Can a married couple file two seperate petitions of Chapter 13

[HHM]

There is a fee paid to the US Trustee in a chapter 11, but relative to the chapter 13 fee, is usually smaller for an individual chap 11.

There are no "consumer" friendly books on chapter 11 that I am aware of since chapter 11 is its own legal niche and largely the realm of corporations.

Smaller cases generally don't have a creditors committee and if you have no unsecured debt, there would be no committee. The creditors committee is made up of unsecured creditors.

Desp is right, in debt limit situations, the trade offs usually favor an 11 even though the upfront cost is more.

However, we are all just spit-balling here because you haven't really provided any information about what you are trying to accomplish and what the issues really are in your situation.

[despritfreya]

Okay. . .if you are saying that Debtor in possesion acts like the trustee, does that mean that there will be no trustee fees for watching over the plan. I have talked to several attornies and they all say, chapter 11 but that it is costly. I would like to find someone that is knowledgable with an 11 and I am looking for find a book to read up on it... I read somewhere that you have to have a panel of creditors that will look at your plan? is that accurate?

1. There is no "trustee's percentage fee". What you will pay, until the Plan is Confirmed, are quarterly fees to the US Trustee (your boss) based upon your monthly disbursements which includes the various mortgage payments. It is a sliding scale. The more you pay out each month the more you pay to the UST, this payment ends when your Plan is Confirmed.

2. What you read about is a "creditor's committee". These are rarely, if ever, appointed in an individual Chapter 11 case. I have only had this happen once and the case was high profile so I was not surprised.

3. I cannot recommend a book as I do not know of any but if you are getting the same info from the attnys you have met with as I am giving (not knowing your case but only knowing the general issues), you really should consider hiring one of them and deal with the cost. In the end you will be much happier.

Chapter 11's are time consuming as you will be doing the Trustee's job. You will have to open several DIP accounts if you are collecting rents. You cannot co-mingle the rents. You will have to change all insurance policies on your assets to reflect the UST as a certificate holder for notification purposes. You will be filing extensive monthly operating reports etc. We find that the paperwork is "top heavy". The first few months after filing are confusing to the client but once the client gets into a routine, they become very comfortable with the system. Eventually you will work with your attorney to draft a Disclosure Statement and Plan. The attorney will seek votes from the creditors. The Court will either approve or disapprove the Disclosure Statement and Plan. If approved you will begin making disbursements to the creditor based upon the payment schedule formulated by you and the attorney. If disapproved you and the attorney will go back to the drawing board. In general, this is how it works.

Best regards.

Des.