| Contacts By Creditors |
| Balance Due Creditors |
| Claims of Creditors |
| Late Claims |
| Creditors Not Listed |
| How Creditors Are Paid |
| Cosigners and Comakers |
| Contact by Creditor After Completion of a Chapter 13 |
Contacts by Creditors:All the creditors that you listed on your Chapter 13 petition are under an automatic restraining order which prohibits them from contacting you or your employer in any way. If you get notices in the mail from your creditors, send them to your attorney. Delinquent notices need not cause any great concern, but if you get more personal, direct contact from a creditor, such as a telephone call, a personal letter, a summons or a visit in person, you should immediately inform them that you are under Chapter 13 and give them your case number, the Trustee's name and address and your attorney's name and address. By the same token, you should not contact your creditors. Be sure you tell your attorney the name of the person who contacted you. |
Balance Due Creditors:You may not deal with a creditor, just as a creditor may not deal with you. You cannot pick and choose some particular creditor and pay him "on the side" because all of your debts must be dealt with through the Court. Any payment which you make to a creditor may well be illegal. All creditors must be paid under the authority of the Court, by the terms of the law, and not by any personal desires. If you want to know how much you still owe a creditor, or all creditors, you may call our office and ask for a copy of the accounting of your case. The Trustee will mail you and your attorney a copy of your case report twice a year. This record will show the payments received by the Trustee and the balance owed to each creditor. |
Claims of Creditors:While the creditors which you list on your Chapter 13 petition are given the opportunity to file a claim for payment, they are allowed only 90 days from the Meeting of Creditors to file their claim. Approximately five months after your meeting of creditors, we will send you a complete list of every creditor who has filed a claim in your case and the amount which they claim you owed them. You should read and examine this list, called a "Motion to Allow Claims," very carefully. If a creditor is listed incorrectly or any amount claimed does not appear correct, you should contact your attorney at once. Unless your attorney objects to a claim, we will pay the amount the creditor requests, not the amount listed on your petition. If a creditor does not file a claim within the time allowed and if you want that creditor paid in your Chapter 13 case, please have your attorney file a claim for the creditor. |
Late Claims:As noted above, creditors have 90 days after the Meeting of Creditors to file their claims for payment. Generally, they are not entitled to payment if they file after that date. Tax claims are an exception to this limit. Sometimes a creditor will file after the time limit. The Trustee will assume that you want that creditor paid and will enter with the Court a "Motion to Allow Additional Claim" to be paid under your Chapter 13 plan. If you do not want to pay the claim, contact your attorney, who must object to its payment as any claim allowed will be paid. This means that unless you object to such a claim the Trustee will pay the claim, even if it was filed late.
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Creditors Not Listed:Creditors not listed by you when you filed can cause quite a few problems. There are two kinds of unlisted creditors: those you owed money to when you filed and forgot to list ---we call them "unlisted creditors" --- and those creditors who have a bill that was incurred after you filed. We call this type "post-petition creditors." If you discover an unlisted creditor, one you owed but forgot to list, you must let your attorney know the details immediately. Your attorney can include this creditor in your plan and protect you. Time is very important here, so do not delay if one shows up. Post-petition creditors are rare because, except in emergency situations, you should incur no post-petition debt without the express prior approval of the Trustee. Post-petition debts should be brought to the attention of your attorney so that a review of your plan can be made. Should subsequent debts be added to your plan, a formal modification of your plan may be required which may call for an adjustment in your payment. |
How Creditors Are Paid:The money which you pay
to the Trustee is used to pay all expenses, including any attorney fees
to be paid through the plan, and your creditors. The Trustee makes
disbursements on a monthly basis. |
Cosigners And Comakers:A cosigner, comaker or guarantor on any of your consumer debts is generally protected from contact by the creditor as long as you remain under Chapter 13. This automatic protection applies only in Chapter 13 cases. If the cosigner, comaker or guarantor has given collateral for the loan, the creditor must request a hearing before the Judge in order to proceed against the property. This codebtor protection will only protect cosigners, comakers or guarantors for the amount of debt your plan proposes to pay. If your plan is not scheduled to pay the creditors in full, a creditor may obtain permission to collect from the cosigner, comaker or guarantor the percentage of the debt that your plan is not going to pay. |
Contact by Creditor After Completion of a Chapter 13:When a secured creditor has had his claim paid by Chapter 13, he should, and usually does, send the "paid in full" papers to you. Even if the creditor fails to do this, it is not too significant since the official records of the Court showing your plan is completely paid would overrule most claims. Should you receive any request for additional money after your plan is completed, contact your attorney. |