help surviving 5 year ch 13

[bell22]

Hi, I am new here and I am having quite a hard time adjusting to life in ch 13. We have 3 yrs left and find that we basically are living like we are criminals. We can't rent a car to go anywhere, we cannot buy a car and need one for my husband to get to work, and we had a hell of a time trying to find a place to rent because of our "open" bankruptcy. My attorney did not tell me any of this. She even had the nerve to tell me that I would have no problem buying a new car!!! She totally lied! She did not tell me anything negative. She did not say our life as we knew it was over. I am so depressed over all of this. My husband and I want to have a baby and if we wait I will be almost 40 and too old after this is all said and done. Had I bee properly informed I would have never opted to do this. If anyone out there is in a similar situation and can shed some positive light on us we would be grateful
Thanks in advance

[SMinGA]

Other than needing a car loan - has anything else changed in your situation? Income & expenses, I mean. Is there any reason you can not modify the plan (and see trustee approval to take on a car loan) or if things are extreme, convert to a ch. 7 and be done with it?

[MOMof3]

We were able to get trustee approval for a car loan while in our chapter 13 & we have had two more children since we started our plan. As for renting a car, we have never had any problems using our debit card to rent? Some things are harder to do, but not impossible. Why did you file a 13? Income, saving your home, ???

[bell22]

we cannot modify the plan. Supposedly we make too much money, but believe me we live paycheck to paycheck. My attorney said she tried to get us into ch 7 but we were right on the line ....

[bell22]

We were able to get trustee approval for a car loan while in our chapter 13 & we have had two more children since we started our plan. As for renting a car, we have never had any problems using our debit card to rent? Some things are harder to do, but not impossible. Why did you file a 13? Income, saving your home, ???

to MOMof3, who did you get a car loan from? When I went looking everyone said that because of "open" status of bankruptcy we would not be given any credit, period. As for renting a car, I have called enterprise, hertz and budget who all say I can use my debit card with a $500 hold and a credit check?! They said I needed a score of 560 or higher. So I guess thats out! If you have had 2 more children I guess you guys do well for yourselves We live paycheck to paycheck at this point. We had to do ch 13 because my husband lost his job and we could not keep up with bills. We do not own a home, never have. We were just married, and looking to start our life (having a baby, buying a home) when he lost his job. He works again, but the income is not great.... and it is our combined income that it is based on. thanks for your post

[SMinGA]

It may be a situation of an atty not fighting hard enough for you, or may be too little communication regarding your actual expenses and getting enough $ per month to cover them.

Then again, it may be that you have expenses the courts would find questionable - high cable, cell phones for example - and perhaps could find areas to cut back. I don't know you, don't mean this as an allegation. Simply stating it as a possibility.

What is currently being paid in your plan? Is your payment going mostly to the atty fees & trustee, or is there a decent chunk going to creditors? Any vehicle loans currently in the plan?

we cannot modify the plan. Supposedly we make too much money, but believe me we live paycheck to paycheck. My attorney said she tried to get us into ch 7 but we were right on the line ....

[bell22]

Other than needing a car loan - has anything else changed in your situation? Income & expenses, I mean. Is there any reason you can not modify the plan (and see trustee approval to take on a car loan) or if things are extreme, convert to a ch. 7 and be done with it?

even if trustee approves a car loan, who gives you a loan with a open bankruptcy?

[bell22]

It may be a situation of an atty not fighting hard enough for you, or may be too little communication regarding your actual expenses and getting enough $ per month to cover them.

Then again, it may be that you have expenses the courts would find questionable - high cable, cell phones for example - and perhaps could find areas to cut back. I don't know you, don't mean this as an allegation. Simply stating it as a possibility.

What is currently being paid in your plan? Is your payment going mostly to the atty fees & trustee, or is there a decent chunk going to creditors? Any vehicle loans currently in the plan?

we have cut back everything, we have no cable, just basic. Our cell phone bill is low, it is our only phone and its less than $200 a month for myself , my husband and my son.
I think my attorney did not do her job properly. My best friend is a paralegal in a bankruptcy office and said it sounds like we got screwed. Anytime I have contacted my attorney with questions after the filing she gets annoyed with me...
And it looks like alot of money was going to the attorney in the beginning of the bk. The creditors are getting basically nothing...

[bell22]

we have cut back everything, we have no cable, just basic. Our cell phone bill is low, it is our only phone and its less than $200 a month for myself , my husband and my son.
I think my attorney did not do her job properly. My best friend is a paralegal in a bankruptcy office and said it sounds like we got screwed. Anytime I have contacted my attorney with questions after the filing she gets annoyed with me...
And it looks like alot of money was going to the attorney in the beginning of the bk. The creditors are getting basically nothing...

we still pay our cars, we kept them. But somehow they are still considered included and honda makes us pay our payment thru a bankruptcy payment line now.

