What is your best advice for a successful 13?

[spidge]

I am honestly still scared to death of the entire proccess.
I have not paid on most of our $39,000 in credit debt for almost three years but have been paying an attorney payments here and there until our fee is paid. We also quit paying our 2nd mortgage over a year ago and started then ended a trial plan with BofA on the 2nd. BofA has a reputation of stringing people along then denying thier modification, so no $$$ for them if I can help it. We are upside down on the house with the first alone anyway.
Could having the above timeline and situation be considered fraud?
Well Decemember was a good month for me so I settled with one of my largest creditors for 25 cents on the dollar and was wondering if maybe I should just continue that route. I am now down to $30,000.
I would still have the 2nd to deal with but if they would settle for 25% with payments over a few years then I could stay out of the 13 plan. I cannot go with a 7 as I am not current on my 2nd and my income is borderline.
Sorry if this may be in the wrong area.

Any thoughts?

[poormama]

Just know that you will be loosing some control over your finances. Raises, tax refunds, bonuses... yes, they will most likely be taken.

I asked the lawyer about that and he said that in our state, Michigan, most trustees aren't concerned with raises because it's usually the cost of living raise. My husband gets generally a 7-10% raise, he said not to mention bonuses or raises to trustee. Now tax refunds sounded like a different story. We will need to buy a car due to a lease coming up during Chapt 13. We want to use our refund to buy a decent used car and he said we just file for that. I'm not sure what other lawyers are saying about the raise thing. We're going to meet with another lawyer to just make sure we are on target.

[newbie2]

I asked the lawyer about that and he said that in our state, Michigan, most trustees aren't concerned with raises because it's usually the cost of living raise. My husband gets generally a 7-10% raise, he said not to mention bonuses or raises to trustee. Now tax refunds sounded like a different story. We will need to buy a car due to a lease coming up during Chapt 13. We want to use our refund to buy a decent used car and he said we just file for that. I'm not sure what other lawyers are saying about the raise thing. We're going to meet with another lawyer to just make sure we are on target.

I am in Michigan also and in a Chapter 13 plan. Our attorney said to definitely let them know as soon as there is an increase in income, or a decrease. There has been one good raise during our plan and we notified our attorney with a copy of a new paystub sent to the attorney. The trustee did not increase our payment, but I feel better knowing they had every opportunity to do so and we haven't hid anything from them.

[poormama]

I am meeting with another attorney on Monday to verify everything. I agree about sharing it with the attorney, which I would do. We want to make sure everything is on the up and up.

The attorney we're meeting on Monday seems to be more on top of it. She already sent us an email requesting info for the meeting.

Just ready to file and be done/started with this whole process.

[addisonsmom]

Hi! I am new to the forum. I have not had a nights rest in some time. This thread is very encouraging. I am prepared to make the changes necessary, but find it very scary. We have been served with foreclosure notice on our home and our vehicle was repossessed. We are in the market for a decent used vehicle. Thanks for making this impossible situation seem more possible.

[angelaboggs]

I am new and have a million questions. I am considering a chp 13 bankruptcy. Me and my husband have a loss of income because we received a surprise last dec in the shape of a 8 lb 12 oz little girl. I was working up to that point, but with the cost of daycare, it didn't really pay for me to keep working. We have a car loan that we are completely upside down on @ 900/month. Yes, dumbest thing we ever did. We purchased a new home in April because our other one had mold problems. Not good with a new baby and a son with asthma. My main question is will they lower the car payment, we've had it 2 1/2 yrs. Also, we are 18 payment away from paying off my husbands truck. Should we buy a newer truck and if so, how long do we have to wait to file bankruptcy afterwards. Basically our main problem is the car loan, but we have no way of getting out of it. We can't trade it in because we are so flip-flopped on it. I would let them repo, but afraid they will come back wanting the deficiency from selling it. Help!!

[teddybeardj]

it looks like we are definitely in a 13 and that our payment plan will be about $375 per month which seems to work out to a 55% repayment after factoring in attorney and trustee fees.

55%?? OMG, our Attorney is trying for 6%. Why do I get the impression we're not getting approved?

[99lawdog99]

9000/26000 is 34% what happened to the 6%? Just wondering Thanks

[NowImDownInIt]

9000/26000 is 34% what happened to the 6%? Just wondering Thanks

It is possible that this person has secured or priority debt. There is much more to that number than just US, in most cases.

[HeritageMom]

I am a creditor. My sister took & spent $30,000 which I had intrusted to her and later filed for chapter 7. She didn't include her home with 3 mortgages in her petition. She's not 100% current on her mortgage. Now the 1st bank wants to foreclose and sell the home since it has equity. She thought if she didn't include them she could just keep the house. She will be converting her 7 to a 13 to keep her home. What are my options here, can I get something back?

[NowImDownInIt]

I am a creditor. My sister took & spent $30,000 which I had intrusted to her and later filed for chapter 7. She didn't include her home with 3 mortgages in her petition. She's not 100% current on her mortgage. Now the 1st bank wants to foreclose and sell the home since it has equity. She thought if she didn't include them she could just keep the house. She will be converting her 7 to a 13 to keep her home. What are my options here, can I get something back?

