Hard ship in CH 13

[papa0881]

Been having a HARD time the past 3 mo with business. Have not paid my bk 13 payment in 3 mo, what can I do? Is there anything I can do? I own a business for 8 years, and the past 3 mo have been extremly horrible! Just no one has money to spend anymore (understandble)

But what do you do when you live dream and sleep business? It is hard to just quit, especially while being threw all I have been threw. So what else is there for me to do? I have been threw alot these past 3 mo and cannot afford to pay for food let alone pay for bankruptcy, is there something that I could tell the court so they do not come and take everything I own, I do NOT want this dismissed. If it was summer, no problem at all to pay the bills, winter time comes around and it is hard. This is a landscaping business. We do 1.5 million a year, we do very well in our business. However I had a Subway franchise in 06 and it went to shambles, took all of the landscaping co money to pay the bills, had well over 100k in the bank (landscaping) now we have none due to subway, it drained it all. We sold subway, put 165k in it, got 65k for it, see the loss? Plus the 100k that was in the landscaping account.

What shall I do, need lots of help here and guidence as well. My partner died last year as well so that makes it a heck of alot harder to do business now.

Please help!

[BKOnce]

Life's motto =>> Life is short. Up & down. Nothing stable. Just dreams & illusions for greed & green. Don't expect to much or else you would fall hardest!

Just try to be focused & relaxed. Yesterday had passed, Future has not come, but Present needs your attention. Lower your expectation & live within your means anyway you could...

[Minnymouth]

You need to contact your chapter 13 attorney and have a very LONG DISCUSSION with him on what your options might be. Really you have waited probably too long to try to do anything about it. They will probably dismiss you case since you are 3 months behind on payments.

You need to do this NOW - don't put it off.

Get back with us on what they tell you.......

Your loss of income in the Chapter 13 should have been reported to the Trustee to make adjustments in your payments.

Since yours involves a business, you really need to contact that attorney asap......

[papa0881]

contacted lawyer 10 times already, no answer.... need to handle this on my own, trying to contact the ch 13 office, think this will help?

[papa0881]

if they do dismiss my case, can i re open it or no?

[SinkingFast]

If your case is Dismissed, and your business is really still as bad to where you'd qualify for Ch 7,............ You could refile again in 180 days.

The Automatic Stay will only last for 30 days the next time, unless you can prove why the next filing is not considered Abusive.

[papa0881]

but i do not want to do ch 7, isnt that when they take EVERYTHING? I do not want to loose none of my assets, i have a good bit of assets and do not wish to loose them thats for sure, otherwise i would have done ch 7

[papa0881]

also, if in the 180 days after waiting, are you guranteed that you can re file or no? i hate to repay back everything that i put into it already.... can they start coming after me after the case would be dismissed? i hate to think it would be dismissed, but im looking in the future.... i need to just get ahold of someone at ch 13 office and let them know whats up and maybe we can work something out (hoping) anyone have this kind of problem before? www.13network.com says case is still active and everything is fine.... never got any letters about missing payments. in aug i told my lawyer the next few months are going to be hard, he replied that the court understand this seeing you are in biz, however dont go past 90 days or they will start the process, even if i make some kind of payment will that help? he said in the summer i could catch back up, my payment was 1100 but i always paid 1500

[papa0881]

im also at the max of 60 mo to, so i was wondering if they could extend it, like start over again? is that possible, i really need someone like myself to answer the ?'s it sounds like

i know you all say contact your lawyer but haha thats a joke! once he been paid in full threw bk u cant reach him, love to have just switched lawyers but this guy seems like a total a hole liked him before but he is fish catch n bait style

[sandhall]

well first you will get a letter with a motion to dismiss and they might even give you a repayment plan to sign and return before the court date to dismiss. We converted to a chapter 7 at that point. But I do know a motion to dismiss for non payment will be issued first

[papa0881]

if i convert to ch 7, do i have to give all my assets to them or?

[JollyGG]

You do not loose all your assets in a chapter 7.

Each state has certain exemptions. You keep anything you can protect with an exemption.

Here is a site with exemptions for each state. http://www.bankruptcyinformation.com/index.html

[EveryDayAdam]

Also know this: Most chapter 7 cases are declared no asset cases...about 96% are no asset cases...

No asset cases mean that there is nothing for the trustee to take and therefor, no property is taken.

Check the exemptions for your state to determine how much you can exempt...and remember that the value of your stuff is the value that you would sell it for at a yard sale or get for it at a pawn shop...so most household goods are only worth a few dollars... For vehicles, it's the blue book trade in value minus any loans secured by that vehicle. For real estate, it's the value of the equity in your property (current value minus loans secured with that property).

In most cases the trustees are only worried about big ticket items that can be sold easily for a good bit of money: real estate, cars, boats, jet skis, trailers, fine art, fine jewelry, EXPENSIVE electronics, etc.

[Flamingo]

also, if in the 180 days after waiting, are you guranteed that you can re file or no? i hate to repay back everything that i put into it already.... can they start coming after me after the case would be dismissed? i hate to think it would be dismissed, but im looking in the future.... i need to just get ahold of someone at ch 13 office and let them know whats up and maybe we can work something out (hoping) anyone have this kind of problem before? www.13network.com says case is still active and everything is fine.... never got any letters about missing payments. in aug i told my lawyer the next few months are going to be hard, he replied that the court understand this seeing you are in biz, however dont go past 90 days or they will start the process, even if i make some kind of payment will that help? he said in the summer i could catch back up, my payment was 1100 but i always paid 1500

Contacting the Chapter 13 Trustee or office will not help you. You need to contact the attorney who filed your Plan and you need to do so immediately to see what, if anything, can be done to get this straightened out. If your Plan is dismissed, you are back at square one, and all late charges and fees will be added back into to all figures. Attorneys are busy - they do not avoid you on purpose (I work for one so I know); call his/her office and if he/she is not in, ask for his/her assistant or paralegal. If necessary, to to the office in person and complain at the main desk that you have been trying to contact your attorney. You should have done this when you could not make your first payment and your Plan could have been modified and you would not be at this point. If anyone has difficulty making Chapter 13 payments and think the payment will be late or just cannot be made, they should immediately contact their attorney so the situation can be reviewed. I hope things work out for you.

[SinkingFast]

You've been paying $400 extra per month??

That might be why your case shows fine on the Ch 13 Data Center. For every 3 months you've paid extra, you've essentially made 1 month's extra payment.

I know it's not typical,........... But you could have an understanding Trustee who's willing to work with you because you're a small business owner.

Since you're not getting any response from your attny, you might try calling the Trustee's office just to be sure.