Mortgage company emailed trustee that they are filing to have the stay lifted

[Badelyn]

I was ill and my income changed as far as when I received it. So therefore I had to make my payments after the 15th of every month and I paid it with the late fee. Because this happened 3 months in a row she wants me out.

I'm praying the trustee does not dismiss my case and lift the stay

[justbroke]

I tell every Chapter 13 debtor the following: as soon as you have any change in income (temporary or permanent) contact your attorney immediately. You are required to make on-time payments. If your Chapter 13 is infeasible because you don't have any disposable monthly income (DMI) in the plan, then it is truly a problem. When debtors immediately inform their attorney, the attorney can usually get an abatement or reduction in plan payments for a short period of time before deciding whether to convert or have the case dismissed.

You'll need to thoroughly need to review whether or not your plan is feasible at this point with your attorney. Your attorney may also come up with a plan to abate the plan payments to get caught up o the mortgage, but your payments after that will likely increase. But, again, if your plan is infeasible then nothing can fix that. A conversion to Chapter 7 may be in order.

(I'm assuming that you didn't have mortgage arrears being paid inside the plan and the Chapter 13 was to save the house.)

[Badelyn]

Yes arrears is included to the trustee payment. But my monthly mortgage payments that get mailed separately, are current. I just sent my payments in on the 15th and not the 5th to mortgage company.

This is crazy

[justbroke]

Ouch, that's a problem. In our district a mortgage that is in arrears must be paid through the Trustee. That means both the original mortgage payment plus the arrears are paid through the Trustee in order to keep the automatic stay. I think that should be the standard.

The problem here is that you've asked the bankruptcy court to protect you from the creditor and you are paying the arrears in the plan. Since you failed ot keep your payments up to date on the base mortgage, that is something the Trustee would not like to see.

I'm thinking that your attorney could work with the Trustee and ask if you could include the mortgage in the plan (paid through the Trustee) and maybe do an abatement for a month or two to get back on schedule. If you simply can't afford the bankruptcy, there is nothing that can be done. When that happens, not be able to afford the bankruptcy, you are in an infeasible plan. Unless you can make that plan feasible then the plan will fail.

I would be calling my attorney today as many times as necessary. You need a plan. You need to pay the mortgage on time. My suggestion is to have the plan modified and have the mortgage paid "through the plan" (through the Trustee) so that this doesn't happen. If you have enough DMI in your plan, you may be able to get this plan back on the rails.

[Badelyn]

I wish it were the standard. But I am current with my mortgage. I don't need to get caught up. That's why I don't understand why they contacted trustee.

This is sickening right befor holidays. I only sent payments in (same month it was due just days late).

I hope the trustee doesn't agree with her if this day. . Still waiting on my lawyer to call me back

[womanonfire]

I wish it were the standard. But I am current with my mortgage. I don't need to get caught up. That's why I don't understand why they contacted trustee.

This is sickening right befor holidays. I only sent payments in (same month it was due just days late).

I hope the trustee doesn't agree with her if this day. . Still waiting on my lawyer to call me back

Send them a letter under RESPA and ask them all the questions you need to ask and then some. Ask for a life of loan payment history and a complete accounting of your escrow. If they do not respond appropriately, you may have damages.

[justbroke]

I wish it were the standard. But I am current with my mortgage. I don't need to get caught up. That's why I don't understand why they contacted trustee.

If you have mortgage arrears payments in the plan then you are not caught up. Paying after the due date, while in a Chapter 13, doesn't make the payments on-time. You are not even paying within the grace period. Late mortgage payments in a Chapter 13 is an indicator that the debtor cannot afford the payment or is about to default.

If you paid consistently by the 5th (or in the first week of the month) I don't think it would be an issue. That the Chapter 13 Trustee thinks that the case should be dismissed speaks volumes. If you did this only once in 12 months it would likely be a non-issue. If you've done it several times over 12 months, that is the trigger to the Chapter 13 Trustee that something is wrong.

The motion to dismiss is the wake-up call. This is not a RESPA issue because you were in fact late on post-petition payments and even paid a past-due fee. This is not a good thing and you need to work with your attorney to figure out if your plan is still feasible and if you can get this back on track.

Bottom line... a late payment to the mortgage creditor outside the plan is the same as paying your Trustee late. It's all considered to be part of the Chapter 13 Plan. One is just paid inside the plan (through the Trustee) and the other "outside" the plan (directly). It all counts as to whether you are adhering to the terms of the plan.

Please do your best to get with your attorney and figure out an action plan.

[Badelyn]

Thx

[justbroke]

Keep trying to contact your attorney. A first-time motion to dismiss is usually not an issue. You'll just need to work with your attorney and come up with a convincing plan that this will not happen again. The Chapter 13 Trustee is not successful unless you are successful; they don't get paid unless you are in plan! But they must make sure you stay within the plan and make all post-petition payments on time. Please think about ways that will get you back on track and be ready to communicate how you will get back to on-time payments should the Trustee withdraw their motion or your attorney is able to object to the motion and have it denied.