Car payment in Chapter 13

[beachgirl]

Is it possible to continuing making car payments to my finance company as normal or do I have to pay as a part of my chapter 13 plan? We had our 1st meeting a month ago, and the attorney gave me this outrageous payment amount. I'm trying to get up enough courage to schedule an appointment with someone else and see what happens.

Also, how late can you be on cc payments before they start threatening with lawsuits? I am trying, but slowing falling further and further behind.

[Peevee]

If you know your going to file stop making payments. I think it will be at least 6 months before credit card companies will do legal action. Your car will be included in your bankruptcy if you plan on keeping it.

[beachgirl]

Once I decide that I want to file, quit paying the cc bills, then what do I tell the creditors when they start calling? How long will it take the whole bankruptcy process once we file?

[Minnymouth]

Are you saying your have filed? 341 meeting has been attended?

OR - just had a meeting with attorney - thinking about filing???

Clearify......

[beachgirl]

No, we have not filed yet. We had 1 meeting w/an attorney, it didn't go so well. He seemed to be in a hurry and the payment he gave me was way high. I don't know if he forgot to figure my expenses, but the figure he gave me is not feasible. I am going to have another consultation with another attorney and hopefully have better results.

[aa06a47]

Hell, my first attorney quoted me a figure above what I bring home in a month. Some of them are idiots. Keep trying to find one that will spend time with you and explain your payment.

Some people may be surprised in how much disposable income they actually have in a month. Chapter 13 will be a belt tightening experience, there is no doubt about it.

[SinkingFast]

Most definitely schedule more appts with attnys and chat with a few more. Don't let the one scare you from talking to others. You learn different things from each one you talk to.

We Consulted 10 before we hired our attny. It was tiresome, but worth it, I hope. We have to use outa State exemptions and our attny has spent time going over those to be sure they are properly applied and coded. He's even called an attny in the old home state to be sure the codes are applied as written. Sometimes that's not the case. This attny is being very thorough. Not just for us, but his kester is on the line too. I'm sure he expects to get blasted by the Court here coming in with "foreign" exemptions. So he wants his I's dotted and his T's crossed.

One attny we met with told us if we left our docs with him that afternoon, he'd have our petition ready the next day. Yeah right. During the whole meeting he was trying to push us into a 13 plan, but finally relented and wrote Ch 7 on the corner of our sheet. If he'd done our paperwork that quick, there's no way his staff would have had time to verify anything we said.

You really need to shop around. Especially if you're gonna be in a Ch 13 payment plan. You gotta look across that table or desk and ask yourself, "Can I work with this person for next 3, 4, or 5 years of my life?" Cause that's exactly what you're looking at doing. If the attny rushes you during your Consult, then maybe they won't even give you the time of day when you need them for an emergency ammendment to your plan on down the road.

[Peevee]

Figure out everything you spend a month and have it on paper and I mean everything. They base your payment on disposable income.

[nk29]

Car Loan Can Be Paid Outside Plan

I am currently 9 months into a Ch 13, and my car loan is paid outside the plan. I pay directly to Honda Finance each month. I didn't own a home, so really the only creditors included in my plan were credit cards, and I also returned a leased vehicle voluntarily so I could finance a new car to own (my lease would be up while my BK would still be active, and I figured buying it out or getting a new car would be very difficult). I pay $200 a month, which I am pretty comfortable with.

I also pay my student loan outside the plan.

[nervousSC]

About student loans? I was told that I cannot pay them while I'm in a 13, that I would get in trouble with trustee. The student loan company (Sallie Mae & Citibank in my case) would be able to collect from the 13 if they wanted to, before the credit cards. That the student loans go into automatic forebearance until the end of the 13, however interest still accrues.

[gak555]

Could we get more imput to Beachgirl's following question :

" Also, how late can you be on cc payments before they start threatening with lawsuits? I am trying, but slowing falling further and further behind."

I thought they moved quicker than the 6 months answer that was given as far as lawsuits, garnishing wages, etc.