Last Ch13 payment made- now what?

[cg2021]

My final ch 13 payment was sent by my employer on May 28, and posted by the trustee on June 9. So, I have officially completed my 60 months.

I know that there is a final audit that happens but what does that mean? Do they want copies of my bank statements or any other documents? Or is it just making sure I’m not missing any payments or tax returns/refunds? I saw that there could be another random audit or something possibly too? Is that correct? I haven’t heard anything from my attorney or trustee other than seeing they received my last payment. I’m starting to worry now that maybe something is wrong, I guess I just assumed I would get something by now other than the letter I received a few months ago saying that my case would be done soon and to make sure everything that needed to be submitted was and that no payments were missing. Just for reference- my base plan payment amount was 0% but ended up paying about 40% to all my creditors because of payment increase that I filed when my income increased and tax refunds submitted. My attorneys submitted all my tax refunds. My car loan was included in my plan but I was responsible for paying that directly which I did and once it was paid off that money was added to my required monthly payment (which I also increased again so the trustee was receiving more money based on my increased income and now household income since I’m married now.

I’m just so anxious for this phase of my life to be done it’s making my nerves a bit on edge that nothing has been sent to me yet. I’m guessing they are going to get another payment to send to my creditors from my employer. My attorneys just keep saying that I will receive something once they have sent out the last payment to creditors but they also said that they would not take a payment for June but that definitely isn’t looking like that will be the case.

[cg2021]

Correction- my attorneys submitted my tax returns…I submitted the refunds. I’m just wondering if I need to send the trustee any other documents like my bank statements, copy of my car title showing I did pay it off (which I’m sure they are already aware of because once I did my payment to them increased), or anything else that they may need to see to say “she’s all set, she did everything she needed to do”?

[shipo]

You should have heard from the Trustee by now, and probably your attorney as well. If all else fails, create a Pacer account and check the court records for your case.

[sophieanne]

cg2021 …Congratulations for making it through your plan!!! Did you complete your second financial course? As long as you did, you just have to wait for the trustee to do their part of closing your case. You do not have to hand over bank statements or any other information. What happens now, is the trustee confirms that the creditors have been paid and all the plan payments have been cashed. Did your trustee issue the order to stop the monthly payments being deducted from your paycheck? If not reach out to your attorney. The amount of time it takes for a case to close is approximately 1 to 3 months. Just relax, and everything will come in place, all done by your Trustee. Congratulations for getting through your plan, It can be hard work, but totally worth it in the end.

[cg2021]

shipo I didn’t realize I could create a pacer account. I thought that was just for my attorney. Is pacer pretty easy to used?

[shipo]

Easy to use? I don't think I'd go that far; I think it took me a couple of attempts to work through the idiosyncrasies of the system. Once you get the hang of it, using it isn't much of a problem.

[cg2021]

sophieanne thank you! I completed a financial education course early on in my case and the certificate was filed with the court a while ago. As far as I know and what my attorney has said that is the only course I needed to complete. Is there usually another financial mgt course? No wage order issued yet which is why I’m concerned. At this point it would be too late for my employer to enter one for my paycheck this month anyways. Every time I reach out to my attorney they just say I have to wait for the trustee to issue that and not much else they can do. I’ll definitely check in with them again though. The only thing they have mentioned is that once the notice saying I completed my plan has been issued I will have to submit a form verifying I have no domestic support obligations. I’m just getting super anxious because they haven’t stopped the wage deduction yet and it’s a pretty substantial amount that I was sending each month. Makes me nervous that something is wrong and/or my attorney missed something.

[cg2021]

sophieanne I just double checked. I completed the second course in March 2016 and my attorney’s office said they received the certificate and filed it with the court. I assume if the court had no record of that they would have dismissed my case a while ago, correct? I have the email from 2016 where I informed my attorney that I completed the course and that I thought a certificate was automatically sent to them and asked if they needed me to send a copy. They replied they had the cert and filed it so hope that they did so correctly!

[cg2021]

shipo Thanks. I’ll give it a try.

[sophieanne]

Hi again…not to worry, you have taken care of that course. Do a search on this site about navigating Pacer..for what you need “the status of your case “ is pretty simple..it’s on the main screen when you log in. At this point of the process I would think that’s all you’re interested in. Hopefully that wage stop order is issued soon. If they take more than 60 payments it will be repaid to you as part of the case closing. And yes, the support obligation form will be the last form you’ll have to sign and return. If that stop wage order doesn’t show up soon, reach out to your attorney and politely ask him to reach out to the trustee on your behalf. I know it’s hard, but try to relax..you’re at the finish line.’ The steps of closing are all done behind the scenes and it’s just a matter of patience. It was an important lesson in patience for me.

[flashoflight]

Do you have a mortgage? If so, did you make all post-petition mortgage payments?

[Dee45]

My last payment was on May 18th, I check pacer they loaded plan completion, they have my second debtor certificate, and stop wage order deduction. But I still have had three deductions and no discharge yet. So it’s a waiting game I guess. Attorney said I will get my over due payments, and due to northern Georgia backlogged, it might take a little longer for discharge.

[Dee45]

Discharged 7/7/2021 checked pacer today. Finally over

[sophieanne]

Congratulations ..let out a sigh of relief and enjoy your new freedom 🎉

[Carmella]

CONGRATS Dee45 !!!!!!!!!