Can the Trustee be changed?

[austinsmom]

Hello eveyone,


Thans for all your help so far..I have another question...Is it possibel for me to file a motion to have the Trustee changed? Let me explain...the trustee I have now it seems is for some reason treating me as if I did something to them personally...they hang uo on me...tell me not to back (I called and left a message on 5 different days always being told they will call me back by the end of the day and never do) They have told me that since I can make x amount of payments each month I shouuld use an attorney and only take 36 months and not the 60 months as my plan requests.


So...is it possible to file a motion and ask the court to change my trustee?

[debtinohio]

You should work through an attorney and not the trustee.

[austinsmom]

I have filed Pro se...the reason I chose to do that is because I have nothing to hide and am able and willing to pay back everything over 60 months.

[debtinohio]

At this point as the attorney you need to research what to do on your own since the trustee is not there to assist with any legal questions.

I would not request to change trustees or judges - this is not good in any legal case and would be denied anyway unless you had a previous business or personal relationship with the trustee or something like that

[forgotten]

I have filed Pro se...the reason I chose to do that is because I have nothing to hide and am able and willing to pay back everything over 60 months.

Sounds like the trustee is saying your disposible income shows you can pay back everything in 36 months. The law says you must give all of your disposible income to the plan. Some districts let that slide if you are paying back 100% and allow you to spread it over the entire 60 months, but they do not have to.

If you are commiting 100% of your disposable income then you can always argue you case with the judge. They confirm the cases, the trustee simply makes a recomendation. I do not personally recommend you attempt this without an attorney however.

[austinsmom]

Thank you....Let me clear something up...It was not the Trustee herself that has ever spoken to me...it was always someone from her office.

It seems your very smart when it come to this stuff by reading your posts...may I ask...is it also possible to request a telephonic hearing for the meeting of the creditors? Or if not can I send a motion to change the date?

[frogger]

How many times have you called the office of the Trustee? Remember... they are not there to be your council or give you legal advice.

[forgotten]

Thank you....Let me clear something up...It was not the Trustee herself that has ever spoken to me...it was always someone from her office.

It seems your very smart when it come to this stuff by reading your posts...may I ask...is it also possible to request a telephonic hearing for the meeting of the creditors? Or if not can I send a motion to change the date?

You can only request a telephonic hearing in situations of extreme hardship. Disability that prevents you from physically being able to attend, military orders, hospitalized, in jail, etc.

You can, however, file a motion with the court to continue the meeting of the creditors. Something to the effect of:

MOTION FOR ORDER TO CONTINUE §341 MEETING OF CREDITORS

The Debtor, austinsmom, moves this Court for an Order permitting them to Continue the §341 Meeting of Creditors at the
convenience of the Chapter 13 Trustee.

CERTIFICATION OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that a copy of this Motion has been mailed to <Trustee's Name>, Chapter 13 Trustee and the US Trustee, and all other listed creditors by U.S. Postal
service this 20th day of July, 2011.

Edit: If you have a good reason you may want to insert that in there. ex: Continue the §341 Meeting of Creditors due to employment obligations of the debtor,

[austinsmom]

Forgotten...Thank you!

I only called the trustee to confirm they received my payment I was not asking them for advice or anything like that.


And thank you Frogger also!

[BKAttyMI]

Austinsmom - I used to work for a Trustee's office before going into private practice. The number of people calling the office daily asking for legal advice (even though you may not think it's legal advice) is staggering. The Trustee is there to administer your case, not answer your questions or reassure everyone that calls that they've received a payment. Chances are, in many districts, you will never even see the actual Trustee, never expect a call back from the Trustee themself, most Trustee offices have at least a dozen if not more staff that handle various aspects of 13 filings. If you have questions, about anything, like whether you can see if they've received your payment (you can see this online), you really need an attorney there to walk you through. Chapter 13s are a legal maze that is very hard to make it out of if you don't have a road map (attorney).

If you've decided to go pro se, you are telling the court and Trustee you have the ability and knowledge to represent yourself.

[nsupanda]

If you've decided to go pro se, you are telling the court and Trustee you have the ability and knowledge to represent yourself.

I agree with that. Just because you have "nothing to hide" doesn't mean you don't need an attorney. I didn't have anything at all to hide. I have a lot of experience with legal matters (I'm in the contracting business and deal with attorneys and legal proceedings on a daily basis), and I would never be able to tackle this bk on my own. I'm not putting you down at all for filing pro se either, but in doing so you are subjecting yourself to a lot of responsibilites that you might not be prepared for.

[newbie2]

You have to remember that the trustee is there for the creditors, not for you. Also, you can check 13DataCenter or whatever it is your trustee offices uses to see if your payments have been posted. I assume you pay by check or withdrawal from paycheck? If so, you have the necessary paper trail already.

Edited to add: 99.9% of us that file had nothing to hide. We sought out an attorney for guidance through this process because a Chapter 13 is one long process and navigating these waters is difficult. If you are calling the trustees office multiple times and leaving messages for basic info they are bound to get upset with you. We've made ONE phone call over the last 5 years, and that was for a procedural question that our attorney wouldn't respond to. We sought out the person in charge of that particular procedure and she was helpful.

[BKAttyMI]

A Chapter 13 Trustee is not there for the creditors, they are there to administer the case. Creditor's have their own attorneys. A Chapter 13 Trustee is NEUTRAL party, but it is their job to make sure the proposed 13 plan is feasible and fair to all parties.

A Chapter 7 Trustee may seem like they are there for the creditors, although technically they are there for administration of the estate. It is their job to discover non-exempt assets, take them, and distribute the funds to creditors.

Big difference.

[nsupanda]

A Chapter 13 Trustee is not there for the creditors, they are there to administer the case. Creditor's have their own attorneys. A Chapter 13 Trustee is NEUTRAL party, but it is their job to make sure the proposed 13 plan is feasible and fair to all parties.

A Chapter 7 Trustee may seem like they are there for the creditors, although technically they are there for administration of the estate. It is their job to discover non-exempt assets, take them, and distribute the funds to creditors.

Big difference.

I don't know... My trustee sure did seem to have the creditor's best interest at heart...

[frogger]

A Chapter 7 Trustee may seem like they are there for the creditors, although technically they are there for administration of the estate. It is their job to discover non-exempt assets, take them, and distribute the funds to creditors.

Actually, the Chapter 7 Trustee is there for the Chapter 7 Trustee as well as the creditors, seeking to discover and recover any non-exempt assets, take them, get their commissions, and then distribute what is left to the estate after their commissions and legal fees, along with accounting charges have been extracted.

A Chapter 7 Trustee can make some pretty serious money on a Chapter 7 asset case.