The new Haven Act !!!

[Anonymous]

The have. Act is fairly new but I would like to know if there are veterans out there going to the process of chapter 7 or 13 and what has the act changed for you. Since it’s only been signed for several weeks, there is no information around it.

[FireMedic1]

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/haven-act-provides-military-veterans-increased-income-protectio... 

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Already did all the research including faq from the justice department. Just want personal feed back on how it changed the process

[FireMedic1]

I went by this you posted: "Since it’s only been signed for several weeks, there is no information around it." Thats why I posted the link.

[missy42]

I'm in a Ch13 and would love to however I have mortgage arrears.  If I had the $ to pay the arrears off I would and then file a chap 7 however trying to protect my property.  My ch13 payments are 2872 per month and cover mortgage, mortgage arrears, irs, auto and of course trustee.  Unsecure creditors getting only what they would get in ch7.  While it's high (had several emergencies so had to do modifications) I have 33 more months on a 5 yr plan.  Wish the Haven Act had been around before I filed.  I'm watching and will be very interested to see how it or if it helps veterans.  

[mikethewxguy]

missy42: It might be worth contacting your attorney to see if anything can be done/adjusted now that the HAVEN act is in place.  IANAL so I don't know if they would do anything or not, but I would definitely ask the question.  Perhaps they would not count the VA disability payments as income and reduce your payments or possibly go ahead and convert it to a CHapter 7??? Who knows? I'm not sure how/if that would work with mortgage arears though.  Good luck if you do!

I recently filed Chapter 7 and I barely qualified for it due to my military retirment pay and my VA disability pay.  I nearly filed a Chapter 13 earlier in the year but a job loss (since February) barely put me under the wire (come August when I filed) as far as income goes for being able to do a 7.  I filed on Aug 2nd...looks like the HAVEN act went into effect on Aug 23rd.

[2b2rich]

It became a law on Aug 23, 2019:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2938 

I went for my initial consultation on Aug 19th and my attorney was telling me about this.  My only income is SSDI and VA Compensation and since SSDI was already, not counted, I passed the MEANS test for Ch7 anyway.

I do know that my filing included my VA Compensation when it was filed a few days ago.  Maybe my attorney's group overlooked this, but hopefully if it comes up, I will still be protected by this new law.

[missy42]

@mikethewxguy I contacted my lawyer but law is so new and since my Chap 13 is paying mortgage arrears not much I can do unless I had mortgage arrears money to pay off! I made a lot of financial mistakes that I wish I could do over but I can't so for now I'm stuck with my high Chap 13 payment! 32 more months and this will all be behind me just keeping my head low and praying "This too shall pass soon!"