Can someone explain the payments on a Chapt 13?

[pookieny]

Question about the house then. If it is that close to being paid off home much equity do you have in it. In a chapter 7 anything not covered by an exemption could be liquidated by the court to pay whatever can be paid to your creditors. I think NY state house exemption is 50k per filer so 100k if your married. So in other words if your house is worth say 100k you owe say 15k and are unmarried or not filing joint then you would have 25k of house that is not protected, therefore the trustee could sell your house to get that 25K to pay your creditors. This is often a reason why some people go with a chapter 13 even if they could do a chapter 7 as it does not force liquidation of assets to pay creditors, so you could keep the house if you have substantial equity.

Also the garnishment is it a domestic support payment like child support or some such? If it is from a creditor who got a judgment on you then that could be removed as well.

I am under the $50k equity, just barely but I'm under it.

I would be lucky if I could sell my house for $50,000 anyways, in this economy. I could get a real estate anaylsis that would probably assess it at $69,000. I owe $31,000.

The garnishment is from Capitol One CC.

[pookieny]

Your lawyers assistant does not know what she is talking about! You can be over median income and file a Ch 7 as long as you have no disposable income to pay the Ch 13. I believe the number that the Trustee looks for is $166 in disposable income/month. (I was over median by a lot - and had a successful Ch 7 because I was negative after expenses.)

Your expenses do count. Some expenses are not allowed.

Are you keeping your house?
Are you current on your house payments?
Did you include your escrows?
Doing the right budget is critical....

Some of the Ch 13 filers will get on here soon and be able to answer your budget questions more fully. In the meantime you might want to check out the sticky's in the Ch 13 forum (up top).

You know what Starting Over?

She told me the median for NY for one person is $44,000 and I was over half that. She was quoting me the median before it changed to $46,523 on March 15th. Sheesh, doesn't she even know that it went up? Then she called me back and said she needed my credit card statements, um I gave you everything on your list that you asked for accept my 2005 NY State tax return that I'm waiting on for a copy. She said she had to check with the file clerk to see where she put it.

I can't wait till my lawyer gets back and I don't have to deal with beyotch anymore.

[DebtEnder]

Yea talking with paralegal's on an initial consult is a waste of the free consult

Also I would say even if you think you might be a few k over the exemption for the house you would still probably be ok. Selling a house is a pricey thing. The trustee is not going to sell it when after all is said and done for a thousand bucks. Remember the trustee takes a cut of anything liquidated and if he liquidates something and only a tiny fraction actually gets to the creditors, he won't stay a trustee for long.

Ok looking at your post about nearly half your check being gone before you get anything it does look like you might be really close to median for a single household filer. It could be the firm you are trying to work with is little more then a mill. They don't get involved with any chapter 7 that might take extra work, like proving expenses. Look over in the chap 13 section for some GREAT info on things you NEED to count as expenses and other things that are totally legit but for some people may be a little bit of padding.

That garnishment, be it a chapter 7 or a 13 you go with, will go away. Judgments can be vacated in a bankruptcy as long as they did not involve criminal circumstances.

[pookieny]

She is not even a paralegal, just an assistant. My attorney is in a small office, he and another attorney. My attorney is really good and I know because I used him before. I have paid the fee in full.

[crookedoak]

So the trustee makes all your payments for you? And the payment you made was for all your bills?

Oh ok, I just thought you made payments of just what you are declaring bankruptcy on, not your mortgage, cars, utilities.

The trustee made payments on certain things that were declared.
The house and car payments as well as my gas bill were paid. Once I moved out of the house I was in and my payment dropped, I paid the new rent, and they continued to pay the vehicles and utility.

I am sure every plan will differ.

My payments were made from my employer to the trustee

[StartingOver08]

Your plan is really customized to each circumstance. That is why it is extremely important to have a Ch 13 budget that will work for you. Some people pay the secured payments in the plan and some pay outside the plan, because whatever your payment, the trustee gets their percentage of it. So if your plan is $1000/mth and the trustee percentage is $100, then the creditors are only getting $900. You can see where this would hurt on large secured debt with fixed payments. Make sure to ask what percentage your district Trustee's charge - they vary by district.

Since your attorney is good - you are more than halfway there! Maybe this assistant is new or something - you definately need to speak with the attorney about the budget.