This is not the right place for this question. You should move your post to General Bankruptcy Talk, or Chapter 13.

[jetsfan2010]

This thread is very inspiring and informative at the same time. I have re-filed a 13(first attorney did me no favors and income changed do to layoff), and after a seperation, am trying to get my financial life back in order. Renting for the first time in years was hard to cope with, as well as the reality that for the first time in my adult life I will HAVE to stick to a budget. My faith has grown stronger and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. To know that I will be completely debt free when this is done is my true motivation.

[bkdone]

If I might chime in here... I am commenting from a standpoint of "after the fact." My Ch13 was for 55 months at $1000 per month. We refinanced our house and paid off the BK after only 33 months; we were discharged in September 2006. I still come to this forum for two reasons...to remind myself of my goal (which is to never get back into this situation again) and to help encourage others.

All of the suggestions given above are spot-on! Live simply and think about what you need vs. what you want. It's easy to let the "wants" get the best of us, and somehow we can talk ourselves into spending money that we dont really need to. For the woman who said she needed a new mattress, I'd suggest getting a decent mattress pad/feather bed. It will provide comfort and good rest for $100 vs. spending $500 for a new mattress. It's those kind of fixes that will make the repayment period tolerable.

I think the hardest part of surviving Ch. 13 is simply retraining ourselves to be "okay" with our situation, and where we are in the process. It's hard to learn to say, "I cannot afford it," when others are spending so freely. It's hard to decline lunch and dinner invitations when your friends and family are all going. But remember, there is a bigger goal...a path that is doable, if you just stay on task.

Dont beat yourself up too much. Let this situation serve as a lesson and remember that you are worthy. You dont need to be ashamed of BK; it's here to help for a reason. The main thing is to learn from the experience and move forward. I can honestly say that the budgeting tricks and habits I learned while in CH.13 have served me well thus far. I still only spend what *cash* I allot for myself each payday, although I do have credit cards. I use my cards but I pay them off as quickly as I can. For example, I am paying for a laptop computer on a Dell credit card. The bill is $1100, no interest as long as I pay it off within 12 months. So, $1100 divided int 12 payments is roughly $92 per month. I pay $100 even, and I wont charge another penny to that card until the current balance is paid. I have approximately $4000 of open credit to buy, but in my mind, I have trained myself to believe that card is *off limits* until it's paid. I resist the urge to respond to every pre-approved offer that comes in the mail. I dump all the catalogs and sales ads in the dumpster as soon as they arrive in my mailbox. It feels so good to not crave all the material things anymore. Yes, I enjoy nice vacations, live in a small but nice house, and I work hard for what I have. But BK has forever changed the way I think about money, and in hindsight, it was good for me. I've grown alot.

[jetsfan2010]

If I might chime in here... I am commenting from a standpoint of "after the fact." My Ch13 was for 55 months at $1000 per month. We refinanced our house and paid off the BK after only 33 months; we were discharged in September 2006. I still come to this forum for two reasons...to remind myself of my goal (which is to never get back into this situation again) and to help encourage others.

All of the suggestions given above are spot-on! Live simply and think about what you need vs. what you want. It's easy to let the "wants" get the best of us, and somehow we can talk ourselves into spending money that we dont really need to. For the woman who said she needed a new mattress, I'd suggest getting a decent mattress pad/feather bed. It will provide comfort and good rest for $100 vs. spending $500 for a new mattress. It's those kind of fixes that will make the repayment period tolerable.

I think the hardest part of surviving Ch. 13 is simply retraining ourselves to be "okay" with our situation, and where we are in the process. It's hard to learn to say, "I cannot afford it," when others are spending so freely. It's hard to decline lunch and dinner invitations when your friends and family are all going. But remember, there is a bigger goal...a path that is doable, if you just stay on task.

Dont beat yourself up too much. Let this situation serve as a lesson and remember that you are worthy. You dont need to be ashamed of BK; it's here to help for a reason. The main thing is to learn from the experience and move forward. I can honestly say that the budgeting tricks and habits I learned while in CH.13 have served me well thus far. I still only spend what *cash* I allot for myself each payday, although I do have credit cards. I use my cards but I pay them off as quickly as I can. For example, I am paying for a laptop computer on a Dell credit card. The bill is $1100, no interest as long as I pay it off within 12 months. So, $1100 divided int 12 payments is roughly $92 per month. I pay $100 even, and I wont charge another penny to that card until the current balance is paid. I have approximately $4000 of open credit to buy, but in my mind, I have trained myself to believe that card is *off limits* until it's paid. I resist the urge to respond to every pre-approved offer that comes in the mail. I dump all the catalogs and sales ads in the dumpster as soon as they arrive in my mailbox. It feels so good to not crave all the material things anymore. Yes, I enjoy nice vacations, live in a small but nice house, and I work hard for what I have. But BK has forever changed the way I think about money, and in hindsight, it was good for me. I've grown alot.

great post and feedback from some one who has gone through it.

[JOEYBOY]

Have a Budget and stick to it !!!