Frustrated with Trustee

[soccermom]

Anyone here having trouble getting their cases closed with their Trustee. We are in the PA Western District. We should have been done with our plan with the 36th payment on Nov of 2008 but it has been an ongoing mess. As of December 2008, very few of our creditors had been paid and the trustee had a balance of close to $40,000 in our account. I contacted them several times and contacted my attorney but no resolution. The attorney said it is out of their hands, the trustee said they would get to it. Finally at the end of January after more emails they finally put in the paperwork to stop automatic deduction from our pay and put my account on what they called the "review cycle". They paid the creditors the orginal percentage, but still had our overpayments from Nov to January. I was told the review cycle takes 90 days and any overpayment would be returned and the case closed.

Well needless to say it is been many months and they still have a balance of $10,000 in our account (3,600 is our overpayment amount) and nothing has been done. They keep telling me they are backlogged and will process it when they can. We held up our end of the deal and I just want to have this closed so we can move on with our lives and work to rebuild our credit.

Thanks for listening to my vent.

[AngelinaCatHub]

OK "soccermom" only my opinion. Something here is just not right. (as if you didn't know). At this point I would go after your lawyer, no one else. He is working for you. He is not following through. If that does not work, "explain" to him you will Motion the Court to go pro se, file a complaint to your state's bar, and Motion the Judge for an investigation into your account and reason why payments have not been made as per law, and that your release is long over due. Someone is making a bunch of interest off your money, is my guess. Only my opinion. 'Hub

[rrockinggramma]

I would write a letter to the judge that is handling your case. The judge oversees the trustee. And also send a copy of it to the chief judge of the trustee's. By looking around the local bk website for your district you should find the list of judges and each year the chief judge does a "state of the union" type address concerning the figures and filings in your district. You need to go over the trustee's head on this one and get the judge involved.

[oldhack]

I've heard of/read multiple examples of the laboriously slow closing process that seems to plague BK filers in Western PA/Pittsburgh area. I don't think your case is anything unusual there, unfortunately. I suspect writing to the judge(s) won't do a thing, since they surely know by now -- and, presumably, approve -- that progress is halting.
Bankruptcy districts differ and, alas, you seem to reside in one of the notorious ones. Sorry.

[justbroke]

Motion to Compel Turnover seems appropriate to me.

[soccermom]

Thanks for the advice. When contacting my attorney, they tell me that cannot interfere in the workings of the trustee. I had thought about writing the judge, but somehow I think they already know since one trustee covers half of the state. Often I had thought they had just forgotten us, but the last few emails have not prompted action, so I feel like I am stuck.

It did really gall me that they were racking up the interest for all those years. They accumulated $30 some thousand prior to paying off my creditors and I wonder how many more people they are doing this with.

I will be so glad when this is all over....

[aa06a47]

One thing, try not an worry about it, it appears there is really nothing you can do. Since your no longer making monthly payments, rejoice that this is behind you. The creditors who are not getting paid on time are the ones that should be really t'd off about it. All this will be solved by time. My personal opinion is that your not lost in the shuffle, just way back in the line.

You can file all the motions recommended above, but I do believe by the time a hearing would be scheduled, you'll probably have your discharge and refund. Since they told you the review process is 90 days, then you will probably be done in 90 days. Court action may actually delay the process.

[soccermom]

Since they told you the review process is 90 days, then you will probably be done in 90 days. Court action may actually delay the process.

Unfortunately they told me 90 days in January. I am going to just cool my heals and wait it out. I wonder though if I am still not allowed to get new credit. I would like to get a store card or credit card just to build back my credit. I have learned my lesson and will probably never be buying anything I cannot afford with cash for a long time, but would like to up those credit scores.