% Payback (it doesn't matter)

[cz3ch]

I've posted another thread on this but I wanted to be clear.

In looking at my non-exempt equity I'll have about $6,000.00 total. My DMI will be about $1,000.00. It's my understanding that my plan must pay at least the value of my non-exempt equity or my DMI whichever is larger. I talked to my attorneys and they said my payment would be my DMI since it's the larger amount and they don't stack the non-exempt equity value on top of your DMI. Can anyone provide some feedback on this?

[justbroke]

Yes, that is accurate. The way we say it is "you must pay AT LEAST the value of your non-exempt assets to unsecured creditors". Your DMI almost always is greater... so it's the greater of your DMI or the value of your non-exempt assets.

[scht65]

My 5 years was just up in November (and I am coded as 100% payback in NDC) when I called the trustee she told me that I make too much money and my plan would continue until the balance is zero? This takes me until August of 2013. I told them I thought it was 60 payments, she replyed that they can dismiss my case or I could continue to make payments, my choice?

[justbroke]

I believe that Ohio is one of the states where it is 60 months from confirmation, not from when you started making payments. So, if Ohio is the one I'm thinking of, you could start "paying" (adequate protection) on Jan 1, 2000 and not get confirmed until Jan 1, 2001 and still need to pay through Jan 1, 2006.

Besides, if you are in a 100% plan and have not paid the entire 100%, then the Trustee is being nice without needing to go through a Plan modification.

[naper]

This is an old sticky, but the latest threads seem to indicate that Trustees almost always want you to pay 100% DMI even if you are in a 100% plan and I wonder if that is still the case anymore.

http://www.ncbrc.org/blog/2014/01/08/debtor-need-not-commit-all-pdi-in-100-plan/

I saw the above article and I wonder if more people are fighting it these days, in my district my lawyer said that trustees never try to get 100% DMI in 100% plans. I'm in a 100% plan and I never had to worry about my finances in general, the trustee didn't care and my payment wasn't even close to 100% DMI, if it had been, I would have never been able to complete the plan.

To make things even better for me, it's looking like only 28% of my unsecured creditors filed a POC, so based on my calculations I will be done making payments 18 months after I started in a 60 month plan. In my case, the title of this thread couldn't be more wrong, because for me, the % POC is actually going to be life changing in a very positive way!

[justbroke]

Actually, the percent payback does not matter at all. While it may still be the case in some Districts, most Chapter 13 Model Plans that I have reviewed no longer include the language "percent payback" and only care about the total amount to unsecured creditors. That is because they have consistently found that this percentage is too fluid in non-100% cases. The % Payback neither refers, in any way, to the % of creditors that file a Proof of Claim (POC) nor the total values of the claims actually filed. The purpose of this thread was specifically to dispel the myth about the % Payback being the end-all-be-all.

Additionally, I have not read where Trustees want you to pay 100% of your DMI in a 100% case. It is really up to your attorney to work with you and determine whether you want to pay 100% DMI in a case where you need to pay 100% of your unsecured debt. Typically, you do this because you want to have your discharge earlier. Just because a few Trustees are still arguing (in 2013) over something that is pretty solid caselaw doesn't mean that all the Trustees are trying to make debtors that are required to pay 100% to pay 100% of DMI.

[naper]

Appologies for confusing % payback with % proof of claim, feel free to delete my post so it doesn't confuse others.

[spidge]

Also, the percentage changes as the plan progresses. I started out at 3% and am at 18 now. If my plan ended once the 18% of claims are paid I would be done early, but the trustee and attorney both state to focus on the plan base. I thought the comment Justbroke used to describe it as fluid is a good way to describe the payback percentage.

Unfortunate that we must complete the plan even though it looks like we may be done early. I was disappointed but did not get to excited in the first place as it looked to good to be true.

[LadyInTheRed]

Also, the percentage changes as the plan progresses. I started out at 3% and am at 18 now. If my plan ended once the 18% of claims are paid I would be done early, but the trustee and attorney both state to focus on the plan base. I thought the comment Justbroke used to describe it as fluid is a good way to describe the payback percentage.

Unfortunate that we must complete the plan even though it looks like we may be done early. I was disappointed but did not get to excited in the first place as it looked to good to be true.

Misunderstandings like yours is exactly what the thread was meant to address. Once the plan is confirmed, the only thing a debtor should worry about is the amount of the plan payment and the duration of the plan. The exception is that if you pay enough to pay 100% of all allowed claims, the duration will be shortened. I have heard of couple of rare exceptions where a plan ended early without pay 100% of unsecured claims, but nobody should count on that happening.