filing question

[amjo30]

Can a person still file chapter 13 if the income is under the state's median guide? I don't qualify for a chapter 7 because I filed one 5 years ago. Eight years must pass since last filing. Is it possible to still file a chapter 13 eventhough the disposable income is negative? This is after all expenses. only secured items is house and car. I earn enough to pay those but afraid of being sued by unsecured creditors.

[optimistic1]

Absolutely, you just would develop a budget to pay at the very least, your remaining attorneys fees, the trustee fees, and a very small amount to the unsecured claims. And if your vehicle was financed 910 days ago, then you can cram down the upside down loan to only pay out what the vehicle is worth. Having negative disposable income just means that your unsecured creditors get nothing, or next to nothing. Like Justbroke once told me, "you get the best of both worlds".

Check out the flow chart link below, you will see that you can do either/or. Dont let a attorney tell you otherwise, they dont know what the heck they are talking about. Go see a another one, and then another one, and then another one, you get the idea?

http://www.mcdonaldlawaz.com/bkinfo/flowchart.htm

[lrprn]

Absolutely, you just would develop a budget to pay at the very least, your remaining attorneys fees, the trustee fees, and a very small amount to the unsecured claims.

Not so fast, optimistic1. Filing a Ch 13 after successfully discharging a Ch 7 is possible, even if the filer doesn't have disposable income. However, it's challenging to do so if the filer truly does not have any disposable income to support all the asset payments the filer wants to keep by filing Ch 13.

Now if the filer is willing to give up secured assets in order to free up sufficient income to be able to make payments on the remaining assets that are left, then a Ch 13 in the original poster's situation is possible.

To the original poster - filing Ch 13 is not a do-it-yourself project, especially after a recently discharged Ch 7. Interview at least 3-4 experienced bk lawyers in your area who file Ch 13 cases often and select the one that will do the best job protecting your interests.

[amjo30]

lrprn,
I want to file a chapter 13 to keep car. I can afford the car payments, just can't afford the large payments required each month from the unsecured creditors. However, I don't have any disposable income after the means test. I figure if the car is crammed down then that would free up atleast $200 which could go towards unsecured creditors. My unsecured creditors total $51,000. I don't know if Florida has a certain percentage the trustee wants paid to the unsecured creditors or not. I figure 3% since I don't have any income left or zero. Is there a high rate of 13 filers getting this amount? Is there a way I could find out? Also, my attorney fees are being paid by my legal plan at 100% through my employer so I shouldn't have any attorney fees in plan.

[lrprn]

lrprn,
I want to file a chapter 13 to keep car. I can afford the car payments, just can't afford the large payments required each month from the unsecured creditors.

When did you buy your car? How upside down are you on your car loan vs. the car's current market value?

I figure if the car is crammed down then that would free up atleast $200 which could go towards unsecured creditors.

You can cram down the car's loan value to its actual current market value only if you bought the car more than 910 days ago. Did you?

I don't know if Florida has a certain percentage the trustee wants paid to the unsecured creditors or not. I figure 3% since I don't have any income left or zero. Is there a high rate of 13 filers getting this amount? Is there a way I could find out?

Ch 13 doesn't work this way. There's no minimum payback amount - the amount of payback to your unsecured creditors is determined solely by the amount of disposable income showing on your Means Test and Schedules.

We have had members who were able to file Ch 13s that paid only for their secured assets, their trustee admin fee, and their lawyer's fee. No money to unsecureds at all, even those who filed claims. But you need a good bk lawyer who is very familiar with Ch 13 to help you get there. Ch 13 isn't a do-it-yourself project.

Again, you really need to set up 3-4 free or low cost initial consultations with experienced Ch 13 lawyers in your area. It's really the only way you are going to find out what's possible in your situation.

Filing Ch 13 is much more complicated than filing Ch 7 and works in a completely different way. Check our forum wiki - there's a post there that lists good Ch 13 website resources. They are well worth a read to learn more about how Ch 13 works before you get into this much further.