Re-structure a Ch.13..Is That Possible?

[missybee53]

What is the name of your state? OREGON.

My husband has been in a chapter 13 for awhile now.
The payments are very high and with the change in
time & circumstances, he is barely able to keep up
with the payments and the court is ready to through
it out.

He has already paid in over $16,000 into it
and was wondering if they can give him a second
chance to re-finance or restructure it to lower the payments
so we are not thrown out on the street! It would
certainly be hard for us if we couldn't do something
like this to lower the payments and give us some
breathing room.

PLEASE HELP US! We just need to know
if it's possible and has it been done before.

Thanks for ANY help you can offer,
Christine

 

[Ladynred]

Where's your lawyer ? You should be able to ask to modify the plan. If that won't work, you might want to consider converting to CH 7 if you can.

 

[missybee53]

Where's your lawyer ? You should be able to ask to modify the plan. If that won't work, you might want to consider converting to CH 7 if you can.

You asked where my lawyer is? Well, we did ask him the same question before. But he is very hard to talk to. And when we do get to talk to him, if there is any extra work on his part, he has that "I don't want to be bothered with this" attitude.

It's hard to get him to do anything without demanding his help.
And last time we did ask that question, he said that if we got the balance to go down at all, we would STILL have to pay the same monthly payments, only it would be a shorter time it paying it. Like instead of 5 years, it would be 3.

But I really think that wasn't an honest answer. That he just didn't want to deal with it and told us that so he wouldn't have to. That answer just didn't seem right to me. But because my husband and I don't know the truth, he could say anything and we couldn't dispute it.

That's why I'm hear asking this question. Because if it CAN actually be done, we can go in to see him with hope and a more "make this happen!" attitude.

We just didn't know if it was possible. Our future is at stake here and our lawyer doesn't seem to want to work with us. We are trying the best we can.

I will look into the Ch 7 thing you mentioned, thanks!

But I still would like an answer to the first question, is it possible and can it be done? Modifying the Ch.13 that is.

 

[Ladynred]

Yes, it can be done. People get their plans modified all the time because circumstances change for people.

You're paying your lawyer throughout the Ch 13 plan, so you shouldn't let him slide with an attitude. You can do this and he should help you get it done. I believe you'd have to get permission from the Trustee to modify the plan as well. You might try to contact him/her and find out what needs to be done.

 

[missybee53]

THANK YOU!

Thank you SO much for your help!

You have encouraged us when it looked like there was no way out. Now we can go to our lawyer with confidence that it can be done and because of things that have changed in our lives, (legitimate things), we now can work towards modifying this.

Thanks again!

 

[ladyc4]

You are also paying the TRUSTEE through your plan, if your case is dismissed both the attorney and the trustee lose out as well.
However, unless there have been some recent changes, Ch13 is NOT open-ended, there is a maximum time frame of 5 years. So if reducing you monthly payments is going to run your plan out longer than 5 years you are going to encounter resistance. But if it looks like a dismissal or the Ch13 becoming Ch7, then you may get a little co-operation.
What it boils down to is that your attorney, and yes even your plan's trustee,are being paid-BY YOU- to perform a service. Keep records of phone calls, etc. In fact you might be best served to put your communications in writing-send them thru the mail RRR, and let your attorney know you are keeping copies of all this correspondence. Be polite but be firm;both the attorney and the BK trustee are taking money from you to perform a service. They may hope you do not recognize that fact, but a fact it is!

 

[missybee53]

GREAT information! I appreciate everyone's help in this!

We can feel so helpless when you don't know much on how this all works.

Christine

 

[ladyc4]

I'm not an attorney, what I'm telling you is from the "been there,done that, couldn't afford the T-shirt" school.
From what I've seen, if you can put your issues in writing, and support your position with documentation of facts,you will have a better chance of getting your attorney to step up. Don't waste everybody's time calling on the phone and yelling or arguing, they're probably pretty much used to that And too bad if they don't want to be bothered-excuse me, you ARE the client/customer here. If you can establish a legitimate issue it's his job to help you resolve it.
I hope this all works out well for you.

 

[missybee53]

Thanks, ME TOO!