[whathehell]

I sure hope I dont pick ur attny for my 13, mine has told me everything how it is strait foward I sure hope I dont find any surprises like these.

[SMinGA]

Its not unusual for the early plan payments to go mostly to the atty. Sounds like you only paid part of the atty fees upfront, the rest went into the plan. This is often the way it works.

It may help to schedule a face to face meeting, and insist that you are having a hard time making ends meet & need to revise the plan to pay less. (So you have more to live on.) Unfortunately, the atty has gotten her money so may have little interest in you now. If things are extreme, you may want to look into converting to a ch. 7, but that would depend on how much DMI you truly have when all reasonable expenses are considered.

Some lenders will work with an open bankruptcy, but you first need approval from the trustee to incur new debt. That is a motion your atty needs to file. There may be stipulations such as a max payment of X.

[lockedout]

even if trustee approves a car loan, who gives you a loan with a open bankruptcy?

From what I found no one will give a loan in a open 13 in Ohio with the trustees guidlines. I currently have 2000 a month extra, but as soon as I say I'm in a open 13 they say sorry can't do that. Just going to save and pay cash. Our attorney said all of the same things yours did.

[researchnerd]

It sounds like your situation is getting pretty stressful. If your husband is earning less than he did before he was unemployed, you may very well qualify for a modification of your Ch13 payment. You may also be able to get approval for a car loan. Have you requested either of these or are you just assuming you're not eligible? I'm not trying to be snarky, just finding out where you are in the process.

There are a lot of secondary (or tertiary) lenders who will do car loans even during an open Chapter 13 - do a Google search. Most of the buy-here-pay-here places don't even check your credit. Neither are ideal, either way you'll pay high interest rates, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm curious, though - in your first post you said you need to buy a car so your husband can get to work, and then you said you kept your cars and still pay the loans. Do you need a third car? If so, you may indeed have some trouble getting that past the Trustee.

I've read that policies on renting a car with a debit card can vary by location, so check around locally. Also, Avis is supposed to be a little easier than some of the others.

[BuckeyeGuy13]

To those in Ohio, there are places that will lend for an auto loan, several in the central Ohio area. I have researched this extensively as we have a lease expiring next May, at which point we'll be 26 months into our plan. My attorney actually gave me two recommendations of dealerships that will work with open 13's.

Now, the terms are not great and you're not going to get into anything luxurious, but that's not really the goal, at this point. But, I was quoted 16% interest, $500 - $1000 down, monthly payment of $375 from Friendly Finance. The conditions were 2005 or newer and less than 60K miles.

Now, I need to caveat: EVERY SITUATION IS DIFFERENT! I had good credit coming into the BK and make a pretty good salary, plus have been paying the lease on-time since filing.

[optimistic1]

Improvisation is key in your situation.

My advice is to analyze what your current income is, based on a 6 month look back that is properly calculated into a monthly figure, to which you then multiply by 12.

Then you head to here,

http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20100315/bci_data/median_income_table.htm

Make sure you take a close look at the family size of 3, speaking hypothetically that you continue on with your plans of fulfilling yourself on this earth by procreating.

Are you still over the median income? Is so, skip the next paragraph.

Below median income level? Good for you, because when the child is born, you could then convert to a Chapter 7. Don't feel bad, the government will thank you later when your baby grows up to be a taxpayer, believe me, they will need a lot of them with all this spending they have been doing with China's money, the least they can do is give you a timely discharge, but I digress.


I would also start lowering your expectations, you are in a open Chapter 13 with 0% to your creditors, no one said it would be easy. Unfortunately when Congress made these changes to the BK laws to push people into Chapter 13's, they never thought how open bankruptcies that last five years could make it hard for someone to function.

I would not rent from major car rental companies and instead find a smaller, local store, yeah they aint gonna have some spiffy rental, but hey, its a rental.

Next, can anyone straw buy a car for you? Meaning, they sign for the loan, but you pay them, they simply add you as a rider on the insurance. Family would be the best option here.

If they cant, then when you try and go buy a car, don't go to the dealership, go to the smaller buy here pay here corner lots. Yes, they probably will rip you off like most dealerships, but your credit is trashed, what do you expect?

Try drivetime.com, I called their corporate office to ask them the policy for open Chapter 13's, they said they will approve it after the judge allows you to take on the new loan.



Worst case scenario,

Figure out how to get by and make it another three years to get your discharge.