New Here- Help figuring out payback

[LadyInTheRed]

I bought a car 30 days before filing. It was never an issue. Most of my plan payment goes to the $300 car payment and the unsecured creditors will get less than 1% of their debts paid.

To expand a bit on what Floridagail said: Some attorneys won't advise you to buy a car because they are not supposed to tell you to incur debt before you file. So, don't say, "is it okay to buy a car?" Instead, say "I'm thinking of buying a car before I file. How will that affect my case?"

[mlevesque308]

Got it.

[mlevesque308]

I have another question........of course, I know ask ask ask, read read read!

going through the means test, I'm a bit confused in once section.

Mortgage allowed in RI is: $12-something.

My mortgage is $1435 + HOA and taxes; total around $1990.

Do I get to count this as expenses, or does this automatically omeDMI?

[keepsmiling]

Generally speaking, mortgage expenses are what they are and not a problem. Probably you won't need to worry about this, but an atty familiar with local practice will verify.
I can only recall one unlucky soul whose tt gave him a very hard time about his much higher than usual mortgage expenses... think he's in Michigan. Another poster had issues over the price of her rental... she had a very large family and eventually won her battle.
A lot comes down to the totality of circumstances, or the big picture. If you were living in an extravagant mansion and yet unable to pay your creditors, the tt might balk.

[mlevesque308]

Thank you, I'm in RI and I have to tell you, I've read some documents posted on another site and it seems more of a "friendly" state.

[keepsmiling]

Thank you, I'm in RI and I have to tell you, I've read some documents posted on another site and it seems more of a "friendly" state.

I am hoping you mean debtor-friendly and not creditor-friendly
There are definitely differences, not only by state, but also by district and by tt.
Chances are, however, that you will have a very run of the mill, matter of fact bk with few problems Hang in there!

[mlevesque308]

debtor-friendly. I've meet with 4 attorney's so far; 3 by phone and 1 face to face. Each rubbed me the wrong way, one guy was so rude to me, it was unreal. The attorney I'm meeting with on Thursday, has been a bankruptcy attorney for 22 years, and 65% of his cases are Ch 13; he was referred by two of the 4 attorney's I met with. We have a 45-min call and he told me not to worry; his job was to work out a great budget; so I would complete the 60 months. He also said he would attend the 321 meeting with me, and anything more than my name, is your social security number correct, he would take over. So, I'm hoping this attorney is the one. I'm sick of looking, my problem is, once I feel like I've been judged, I'm out of there.

He was really nice and said, Tom Jefferson, Abe Lincoln and Walt Disney did it so not to worry, he would take care of everyting.

[keepsmiling]

Sounds good so far! Let us know when you have your face to face.

[keepsmiling]

We are also pretty good at tweaking budgets btw.

[mlevesque308]

Good to know. I'll make sure I post exactly what we disucss and what I'm looking at from a dmi perspective. He sent be a 39 page questionnaire. Tomorrow I will be counting spoons and forks to put a value on them.

[keepsmiling]

VERY IMPORTANT

use garage sale/salvation army values. unless you have sterling, your spoons and forks are worth next to nothing

[mlevesque308]

Lol. I know I was being fresh. I know about Salvation Army who has that sheet on their website. Is the a yardsale website out there?

[LadyInTheRed]

I have another question........of course, I know ask ask ask, read read read!

going through the means test, I'm a bit confused in once section.

Mortgage allowed in RI is: $12-something.

My mortgage is $1435 + HOA and taxes; total around $1990.

Do I get to count this as expenses, or does this automatically omeDMI?

If you are using the means test calculator for which floridagail provided a link, you enter your mortgage payment on line 41a. If it exceeds your standard allowance, the amount on line 20B will be zero because the entire payment is being deducted on line 41a. Your taxes and insurance can also be included in line 41a. I did a google search about HOA dues and suggestions seem to be to include them in 41a or line 42. HOA dues are secured by the property, so they should be included as payments on secured debt. It make sense. But, don't believe everything you read on the internet. An attorney will know how to handle the HOA dues. For your current purposes of trying to understand what your Chap 13 plan may look like, I think it is safe to assume that the HOA dues are a proper deduction from DMI.

[mlevesque308]

Thank you so much!

[mlevesque308]

BTW- my attorney called me. He had emailed him and said to send him over some quick figures and when he saw them he called me and said....We need to talk about getting you a car payment. I thought that was pretty pro-active of him.