Anyone ever dealt with a lost trustee payment?

[Lissy]

I am halfway through Year 2 of my CH13. I have always mailed money orders to my TT each month and have never had a problem. I religiously check my TT's site about a week after I mail the payments to ensure that they are received. Historically, the payments have posted roughly 5 business days after I mailed them. I am now going on 8 business days since my July payment was mailed and it has not posted. I am starting to freak out a little. How long should I give it before I call them to let them know that I DID mail it? Anyone ever dealt with this? I can stop payment on the MO if it is lost, right?

[jange]

Is the data current on the trustees site? July always seems to be a slow month for updating. What kind of MO did you use? I think for Postal MO you have to wait 30 days.

[Lissy]

Well, it is only updated twice a month, when my payment posts and when they send out payments to my creditors. So it is current as of last month. I am hoping since it's summer, maybe they are short staffed with people taking vacations or whatever. I used a MO from my bank.

[LadyInTheRed]

My payments have posted in as few as 4 days after mailing and as many as 14 days. I bet your payment will show up soon.

[BNKRPTinNC]

I retired in May and up until then my payments were taken out of my paycheck. As they can not do that with my annuity I mail a personal check at the begining of each month. I mail it Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation ($5.65) and check online to make sure it was delivered and as long as I have confirmation of delivery I'm not concerned.

[kornellred]

Chapter 13 trustees do not care if your payment was lost in transit. In order to prevent dismissal of your case, you will have to prove that you actually sent the payment that did not arrive. And, you will still have to make up the lost payment if it stays lost.

[IamOld]

Well, that's why kornerllred I use, like Lissy, Priority Mail which shows when Memphis PO Box gets payment. Also, do you HAVE to send money orders? If they take a personal check you can see when it clears etc, and can put stop on it if it's lost...

Although it's going into payroll ded this month - which I think is stupid in my very humble opinion but that's what "our judge" requires, because I've no control over my spouse's payroll dept.

[LadyInTheRed]

Also, do you HAVE to send money orders?

Most trustees require money orders or cashier's checks.

A late payment can result in a dismissal. But, most trustees are not anxious to dismiss a Chap 13. They would rather see the plan completed. If a payment gets lost, as long as you or your attorney contacts the trustee and lets them know what's going on, they will usually wait a reasonable amount of time for you to allow you to make up the payment. If a trustee is not reasonable and files a petition for dismissal while you are still trying to get the money order replaced, you still have an opportunity to convince the judge that you should be allowed time to replace the payment. I suspect that if you show a judge copies of your claim for a lost money order, he/she will give you the necessary time to receive the refund.

[forgotten]

If your trustee accepts personal checks online bill pay is the way to go. Not only is it free, if the payment does get lost you have a bank backing you up that the payment was mailed and it can be cancelled and reissued in a timely manner.

Edit: Why all trustees don't take personal checks I have no idea... they can wait to distribute funds until the check clears. It is not like you would gain anything by sending them a bad check.

[kornellred]

This is the 21st Century - there must be a way to make lost payments a thing of the past, and, simultaneously, transfer all responsibility for accounting irregularities to the system which conveys the payments.

[catleg]

Remember, no matter how much you spend, you can never prove that you mailed more than an empty envelope to Memphis until they cash the money order.
As the man says, your check (money order) is your receipt.
Don't waste postage on priority , certified, overnight, signature required.
We didn't set up this horse and buggy system, we just have to live with it!!
Maybe it's about time some people wrote some complaint letters to the OUST about Suntrust bank.

[catleg]

Amazingly my trustee payment posted yesterday, mailed about 8/3.
I keep wondering if these things get batched up and processed in Mexico.