A good tip for keeping track of your chapter 13 plan payments

2013 May 9 by jesse

When someone files chapter 13 bankruptcy they typically have to make 60 monthly payments to their chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee.   The chapter 13 trustee’s in Colorado don’t send out a monthly statement telling your what your payment is, when it’s due or how many more months you have left to pay.   The total burden of making timely monthly payments is on the debtor.

So ….. how can you tell how many payments you’ve made and how far along you are in your bankruptcy then?

Here’s an awesome and simple trick I learned at a recent tax class I attended that one practitioner uses to help her tax clients keep track of their tax payments:

If your chapter 13 payment is $200 per month, then put an extra penny in each check that corresponds to that monthly payment.   For example

• Trustee Payment #1: $200.01
• Trustee Payment #2: $200.02
• Trustee Payment #3: $200.03
• and so on and so on ….
• Trustee Payment #60: $200.60.

This will help you keep track of how many payment you’ve made and also whether the trustee has cashed that check.

I think that’s a pretty cool and simple trick.

Where to Send Mortgage Payments to Bank of America During a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

2013 May 9 by jesse

When a chapter 13 bankruptcy is filed, some lenders require mortgage payments to be sent to a special address.    Here is the payment address for Bank of America for people who are in Chapter 13:

Or you can in mortgage payments by calling Bank of America’s bankruptcy department:    1-800-669-5224

Make sure to keep good records of all your mortgage payments during your bankruptcy and put your account number on all your payments.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy meeting of creditors photo

2013 April 29 by jesse

This is what the chapter 7 meeting of creditors room in Denver looks like. No judge. No jury. No torture devices. Good and boring. Just the way it should be. (Some days it can make the DMV look almost interesting).

Meeting of creditors take about 5 minutes each and they hold 45-60 a day. They ask the same 20 questions over and over.

Tip: Do it right the first time you go so you don’t have to endure sitting through other interviews a second time.

If you have a good attorney your meeting should be like a knife through warm butter.

This is the building the meetings are held in: 1999 Broadway. Denver

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Timeline

2013 April 15 by jesse

Below is a link to download a PDF of the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy timeline that I’ve been handing out to clients for the last several years.

Clients appreciate being able to see a simple and accurate illustration of what is to be expected in their case.

I like using illustrations like this one in my practice.   They help educate and set expectation.   When this is done right the clients have an overall better experience and are less nervous and scared.

My wife and I have 5 children.   When my wife was pregnant for the first few times we both found comfort in educating ourselves about pregnancy and birth process.   It really helped to know what to expect.   A lot of what we learned came from the popular book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.”

If I wrote a book I might call it, ” What to expect when you’re in bankruptcy.”   It would be full of easy to understand information and illustrations (like the one below).

There should rarely be any surprises in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case if the case is well prepared and the client is educated on the process.   This illustration of the chapter 7 process helps by setting realistic expectations and helping clients understand the process.  I think you’ll find it helpful.

Let me know what you think.

Click HERE to download the chapter 7 bankruptcy timeline PDF

For Those of You With Active Cases

2011 April 8 by Staff

There is a handy online service that allows you to access your court documents for only eight cents per page. Check out PACER — Public Access to Court Electronic Records at www.pacer.gov/psco/cgi-bin/regform.pl. Continue reading »