Am I nuts?!?! Need serious advice

[getback]

So I am about 4 years into my bk13 and I am interested in buying a house. I recently got married so my wife and I are sharing expenses.
Long story short my attorney is against the idea and he is not willing to do it because the trustee's tune was that they would have to see the numbers and see the exact conditions. In addition the trustee thought that he has less than one year to go. (10 months)

I have been preapproved for a FHA loan with 3.5%. I can get help from my mom for some of the down payment. She would likely move in with us if we got an inlaw place as a trade off. Homes in my area are prime for buyers and the rates are perfect. So the two market conditions are driving me to want to move forward with this.

Am I going the wrong path? I have ran the numbers and they will not lessen my payments to the trustee.
Would it be advisable to speak with the trustee about this? Find another lawyer? Quick and wait 10 months...

I have read of several others on this site who were able to buy a house in a 13.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Geee fella, I'm not a C13 person, but just to aid in anyway, I cannot see this as a bid deal. You are about done with your sentence and I would think you have done well. If you can fulfill your obligation, I would think that any improvement in your lifestyle is a plus. The idea in 13 is to recover, and at this time, I would think you have proven yourself.

If it were me, I would TELL my lawyer, let's go for broke and let HIM hit your Trustee, not you. I realize he has told you not to but this could by playing it safe. As you stated, you know other who have, and if they have, you could. Best to you. Best I can say. 'Hub

[despritfreya]

There are at least 2 possibilities here. . .

1. Your attny is being lazy and does not want to draft, file, notice out and get approved a Motion to Incur Secured debt or. . .

2. Your attny is worried that opening up your file for review will result in the Trustee realizing that you had, at some point in the last 4 years, a major boost to your income and your should have been paying more to your creditors.

If the reason is #1 then I say “garbage”. The deal is too good to pass up with such a nice interest rate (I assume it is not an adjustable rate mortgage which would be bad).

If the reason is #2 you need to review your income over the past few years to make sure there wee no major jumps. I do not know if your marriage during the course of the bk would necessarily impact your ability to pay (up or down). While your wife is contributing to the household, her contribution might be off set by the additional expenses. These are issues you need to discuss with your attny.

Until you have a handle on the issues I do not recommend talking to the Trustee.

Des.

[getback]

There are at least 2 possibilities here. . .

1. Your attny is being lazy and does not want to draft, file, notice out and get approved a Motion to Incur Secured debt or. . .

2. Your attny is worried that opening up your file for review will result in the Trustee realizing that you had, at some point in the last 4 years, a major boost to your income and your should have been paying more to your creditors.

If the reason is #1 then I say “garbage”. The deal is too good to pass up with such a nice interest rate (I assume it is not an adjustable rate mortgage which would be bad).

If the reason is #2 you need to review your income over the past few years to make sure there wee no major jumps. I do not know if your marriage during the course of the bk would necessarily impact your ability to pay (up or down). While your wife is contributing to the household, her contribution might be off set by the additional expenses. These are issues you need to discuss with your attny.

Until you have a handle on the issues I do not recommend talking to the Trustee.

Des.

I have had a small income increase but nothing major. In addition, I have been working more hours lately (short term) to meet strict deadlines. I could explain extra income, but that is not a lot of money.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I have had a small income increase but nothing major. In addition, I have been working more hours lately (short term) to meet strict deadlines. I could explain extra income, but that is not a lot of money.

Des is about our best adviser on such things. I'll wager he will state if all you have said is fact that your lawyer is perhaps a bit lazy or insecure. That was the feeling I got our of what he advised. As above, I too feel you should not have had a problem. Not with a deal that was proposed to you. After all, what is a new start about? AND you are doing it the long and hard way, yet I take my hat off to you for doing the right thing. Most of us here (I/we inclusive) go 7 as we have no choice. 'Hub

[despritfreya]

I agree with Hub. Go back to your attny and ask why he is not willing to do the Motion to Incur Secured Debt. You can even go over your budget and any changes of income (including the addition of wife's income if that is an issue) before fiiling the Motion so you can address any potential bumbs in the road.

Des.

[Carter]

My attorney told me the same thing that he, "didn't want to make any waves". My husband got a promotion last year so that is why. So, what we are doing is having a new home built the builder and lender know about the BK and we are timing it so that we close after discharge. We started building 5 months prior to the end of the chapter 13. Discharge is the contingency on closing.

[getback]

My attorney told me the same thing that he, "didn't want to make any waves". My husband got a promotion last year so that is why. So, what we are doing is having a new home built the builder and lender know about the BK and we are timing it so that we close after discharge. We started building 5 months prior to the end of the chapter 13. Discharge is the contingency on closing.

did you put down a down payment? If so, how did that go with the trustee?

[getback]

my attorney told me that he did not want to do it because he never got any feed back from his listserve colleagues and also that he said that the trustee's attorney asked why I was doing this with less than a year to go...

[Carter]

getback, we will not be closing until after the discharge so there is no need to get trustee approval. After discharge we will pull the down payment from our thrift savings.

[Pandora]

...we will pull the down payment from our thrift savings.

have you calculated if there are any penalties in pulling out of your TSP account? Taxes? Repayment?

[despritfreya]

my attorney told me that he did not want to do it because he never got any feed back from his listserve colleagues and also that he said that the trustee's attorney asked why I was doing this with less than a year to go...

What does he mean by "not getting any feed back"? As to the issue with the Trustee, I have a problem with it. If this were a Chapter 7 with 3 months to discharge, that's one thing as you might be able to lock in the interest rate for a few bucks and push closing out. But you have 10 months to go and then a month or so until the discharge is actually entered. 1) The house you want will be gone by then and 2) even if you find another the interest rate could be higher thus costing you a ton of money in the end. Of course, it could be lower as well but 3.5% is, IMO, too good to pass up.

If this was a case in my office I would have no problem filing the Motion. However, the client would be billed for the additional work.

Just my 2 cents.

Des.

[Carter]

have you calculated if there are any penalties in pulling out of your TSP account? Taxes? Repayment?

There are no penalties and no taxes it's a loan against myself simply paying back myself. It will be pulled out of the TSP after Discharge so no need to go to Trustee for approval.

[getback]

What does he mean by "not getting any feed back"? As to the issue with the Trustee, I have a problem with it. If this were a Chapter 7 with 3 months to discharge, that's one thing as you might be able to lock in the interest rate for a few bucks and push closing out. But you have 10 months to go and then a month or so until the discharge is actually entered. 1) The house you want will be gone by then and 2) even if you find another the interest rate could be higher thus costing you a ton of money in the end. Of course, it could be lower as well but 3.5% is, IMO, too good to pass up.

If this was a case in my office I would have no problem filing the Motion. However, the client would be billed for the additional work.

Just my 2 cents.

Des.

He was looking into some national attorney online question and answer server. He asked how it worked and got little help from it. He claims no other national attorney responded.
I am aware of paying for services. I asked him how much would it cost and he responded that he was sorry but was not able to work with me...