Hi, I'm new here and just wanted to share my ch13 story. I feel like this journey has been a rough flight through stormy skies, the plane has finally landed but it's still moving and there's something in the runway...
My husband and I just completed a 100% plan for $80k in a ch13 that was filed 12/2018. This included our mortgage and credit cards. Trustee sent a letter to stop payments, a refund was sent, and all we are waiting for is the window of creditor objections to pass. Only a few days to go before Jan 17th deadline and I see on PACER the trustee filed a last minute objection referencing a document our mortgage company filed a year ago regarding a $1200 default. Scroll down if you want to skip story and just see the timeline.
Our house was included in the bankruptcy due to unpaid mortgage and was being foreclosed on. After filing we went into a second default (I thought mortgage was included in bankruptcy payments but I was supposed to pay it separately), the mortgage company filed a Notice of Withdrawal of Motion to Convert or Dismiss, and the lawyer managed to modify our plan to include the new arrears. While in default, property tax and house insurance also went unpaid so the mortgage company took out lender placed insurance and paid the property tax. This increased the monthly payments another $110. I was pretty ignorant of the new payment amount and found out later I was underpaying to a total of $1700. I paid what the reps told me to pay but they were unaware this was the old amount. This became our third default. I quickly paid it and 6 months later on 11/2021 we received our Notice of Final Cure Payment stating our pre-petition and post-petition mortgage arrears was caught up. However, the company filed a response indicating we were still behind $1200 on post-petition mortgage payments. They included a report going back to 2020 showing the monthly underpayments including a few months of unpaid payments (which I had paid) but for some reason wasn't reflecting all the recent payments. However, they eventually withdrew their Notice of Withdrawal of Motion to Convert or Dismiss and things have been quiet ever since.
We still have an escrow shortage of $3500. After finally getting house insurance in 2021 I submitted the proof and was told I was due a refund of $2k that I still have not received. I'm also still paying the extra $110 a month which is going towards paying this down. The mortgage company also filed some claims throughout the bankruptcy to have this shortage paid but it remained unpaid. My lawyer told me to keep $3500 in savings to quickly pay the shortage in case this situation is brought up during discharge which I have saved. He told me not to pay it before then because once discharge comes a line is drawn in the sand.
I already submitted my last mortgage statement and a spreadsheet showing my monthly payments the past few years with confirmation numbers to prove our mortgage is current. Now it's just a waiting game for this to be sorted out. I just find it surprising that it wasn't the mortgage company that brought up an objection but the trustee. Over something that was nothing over a year ago.
This has been an absolute ugly mess of my own making. I have spent countless moments dreading the mailbox.. dreading that a letter may come saying case was dismissed... or house was being foreclosed on.. or the trustee threatening something... It's a miracle we still have our house. A lot of painful hard lessons regarding money management and simply not being ignorant of finances was learned. I keep detailed records and a budget now so that my kids and I never have to go through this again. I just want this over with now.
CH13 Timeline:
My husband and I just completed a 100% plan for $80k in a ch13 that was filed 12/2018. This included our mortgage and credit cards. Trustee sent a letter to stop payments, a refund was sent, and all we are waiting for is the window of creditor objections to pass. Only a few days to go before Jan 17th deadline and I see on PACER the trustee filed a last minute objection referencing a document our mortgage company filed a year ago regarding a $1200 default. Scroll down if you want to skip story and just see the timeline.
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Our house was included in the bankruptcy due to unpaid mortgage and was being foreclosed on. After filing we went into a second default (I thought mortgage was included in bankruptcy payments but I was supposed to pay it separately), the mortgage company filed a Notice of Withdrawal of Motion to Convert or Dismiss, and the lawyer managed to modify our plan to include the new arrears. While in default, property tax and house insurance also went unpaid so the mortgage company took out lender placed insurance and paid the property tax. This increased the monthly payments another $110. I was pretty ignorant of the new payment amount and found out later I was underpaying to a total of $1700. I paid what the reps told me to pay but they were unaware this was the old amount. This became our third default. I quickly paid it and 6 months later on 11/2021 we received our Notice of Final Cure Payment stating our pre-petition and post-petition mortgage arrears was caught up. However, the company filed a response indicating we were still behind $1200 on post-petition mortgage payments. They included a report going back to 2020 showing the monthly underpayments including a few months of unpaid payments (which I had paid) but for some reason wasn't reflecting all the recent payments. However, they eventually withdrew their Notice of Withdrawal of Motion to Convert or Dismiss and things have been quiet ever since.
We still have an escrow shortage of $3500. After finally getting house insurance in 2021 I submitted the proof and was told I was due a refund of $2k that I still have not received. I'm also still paying the extra $110 a month which is going towards paying this down. The mortgage company also filed some claims throughout the bankruptcy to have this shortage paid but it remained unpaid. My lawyer told me to keep $3500 in savings to quickly pay the shortage in case this situation is brought up during discharge which I have saved. He told me not to pay it before then because once discharge comes a line is drawn in the sand.
I already submitted my last mortgage statement and a spreadsheet showing my monthly payments the past few years with confirmation numbers to prove our mortgage is current. Now it's just a waiting game for this to be sorted out. I just find it surprising that it wasn't the mortgage company that brought up an objection but the trustee. Over something that was nothing over a year ago.
This has been an absolute ugly mess of my own making. I have spent countless moments dreading the mailbox.. dreading that a letter may come saying case was dismissed... or house was being foreclosed on.. or the trustee threatening something... It's a miracle we still have our house. A lot of painful hard lessons regarding money management and simply not being ignorant of finances was learned. I keep detailed records and a budget now so that my kids and I never have to go through this again. I just want this over with now.
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CH13 Timeline:
| Case Filed | 12/11/18 |
| Credit Counseling Certificates Submitted | 12/11/18 |
| 341 Meeting | 01/09/19 |
| Certificate of Debtor Education Submitted | 04/19/19 |
| Plan Confirmed | 04/22/19 |
| Motion to Dismiss by Mortgage Company | 01/22/20 |
| Plan Modification Granted | 09/02/20 |
| Notice of Final Cure Mortgage Payment | 11/17/21 |
| Notice of Last Plan Payment Due in 6 Months | 04/22/22 |
| Withdrawal of Motion to Dismiss | 05/10/22 |
| Payoff Letter Received to Cease Payments | 11/29/22 |
| Notice of Completion of Plan Payments | 12/16/22 |
| Refund Received | 12/19/22 |
| Certification in Support of Ch13 Discharge Filed | 12/23/22 |
| Notice of Deadline to File Objections to Debtor's Certification on 01/17/23 | 12/23/22 |
| Objection to Debtor's Certification | 01/11/23 |
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