topic Re: Chapter 13 in Bankruptcy

Chapter 13

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 22:35:54 GMT

I posted earlier about a Chapter 13. Here are things I’m struggling with and hope someone who is on or has completed a Chapter 13 can attest to.
Did you feel you had enough money to live?
Were you able to purchase any presents or take any vacations?
Does the Trustee re-evaluate through out the payment plan?
I’m struggling emotionally with all of this.

Re: Chapter 13

sports1965 — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 02:14:40 GMT

I filed Chapter 13 1 year ago and after paying the Trustee i still have plenty of money left!

As a matter of fact i just took a vacation!

Get a good lawyer!

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 02:57:33 GMT

Thank you! Is there any way you would be willing to communicate with me regarding your experience?

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 11:22:33 GMT

Successful 13 person here. You NEED, I repeat you NEED to make sure your lawyer leaves you with plenty of money to live with. For insurance copays and license plate stickers and christmas presents and so on. There is nothing wrong with this. If your current attorney wont make the numbers work so you are comfortable, then you need another attorney bottom line.

As long as your payments are made every month, the only communication from the trustee you will get is the yearly summary of disbursments made from your payments to the plan. Just sign up on the TFS Bill Pay website so it makes your plan payment automatically, and forget its there. Just let the time pass. Dont wish and hope to fast forward to the end of the plan. Live your live. You will regret all the time you spent worrying and wishing you were out of the 13. I know I do. Since its been over, our credit healed and we have purchased cars and homes and so on.

And you need to open a secured credit card once you are filed. Keep the limit under $500 and use it. Try to pay it off every month, but its not a big deal if you carry a balance. This will help you re-establish post filing and thats what most creditors will want to see. Jump on all the three reports and start disputing all the negative info as well a few months after you are filed.

Live your life. Think of this as another car payment or credit card payment thats necessary. Oh and dont forget to do the pre and post filing credit counceling courses as soon as you can. Dont put off the post filing one until the end of the BK. You will forget about it and it will delay you from getting your discharge until its done.

And YES take that vacation. We did every year. Not some $10k disney vacation, but we made it to warm weather and spent 7 days on the cheap on a beach every year with our kids and had fun. There is nothing wrong with this.

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 11:26:25 GMT

Oh and heres the CC I opened and still have. Its 100% secured by you. They do NO credit check whatsoever. And it will never graduate to an unsecured card, so dont hold your breath on that. I would load an extra $100 on it here and there when it was at zero. Now it has a decent limit and I still use it when I need it. I have passed on all the other crap unsecured cards that everyone gets like credit one and finger hut. FYI there is a $39 yearly fee though.

https://secure.greendot.com/platinum/registration/sign-up-p1?utm_source=HP-CS-1&utm_medium=InternalLink

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 20:57:31 GMT

Do they report to all 3 Credit Bureaus?

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 21:17:30 GMT

Yes they do. As a standard credit card.

Re: Chapter 13

coreyb80 — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 14:36:30 GMT

I've been in 13 3 years now and it's been pretty fair to me. I definitely have enough to live on after payment without issue. Blessings on the journey.

Re: Chapter 13

krielly — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 19:38:44 GMT

I would only caution you to not take out any type of credit card (secured or not) without first consulting with your lawyer. Trustees' positions can vary greatly! Better safe than sorry!

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 18:05:20 GMT

Hello. My husband and I are about a year into our CH 13 plan. So far, things are going very smoothly. We are much happier than we were before bankruptcy when we couldn't make ends meet. I also highly suggest finding an excellent lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy. The first lawyer we consulted with, we both had a bad vibe about and boy am I happy that we decided to consult a second lawyer. They have provided us with excellent service and help during the process. They made it easy for us. We have children and they made sure that we were allowed plenty to live on and provide for our family. They understood how hard this position is and how stressful it is. Yes we are able to purchase presents and yes we are able to take vacations. We plan to take one vacation a year and are able to budget for that. We are still able for our children to participate in activities and we are able to eat out some. Our trustee hasn't re-evaluated anything so far. Like a previous poster said, enroll in the auto payments and basically treat it as a normal bill that comes out every month. You can choose to split your payments up throughout the month or just pay it all at once. For us, one key things has been to REALLY budget. Yes we have enough to live on, but we don't have the back up credit cards like we did when we were in major debt. Now, if something goes wrong, we have to have the cash available to pay for it outright. And there is ALWAYS something bound to come up that you hadn't planned on needing to pay for. We are not using the cash envelope system and it is working well. We are still adjusting to that, but it is helping us so much. We also sit down every month and write out a budget. I bought a budget planner on amazon and it is the best thing we have done. Writing everything out and having to write down every expense really helps keep you accountable and helps you live within your means. Good luck with everything. It's a hard decision to make, but once we made the decision, we felt as if a huge weight was lifted off of us.

