Almost a 100% Plan

[D19S59J]

I have been in a chapter 13 plan now for 2 years. I filed pro se. The judge was pretty impressed as he said most who file by themselves make a mess of it, but there were a few changes that needed to be made. The judge actually helped me do that, which was interesting. Most of my debt is consumer along with my secured car payment. The percentage I'm paying to unsecured debt is about 78% of allowed claims. I really didn't think about it at the time, but when I do the math it appears I'm almost at a 100% plan. The total of allowed claims plus trustee fees and interest on the secured debt is about $103,000. The payments over the 5 years of the plan total $99, 555, plus tax refunds which so far amount to an additional $2,138. I wonder why they only had me paying 78%? I'm thinking about this now because I'm going to have to report an income increase next year. Per my order, I have to report when my income increases by 10% over Schedule I. I don't want the trustee jacking up my payment when an increase of only about $25 would pay 100%.

[justbroke]

The calculation of how much you pay comes from the Means Test. Remember that the Trustee usually gets 7-10% (most jurisdictions just allow a blanket 10% in case of fluctuations). The Means Test total payment is the secured debt (like your car), plus the Trustee commission (on all payments through the Trustee), plus the DMI. It's a mathematical formula based mostly on your DMI and secured debt, so that where they number arises.

Whether or not the Trustee is interested in modifying your confirmed plan to increase the payments is fact specific. You would do a new Schedule I and and new Schedule J (expenses). The Trustee would decide whether it was worth the expenditure of time based on those facts at the time they review your tax returns or you indicate a massive increase.

You are lucky that you found a sympathetic Chapter 13 Trustee, but you may have left money on the table. That's fine as it seems that you're okay with your payment. Chapter 13 debtors hire an attorney to get the best available budget. You are one of only a few Chapter 13 Pro Se debtors that reach confirmation. Welcome to the club.

Welcome to BKForum.

[D19S59J]

Thanks for the welcome. I was here a couple of years ago with a few questions. It's a great forum. It was actually the judge that was sympathetic. The trustee objected to the confirmation initially. My problem was that my 6-month income was over inflated due to overtime and other income that I had since lost. In fact, I would have passed the means test had it not been for that income. So I based my payment on what my true income was per the Lanning Decision, but neglected to base it on schedules I and J. My payment ended up being $493 per month higher.