Hi, I hope that it's ok to post and ask for your advice. My husband and I are currently in the 9th month of our BK13 plan, with a payment plan of $1737/month at 100%, and are located in Kentucky.
My husband has been on short-term disability leave from work since August 3, resulting in a decrease in pay of over $400/week. He was hospitalized for 10 days and is still looking at possibly 2-3 months of recovery due to a serious liver illness. We took out the max allowed of $2500 from his 401k in order to pay our bills and overcome the 10-day waiting period for his payments to start. We honestly did not know that a modification or suspension of payments was an option and with everything going on, I did not think to look into it until mid-September.
Our "attorney" has been a nightmare from the beginning and each week we wondered if we were too far in to find a replacement, but here we are. (I only use " "'s because we have only ever spoken to multiple different clerks/"specialists" aside from one Zoom meeting with the actual attorney.)
Our plan start date was January 21 and our payments are arranged via TFSBillPay. We pay every 2 weeks and with the delay in transactions being processed and our wonky payment schedule, once September's payments post, we have somehow become behind by $866.50. I contacted our attorney's office on September 16th to find out how to request a temporary suspension of payments.
We were told it could not be requested because we were behind on payments. I did send the ledger showing that once the 'pending' payments are processed, it will be much less behind (they are still showing $2604.50) and have explained the extenuating circumstances and reduced income of $1600+/month. I have explained that once he returns to work (which his physicians have no doubt he's making progress towards) and the suspension expires, we will be able to pay additional to make up the missed payments.
I noticed on the "Motion to Suspend Payments" form for our local district, there is a section asking if we are in arrears and by how much, but our attorney's office is not budging and won't file it. My fear is that, with our current financial situation, we will not be able to pay the additional $866 this month and will fall even further behind on payments. Is a suspension of payments typically not approved if debtors have fallen behind? I'm just not sure I understand why it wouldn't be considered more urgent to request one, or why it was so important for us to contact our attorney with an income change, if they refuse to assist us.
Would it be advisable to send a letter to the Trustee, or would they even consider it without our attorney's help?
My husband has been on short-term disability leave from work since August 3, resulting in a decrease in pay of over $400/week. He was hospitalized for 10 days and is still looking at possibly 2-3 months of recovery due to a serious liver illness. We took out the max allowed of $2500 from his 401k in order to pay our bills and overcome the 10-day waiting period for his payments to start. We honestly did not know that a modification or suspension of payments was an option and with everything going on, I did not think to look into it until mid-September.
Our "attorney" has been a nightmare from the beginning and each week we wondered if we were too far in to find a replacement, but here we are. (I only use " "'s because we have only ever spoken to multiple different clerks/"specialists" aside from one Zoom meeting with the actual attorney.)
Our plan start date was January 21 and our payments are arranged via TFSBillPay. We pay every 2 weeks and with the delay in transactions being processed and our wonky payment schedule, once September's payments post, we have somehow become behind by $866.50. I contacted our attorney's office on September 16th to find out how to request a temporary suspension of payments.
We were told it could not be requested because we were behind on payments. I did send the ledger showing that once the 'pending' payments are processed, it will be much less behind (they are still showing $2604.50) and have explained the extenuating circumstances and reduced income of $1600+/month. I have explained that once he returns to work (which his physicians have no doubt he's making progress towards) and the suspension expires, we will be able to pay additional to make up the missed payments.
I noticed on the "Motion to Suspend Payments" form for our local district, there is a section asking if we are in arrears and by how much, but our attorney's office is not budging and won't file it. My fear is that, with our current financial situation, we will not be able to pay the additional $866 this month and will fall even further behind on payments. Is a suspension of payments typically not approved if debtors have fallen behind? I'm just not sure I understand why it wouldn't be considered more urgent to request one, or why it was so important for us to contact our attorney with an income change, if they refuse to assist us.
Would it be advisable to send a letter to the Trustee, or would they even consider it without our attorney's help?