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 18:15:51 GMT

Just finished my installments on a 3 year plan. Very glad I did it, was it easy ? NO. Was it doable ? YES

Did you feel you had enough money to live? First year not really, it was tight. got a pay bump 2nd year and reported it as required. installments did not go up at all so my life got much better at that point.

Were you able to purchase any presents or take any vacations? yes within reason, remember you are still paying off a chunk of the money you already spent...

Does the Trustee re-evaluate through out the payment plan? You have to let your lawyer know any time you have a substantial change in income and you have to submit your tax returns each year. this keeps the trustee informed and he will make choose what to do with that info....
I’m struggling emotionally with all of this. its a tough spot to be in but you need to own it and push through it, lots of people get half way through and give up... don't! it gets better

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 15:49:06 GMT

Good Morning,

I hope this message finds you well. I'm so happy to see this post, there aren't many chapter 13 stories here on the forums. I make my 1st payment on 4/17. I wasn't happy about filing chapter 13, I wanted to file chapter 7, but... it is what it is. My MOC meeting is scheduled for 4/27 and confirmation hearing is 6/11. Once I'm confirmed I will dispute any errors on my reports. I asked my lawyer to ask the trustee to allow me to get a secured credit card. We shall see what the trustee says. I appreciate you posting your chapter 13 stories. Better days are ahead

Re: Chapter 13

tehdrizzle — Sat, 02 May 2020 16:08:06 GMT

Filing Chapter 13 was the best decision we ever made. We were afraid we would be completely strapped and have no cash for anything. We actually had more cash in our account during the bankruptcy than we had paying our debt directly! The only thing I find annoying about filing is how long it takes for it to actually close. We made or finaly payment in December and we haven't heard anything past the final cure notification which was sent out in December so our case is somehow still open and active. In short, it can take several months 6+ from what I'm being told for it to close after your final payment.

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Mon, 04 May 2020 15:07:45 GMT

@tehdrizzle - Thank you for replying. Did you obtain any credit during your payment plan?

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2020 16:21:11 GMT

I obtained a 500$ credit one bank card 2nd year in to start rebuilding. My lawyer told me keep new credit under 1000$ so the trustee don't throw a fit . After 6 months of proper use and payment they bumped me up to 1000 without me asking

the next month they sent me a Preapproval for $1500 card, I tossed it out knowing that I had to stay with just the one card till discharge.

they still keep sending me the preapproval for the 1500 and I still throw it out.
I just got my notice that my final checks have cleared and should be close to discharge now. 60 days or so I hope 🤞🏻

Re: Chapter 13

tehdrizzle — Thu, 07 May 2020 12:26:14 GMT

@Anonymouswe did not obtain credit during the Chapter 13 process. If you need to obtain credit during the process you'll need to get permission from the court via your Attorney and Trustee.

Re: Chapter 13

Anonymous — Wed, 20 May 2020 20:00:27 GMT

Hi, I recently got through my 5-year BK13 and have gotten to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Like other posters said, it's important to have a good attorney who communicates with the trustee so that you stay on track.

To answer your questions:

- I saved like mad after filing (>20% of my salary mostly into my 403b), so it felt a bit rough at times, but it was plenty to live on.

- Definitely had money for presents, vacations, etc. But I kept it modest. You don't need to spend a lot to enjoy life. During the 5 years, I was not allowed to make payments on student loans outside of the plan, so I knew 7% interest was growing on my >100k of student loan debt. One of the reasons I saved like mad, so I could make a big payment on them as soon as I got discharged.

- The trustee doesn't re-evaluate unless your situation changes a lot. Getting a big raise, getting a mortgage or new car, moving, etc. If a large financial change is expected (or if you don't know if it's a large change), you need to talk with your attorney to figure out if the trustee needs to know.

- Getting through a bankruptcy is not easy. Before filing, I had perfect 790+ credit, no lates or negative history on my file. It was a huge blow to my pride. I thought people would look at me as a failure in life. But you don't walk around with a huge sign on your head that says "bankruptcy." It's something you go through, but the goal is get to a better point financially. It's been a humbling experience. I grew from it and my financial situation is much better now than it was. I was able to save for retirement and paying down debt, am no longer insolvent, and am actively rebuilding to get back to the credit I had, with stronger money habits than before.

You can get through this. Hang in there!