$7200 claim found at end of Chapter 13

[BrokeInPgh]

We thought we were in the clear! The Trustee and lawyer gave us a final payoff amount for our 100% Chapter 13 plan. I made the final payment at the beginning of February. 13network showed that there were still two creditors that the Trustee didn't pay, but they didn't stop the garnishments until the end of April, so there was over $5000 of extra payments plus the $4000 still owed to those two creditors that was not paid out, so we expected to those two creditors to get their money and to be getting the $5000 refunded to us by the Trustee.

The Trustee just sent us a Notice of Claims Filed and Intention to Pay Claims on 5/5/2021 that included a credit card account that the 13network site showed all the way until last week did not file a claim before the bar date, and the total was $7200. I checked the 13network site yesterday, and that creditor is now listed on there, and it now says that we still need to pay an additional $2200, which was all updated on 5/5/2021.

I emailed my lawyer yesterday trying to get answers as to how this creditor's claim was missed for 4 years and 9 months, and to determine whether it was a clerical error from the Trustee's office or if they missed the bar date.

We are fortunate that we are in a good financial position now and paying an additional $2200 will sting a little but not devastate us. However, we just went from thinking we were getting a big $5000 check to owing $2200 more and delaying the discharge, a $7200 financial swing.

Has this happened to anyone else at the end of their case?

[justbroke]

Usually not that sort of surprise in a 100% Chapter 13. Claims policing is very important in a 100% Chapter 13. The key for your attorney will be to see when the claim was filed. If it was after the claims filing deadline (a/k/a the bar date), then the attorney would usually file an Objection to Claim of Creditor XXXXXX. Claims policing is something that I took seriously when I was in Chapter 13. I pounced on any creditor that had missed the claims filing deadline, filed a claim on their behalf (for select creditors), or objected because they were time-barred under State non-bankruptcy law (statute of limitations).

If the claim was timely (filed within the deadline), that's a huge accounting mistake. I would blame the Chapter 13 Trustee.

So, checking the claims bar date is the smart and easiest thing to check. If they missed the deadline, even if the Chapter 13 Trustee never scheduled them, the claim should be disallowed just by operation of law. Should be able to determine the filed date of the claim really quickly in PACER (CM/ECF).

[BrokeInPgh]

I went into Pacer and found that they did file the claim before the bar date, but the Trustee did not add it into the 13network site and calculate the amount into the payment. My lawyer just sent an email to the Trustee's office asking for an explanation and asking whether or not we have to pay additional money into the plan. I reviewed all of the other claims in Pacer and there are no other surprises in there.

I spoke with the lawyer yesterday and they told me to wait until the Trustee responds with the final balance. They logged into the 13network at the same time I did, and they were reading off the numbers on our case that they were seeing and they did not match what I was seeing. According to them, the Trustee owes us money, and from our view, we owe money. So we will wait for the Trustee to respond to the laywer and then go from there.

The good news is that the lawyer mailed us the Discharge Eligibility form to sign and send in once we get the final payment straightened out, so we are close to the end!