Chapter 13 Update & Question

[Anonymous]

I posted a while back about my anxiety over my financial situation and the thought of filing bankruptcy. I was pretty bummed about having to do a 13 but now I'm wondering why I didn't do it sooner. I had my creditors meeting earlier this month and all went well. My attorney believes everything will be finalized without me even needing to appear in court again. I'm paying my mortgage to the lender but I noticed they still show it closed on my credit report. A little bummed about that. I pulled my reports about a month after filing and disputed the 3 cards not reporting as included in bankruptcy so everything is accurate right now. I did have one card I hadn't used in forever with a zero balance that seems to have survived. They do a soft pull every month so I'm surprised they haven't closed it yet. Lowes and Rooms to Go sold the accounts to a collection agency well after I filed so I'm nervous they will attempt to add a collection to my credit report. My lawyer did send them a letter so I'll just keep an eye out. As of today my FICO's are EQ 578 TU 632 EX 641. I was a little surprised they weren't lower but the only negative prior to bankruptcy was my CC utilization. Maybe it will take another dip after my plan is confirmed? Not sure when you take the biggest score hit.

My question: There are still 15 creditors who haven't filed a claim. They have until May 3rd but I'm curious what happens if they don't file. 

[Anonymous]

If they dont file, then none of your plan payments go to them.  They are basically forfeiting their rights to collect anything.  Their accounts will be discharged at the end of your plan, and they will get nothing.  And if you are in a 100% payback plan, then you can pay off your BK early and do not need to include them in the payoff.  But know this.  Unless its some $200 no name CC, they will get in their filings ontime.  Remember the courts could be behind on processing them.  With my current 13, I had two cars and a $40k CC that did not file until the last day.  Then right after the time passed, all the creditors showed up having filed a week earlier and all was in.

Now you need to sign up for automatic bill payments from the TFS Billpay website.  You can make manual payments, or it will auto-draw from your checking account.  Its for making payments to chapter 13 plans.  This way you can track your payments, and you can also see how much total you've payed into the plan.  

And no you wont need to go to court for anything else.  There might be some housekeeping dates that your attorney needs to attend, but you were only obligated to go to the 341 meeting.  You are done now.  Now just sit back and make your plan payments.  You might need to send in your yearly tax returns to the trustee.  And you also might need to pay any tax refunds into your plan as well.  Luckily our trustee lets us keep the first $2000 of any tax return, anything over that has to go into the plan.  

Lastly - DONT MAKE WAVES.  Just stay under the radar and make your plan payments.  Nothing else will happen until you are done if you keep up the plan payments.  Goodluck.  As long as you can easily afford the plan payments, you will succeed.

[Anonymous]

Ok, thank you! I was a little nervous about the claims thing. My payment plan is only 1% so an early payoff isn’t an option. In my state wage garnishment is a requirement so no autopay necessary and I actually prefer it that way. I do have $3K to the IRS included in my plan although they haven’t filed a claim. Possibly because the audit started right before I filed and the final amount owed thanks to my error was just finalized a few weeks ago. I need to sign and fax the papers back to them. I received my return this year and my attorney says if it isn’t over $2.5K his doesn’t foresee me having to turn it over.

I’ll be laying low and counting down until completion. My only true concern is marriage. My boyfriend is itching to propose and I don’t see us wanting to wait 5 years to get married. He’s building a home right now but unless I’m putting the equity into a new home, I can’t sell mine until this is done. I guess we will cross that bridge when it comes though.

[Lurker22]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

But know this.  Unless its some $200 no name CC, they will get in their filings ontime.  Remember the courts could be behind on processing them.  With my current 13, I had two cars and a $40k CC that did not file until the last day.  Then right after the time passed, all the creditors showed up having filed a week earlier and all was in.

FYI - I burned Chase pretty badly on 3 accounts, they failed to file on all 3 - attorney told me it's not common but it does happen where a creditor just won't file in time