Surrendering small car for an SUV

[ForeverBK13]

Just found this forum and immediately signed up,lots of great info here!
My situation is 4 months into my confirmed 13,my wife and I decided to surrender my g35 coupe and try to buy an SUV that will hold the whole family. My lawyer tells me the lender has not filed a claim for the g35 and that I must contact them to arrange surrender. Has anyone on this forum had to make contact with any lenders after hiring a LAWYER?
I am pretty irritated that I paid $$$$into the plan and I gotta do some legwork here. Am I being unreasonable?
Thanks.

[lrprn]

Has anyone on this forum had to make contact with any lenders after hiring a LAWYER? I am pretty irritated that I paid $$$$into the plan and I gotta do some legwork here. Am I being nreasonable?

Most Ch 13 lawyer contracts state they will do the Means Test and Schedules, file your case with the bk courts, deal directly with your trustee and/or creditors who file objections to your plan, and be responsible for direct communications with your trustee regarding plan issues. Since this creditor did not file a claim, they are technically no longer a part of your Ch 13 plan. Making a call to your car lender to tell them you intend to surrender the car now is something you can easily do yourself. It requires none of his legal expertise to do it.

It worries me that you didn't share whether you and your lawyer have already discussed surrendering the car and buying another one with your trustee. Since your current G35 car is an asset of your plan, you must have your trustee's permission before you can surrender it and buy another car. This your lawyer will definitely be doing for you - this is the kind of thing it is reasonable to expect of your lawyer. Has your lawyer contacted your trustee yet?

I would also discuss with your lawyer the possible implications of surrendering a car that the lender has apparently abandoned since they didn't file a claim. Is it possible that your trustee *might* declare the car as an asset of your bankruptcy that you now owe no money on? (Like filing with the car paid in full.) Could you protect the full current market value of the G35 (a high-value car) with your state's exemptions if that proves necessary?

I'm not a bk lawyer so I really don't know if this might happen in your local court. Better find out for sure this is not a possibility before moving forward with your surrender plan.

[ForeverBK13]

[QUOTE=lrprn;386195]It worries me that you didn't share whether you and your lawyer have already discussed surrendering the car and buying another one with your trustee. Since your current G35 car is an asset of your plan, you must have your trustee's permission before you can surrender it and buy another car. This your lawyer will definitely be doing for you - this is the kind of thing it is reasonable to expect of your lawyer. Has your lawyer contacted your trustee yet?
QUOTE]

Thanks for the prompt response!
Yes,I did contact the Trustee first,then my lawyer.My lawyer dicovered the creditor did not file a claim against the G35 and had me contact the Trustee again to alert them of the situation.Trustee says I must contact lawyer again as nothing could be done at the Trustee's end.
I was truly beginning to feel the frustration at this point.So when I finally spoke to my attorney,and she told me I need to call the creditor,I nearly went thru the roof!
After calming myself,my attorney asked me to come down to sign the request to obtian a vehicle,while they sort out the G35 mess.
So this is where it stands right now.I have to wait 5 days to file the request,in the meantime,I keep the G35.
So as you stated,I can contact the creditor when the time comes and tell them I am surrendering the car.I would guess they did not file a claim because I had the car less than 2 years and they would have been fully repaid in the end.But now I bet they will be eager to speak with me!