Hospital debt after we filed

[ozzy866]

We filed April 2008. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks in November 2008 which is going to cost me about $4000 out of pocket. I was again in the hospital for 30 days Feb 2009 which is going to cost me $3000 out of pocket.
Our chapter 13 budget is tight and I don't know what we are going to do. I just got a collection notice on the $4000 bill today.
Things were going so well....we don't have much wiggle room.
What are our options??????????
Oz

[sdfileger]

Speak with your Attorney.Maybe he/she would have some suggestions.

[amjo30]

If you hospital stay was before you filed, then you should be able to include it in your plan for a discharge. If you're at 100% on your plan, then talk to your attorney about giving the hospital less. Trust me, the hospital will take whatever you give them and if included in your plan, will write off the balances. The medical team I work for will give 20% discounts on payments, but the patient has to ask. We can't offer the discount. This even applies to insured and non-insured patients.

[bnwebm]

Yes, the worst thing you could do is ignore it. Most likely, the creditor/agency will negotiate, pause or even forgive the debt. Good luck!

[lrprn]

First of all, I feel your pain. I also was hospitalized unexpectedly after filing Ch 13 - in our case 12 DAYS after filing. Since the medical debt occurred after filing, it cannot be included in your Ch 13 plan. You do owe the money.

If you haven't already, you need to immediately contact your lawyer and explain what happened. Since the medical debt has to be paid, arrangements can be made with your trustee to skip a few plan payments and/or amend your plan to accommodate having to pay this debt back. Since one of the bills already gone to collections, you need to get moving NOW. Getting trustee permission to skip payments and/or amending your Ch 13 plan both take time. You need to get your lawyer started on this yesterday.

I hope your medical problems are resolved now and you can focus on staying healthy. Be sure to come back and let us know how this turns out for you. I wish you only the best - good luck!

[ozzy866]

Converting to a 7

we are in the middle of trying to convert to a 7. We are above the means test but with all the other info we are in the negative.
Have to pay the lawyer more money but at lest we can put all this hospital stuff on there.......
And stay healthy!!
Oz

[ozzy866]

House payment

The trustee grated us a 3-4 month no payment on our BK 13 and we were told it would go from 1405 to 1705 to cover the balance . Well my lawyer says the mortgage company says we are behind by 5 payments and we need to get busy with a chap 7 now. Do I start making mortgage payments now or wait a couple weeks and pay the lawyer 1300 and get this chap 7 moving. This really has me confused. I don't want to lose our home.
Oz

[ozzy866]

heres what the document said

On October 9, 2009 BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP filed a Motion Authorizing Abandonment and Modifying
the Automatic Stay. In support of the relief requested, the Motion seeks abandonment, as over-encumbered, of
debtors' real estate

What does this mean?

[StartingOver08]

This is the time to really look at your budget. If you are not able to make your mortgage payment for the past five months and you have not been able to pay either the Ch 13 payment or the hospital bill, as painful as it might be to do so, strongly consider surrendering your home in your Ch 7 conversion. This is your chance to shed all the debt and start fresh. When you get on your feet again, you can puchase another home. But to struggle so much and end up with only some of your debt discharged would be a long term mistake, IMO.

[ozzy866]

Home

What happen was I was in the hospital for several months but am back to health now. We make enough to pay the mortgage and bills. What does this mean? We are still above the means test and are sitting in limbo trying to move from 13----->7.
On October 9, 2009 BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP filed a Motion Authorizing Abandonment and Modifying
the Automatic Stay. In support of the relief requested, the Motion seeks abandonment, as over-encumbered, of
debtors' real estate

[justbroke]

On October 9, 2009 BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP filed a Motion Authorizing Abandonment and Modifying the Automatic Stay. In support of the relief requested, the Motion seeks abandonment, as over-encumbered, of debtors' real estate

What does this mean?

First, the Motion Authorizing Abandonment is seeking the Court's permissino to "remove" the asset as property of the estate and/or property of the Debtor. When you're in a confirmed plan, all your property either revests with you (the Debtor) or the bankruptcy Estate. The Motion seeks to ask the Court to abandon the property from the Estate so that the lender could go after it.

The Modification of the Automatic Stay is necessary, since once the plan is confirmed, the Automatic Stay applies to all creditors that are "included" in the plan. So, the automatic stay needs to be modified in order to exclude the property now abandoned from the Estate.

Okay, so in simple words... they want to foreclose and/or have the ability to foreclose upon the collateral. They are lining their ducks up and asking the court to exclude the property from the bankruptcy estate (or debtor's estate) and to relieve them from the automatic stay.

Since you're 5 months behind in Plan payments to your mortgagor (lender), I can see why they are taking steps to protect their interests.

You need to decide what you're doing. I'm sure that having the home foreclosed upon doesn't help any (especially with the means test).