Can the Trustee be changed?

[FairyPoor]

I am certainly learning much on this site. I am appalled to learn that trustees make money from those going through the traumatic experience of a bankruptcy and making money off of the people. I had no idea this was happening because I thought they worked for the State or Federal Government. That means they make commission?

[forgotten]

A Chapter 13 trustee is commision as well. They get up to 10% of your payment each month, however, that amount is capped so some districts are actually lower than 10%. Keep in mind they have to pay to run their office out of that money as well.

Edit: I have paid $2300 to the trutsee in the past 2 years and I pay my mortgage and car payments outside the plan.

[free2breathe]

I am certainly learning much on this site. I am appalled to learn that trustees make money from those going through the traumatic experience of a bankruptcy and making money off of the people. I had no idea this was happening because I thought they worked for the State or Federal Government. That means they make commission?

Trustees usually have a full time job separate from their trustee duties. A chapter 7 trustee makes $60 per case, plus a commission on assets of the bankruptcy state. Since the majority of chapter 7 cases are non-asset cases, they get the $60 period. It really does take them a bit of work to administer the case, conduct the 341 meetings etc. It's a nice little side-job for them, but it certainly doesn't make them rich.

Here is a little blurb I found explaining the chapter 13 trustee: "Most people think that the bankruptcy trustee is paid by the federal government and the courts. This is not true. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy the trustee gets paid a percentage of what they collect from the debtor and distributes it to the creditors. If there is an overpayment the money will be refunded to the debtor. The bankruptcy trustee is only paid based on what the creditors get paid. The federal bankruptcy court system is made up of districts and the amount the trustee gets paid can vary from district to district with the maximum amount to be paid is 10%. Out of this money that they collect, they have to pay their own expenses to operate their office."

[nsupanda]

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy the trustee gets paid a percentage of what they collect from the debtor and distributes it to the creditors.

Since this is true... why is my trustee such an a$$hole? He was so rude to us. I've heard others warn me about him before too. He chewed this elderly couple out for having filed bankruptcy a 2nd time. The first time was credit card debts, then 15 years later the husband had a heart attack with no insurance and they had to file on medical bills. The trustee treated them like complete scum. Since he gets paid for all the bankruptcies, why does he get mad at people when they do it?

[frogger]

Since this is true... why is my trustee such an a$$hole? He was so rude to us. I've heard others warn me about him before too. He chewed this elderly couple out for having filed bankruptcy a 2nd time. The first time was credit card debts, then 15 years later the husband had a heart attack with no insurance and they had to file on medical bills. The trustee treated them like complete scum. Since he gets paid for all the bankruptcies, why does he get mad at people when they do it?

You want to bet that your trustee is an a$$ in real life and would be an a$$ at any job in which he worked?

Some people are just that way. Being a trustee doesn't make them so.

[frogger]

I am certainly learning much on this site. I am appalled to learn that trustees make money from those going through the traumatic experience of a bankruptcy and making money off of the people.

Why be appalled? The trustee is not making money off of the people, the trustee is making money at the expense of the creditors. As has been pointed out, that small fee that the trustee makes from the government won't make them rich and many times won't pay the expenses.

The commission, ie incentive, is designed to give the trustee the time to look for things to benefit the creditors and be compensated for their time. Nothing wrong or immoral about that.......

[kornellred]

A Chapter 13 trustee is limited, by statue, to a maximum income of $177,526 per year as derived from his or her duties as a trustee. The maximum 10 percent commission on payments does not belong to the trustee personally. There are enormous expenses involved which vary constantly, so you will often see a change in the trustee's percentage deducted from your plan payment from time to time (if you even care about that kind of stuff).
Being a pleasant person is not a requirement to hold an appointment as a standing Chapter 13 trustee. Exacting application of the law - is. You can bet that most trustees are not sitting around with their feet up on the desk while their staff people do all the work.

[justbroke]

I don't know why people get upset at the Trustee performing their job. For the Chapter 13 Trustee, they don't get as much help from the Office of the United States Trustee (OUST) as does the Chapter 7 Trustee. What I mean, is that the Chapter 13 Trustee is the gatekeeper to the entire Chapter 13 program. They are the one that files for a dissmissal. They are the one that monitors the program. (Yes, it's not supposed to be this way, but with so many Chapter 7s, the OUST is busy with the Chapter 7s.)

Are some Trustees nicer than others? Absolutely. But trust me, they can all become downright nasty if they think you are abusing the system. The Bankruptcy code was actually changed to "penalize" serial filers -- or at least slow them down. So anytime you see a case where a person filed multiple times, the Trustee is going to be asking a lot more questions.

Unfortunately, the Trustee represents the creditors. While it's in the best interest of the Chapter 13 Trustee to make sure their Chapter 13 debtors are successful, they also don't want infeasible plans clogging up the system.

Do you know how to treat an evil Trustee? You treat them with kindness! My first Chapter 13 Trustee was pretty much okay, because my paperwork was impeccable, timely, and adhered to all standards. (In fact, one of my provisions from my Plan is now in the District's model plan!) My second Trustee, for my Chapter 7, was known to be really difficult. Well, I killed him with kindness too. I made sure there was nothing in my paperwork that would have him guessing, thinking, or wanting more. I had a smooth second 341 Meeting even though others were not so lucky. In fact, I don't think luck had anything to do with it. The fact is that most Trustees don't like the extra work created by pro se debtors. There are even some Judges that let pro se debtors know that they too don't like the extra work.

In the end, I believe that most are very professional, even if they are grumpy and downright nasty.