyhing has been submitted and there's nothing else that I need to do but at this point I receive very little communication from him. I guess no news is good news. I just don't want anything to slow down progress. We made all payments on time and played by all the rules so anxious to have this behind us.

[justbroke]

I had to "tickle" the Trustee in my case. That's the only reason I found out about the delay in my discharge. I know that they do a lot and are in court 4 out of 5 days a week and have many case. Sometimes, if you can get through, the person can tell you what's going on. Hopefully your attorney is able to find out what else they are waiting for to enter the discharge, but the discharge wouldn't come until after you finished all your payments and they file the notification of plan completion.

[cr4555]

My attorney "nudged" the trustee because my status had been "completed pending certifications" for over 2 months. Apparently things had stalled but the certifications had already been loaded into the Pacer docket. Just my luck that it was some sort of oversight. The trustee immediately filed the completion notice and I now see that loaded in Pacer history today. My attorney said I should receive the discharge within 1-2 days. I think things are moving along again! Now that I'm hopeful that the discharge will happen any day, what's next- the closure? Are you techinally "done" upon discharge or is that ultimately when you see the closure status? Can you begin to re-establish credit (or purchase a "newer" car) with a discharge or should we really wait for the closure? I think I mentioned I have a 14 yr old car, so really needing something more reliable. Other than the obvious, what is the difference between the discharge and closure??

[shipo]

cr4555, I am not the expert many here on this site are, but I do have a few comments:

• Regarding discharge vs. closure; my understanding is, "in theory", you can apply for credit once the discharge has been granted, however, in reality, it ain't so simple.
• I have been sitting in the "discharged but not yet closed" limbo for five weeks now and a week or so back I applied for a "secured credit card", only to be denied because of my Chapter 13. Really annoying; doubly so because of the glacial pace at which things are moving now due to COVID-19.

Keep us posted on any movement in your case.

[cr4555]

I just checked Pacer and it's showing discharged with today's date. Status shows awaiting trustee's final report. After that is processed, the case should be closed, correct? When is the automatic stay lifted - is it at discharge or closure? I have student loans that I paid through my plan but they weren't paid in full so I need to resume payments. I think with the Covid situation, student loan payments are automatically frozen for 6 months. I need to research that.