Chapter 13 Discharge Question

[PatsFan]

I filed a Chapter 13 in March of 2009. (I'm in Boston) Non-100% payback. I made my 60th and final payment in March of 2014. Spoke with my attorney, told me I was good to stop sending payments and also filed the Debtor's Education certificate and Motion To Discharge Order on March 20th. There had been no activity since on either Pacer or the NDC until late last week, when the National Data Center showed the final creditor payments were to be sent out on July 7th. At that time the Case Status changed to "Plan Completed" and "Date Case Closed" changed to 6/24/2014. It is showing a 0$ balance on hand and the "Percent Paid To Unsecured Base Plan" at 100% which would seem to indicate I should be nearing discharge. However, absolutely nothing has happened on PACER. Last document filed is still the Motion to Discharge on March 20th. I know Boston area Chapter 13 discharges can take a while, I guess I'm just a bit confused as to why the NDC seems to indicate the Trustee has paid out and closed the case while PACER shows nothing new has been filed/changed since March. Has anybody gone through anything similar or have any insight as to where my case may stand? Thank you in advance for any help.

[bostonit]

I'm in Boston too and just finished my plan this month. I'm sad that your's has taken so long to closeout. I had dreams that I would be lucky and it would all be done in the next few weeks. Did your attorney file the financial management cert and your child support statement? I was told it would be somewhere between 2-4 months. I check pacer and NDC daily and nothing has happened but NDC still shows money in my account even though its been three weeks since the last payment.

[LadyInTheRed]

The trustee may have closed the case in his/her records, but that has nothing to do with PACER which is the court's official records. I am not certain, but I think the next thing you will see on PACER is the trustee's final report.

[PatsFan]

Thanks LadyInTheRed, I'll keep checking Pacer every few days, hopefully getting close to the finish line. Bostonit, no child support involved in my case. I believe my last payment (money order) posted on March 13th or 14th, and my attorney filed the financial management cert on the 17th, followed by the Motion To Discharge on the 20th. That's still the last thing showing on Pacer. For whatever reason in my own mind I had sort of come to the conclusion that it would be about 3 months after last payment to receive my discharge. I did call my attorney when I hit the 3 month mark and after he looked into it he mentioned he was surprised that I still had not received the discharge at that point and the account still showed a balance. We knew when we filed in 09 that the Boston courts were inundated with new BK filings and there was a large backlog, but when I spoke with him last month he had said that the filings had really slowed down over the last year or two and the completed cases were receiving their discharges rather quickly, much much faster than four or five years ago, hence his surprise that there had really been no activity since March. He did look everything over, said everything was fine, there would be nothing to object to, etc., but for whatever reason I was stuck in a limbo of sorts and to be patient and not worry because everything on my end was complete. Looks like I'm getting there, when I spoke with him plan was still showing as open on NDC and has now been changed to complete, just hoping to see something on Pacer soon. My account showed money in it for nearly four months after last payment, last disbursements did not go out until this past Monday July 7th. I'm hoping yours goes much quicker, and I think there's a good possibility that it will; my lawyer made it seem to me that the long length of time with no movement on my account was the exception rather than the norm and that other than my case (of course!!) he had seen Chapter 13 discharges come very quickly (for Boston) in recent months.

[bostonit]

Thanks. That's good to hear. I don't have kids and I'm not married but I still had to send in a statement saying that I didn't owe alimony or child support. Checked with the attorney again today and she reiterated that its a solid 2-4 months in Boston. It's unfortunate that we look forward to the 60th payment so much only to wait four more months. Please post again when you get the discharge. Fingers crossed.

[Mayo]

I'm in Alabama it took four months for my discharge after my 13 closed. I was becoming narcissistic on pacer daily checking.

[bostonit]

Thanks! It's been 33 days since my last payment and 23 days since my plan ended. I'm going crazy checking PACER and NDC!

[LadyInTheRed]

If I were you, I'd just go on with my life happy to be debt free. You will eventually get a discharge order in the mail. I just hope I'll be able to take my own advice 9 months from now when I make payment #60.

[dmc-2008]

I would be going crazy too!

[spidge]

I wish you a swift discharge and relief.

Going bonkers with 16 payments and other issues on the table.

[bostonit]

Did you get discharged? I made my last payment 6/20 and the 60 month mark was up on 7/2. I noticed the final disbursements are scheduled for next week in NDC and the status is now "plan completed". I'm curious how long it will be before discharge now.

[andy158]

We are patiently waiting discharge too. Attroney said it should be by the end of August. Last payment was made July 17. All disbursements made and refund of $420 issued. Case is closed and listed as completed on NDC and awaiting discharge order on PACER.

OH happy days!

[coronaglen]

I'm waiting too. In California. Last payment in May. Nothing yet. Attorney said should be 3-5 days but that was a few weeks ago.

[dmc-2008]

Corona what part of Cali? San Diego.

[coronaglen]

nope. Out of riverside county. just east of Los Angeles.