Summary of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
An Overview of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
The basic steps involved in a typical Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy, sometimes called reorganization bankruptcy, is quite different from Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, most of your debts are wiped out; in exchange, you must relinquish any property that isn’t exempt from seizure by your creditors. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you don’t have to hand over any property, but you must use your income to pay some or all of what you owe to your creditors over time — from three to five years, depending on the size of your debts and income.
Chapter 13 Eligibility
Chapter 13 bankruptcy isn’t for everyone. Because Chapter 13 requires you to use your income to repay some or all of your debt, you’ll have to prove to the court that you can afford to meet your payment obligations. If your income is irregular or too low, the court might not allow you to file for Chapter 13.
If your total debt burden is too high, you are also ineligible. Your secured debts cannot exceed $1,010,650, and your unsecured debts cannot be more than $336,900. A “secured debt” is one that gives a creditor the right to take a specific item of property (such as your house or car) if you don’t pay the debt. An “unsecured debt” (such as a credit card or medical bill) doesn’t give the creditor this right.
The Chapter 13 Process
Before you can file for bankruptcy, you must receive credit counseling from an agency approved by the United States Trustee’s office. (For a list of approved agencies, go to the Trustee’s website at www.usdoj.gov/ust and click “Credit Counseling and Debtor Education.”) These agencies are allowed to charge a fee for their services, but they must provide counseling for free or at reduced rates if you cannot afford to pay.
In addition, you’ll have to pay the filing fee, which is currently $274, and file numerous forms. For line-by-line instructions on filling out the required bankruptcy forms, see Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: Repay Your Debts, by Stephen Elias & Robin Leonard.
The Chapter 13 Repayment Plan
The most important part of your Chapter 13 paperwork will be a repayment plan. Your repayment plan will describe in detail how (and how much) you will pay each of your debts. There is no official form for the plan, but many courts have designed their own forms.
How Much You Must Pay
Your Chapter 13 plan must pay certain debts in full. These debts are called “priority debts,” because they’re considered sufficiently important to jump to the head of the bankruptcy repayment line. Priority debts include child support and alimony, wages you owe to employees, and certain tax obligations.
In addition, your plan must include your regular payments on secured debts, such as a car loan or mortgage, as well as repayment of any arrearages on the debts (the amount by which you’ve fallen behind in your payments).
The plan must show that any disposable income you have left after making these required payments will go towards repaying your unsecured debts, such as credit card or medical bills. You don’t have to repay these debts in full (or at all, in some cases). You just have to show that you are putting any remaining income towards their repayment.
How Long Your Repayment Plan Will Last
The length of your repayment plan depends on how much you earn and how much you owe. If your average monthly income over the six months prior to the date you filed for bankruptcy is more than the median income for your state, you’ll have to propose a five-year plan. If your income is lower than the median, you may propose a three-year plan. (To get the median income figures for your state, go to the United States Trustee’s website, www.usdoj.gov/ust, and click “Means Testing Information.”)
No matter how much you earn, your plan will end if you repay all of your debts in full, even if you have not yet reached the three- or five-year mark.
If You Can’t Make Plan Payments
If for some reason you cannot finish a Chapter 13 repayment plan — for example, you lose your job six months into the plan and can’t keep up the payments — the bankruptcy trustee may modify your plan, or the court might let you discharge your debts on the basis of hardship. Examples of hardship would be a sudden plant closing in a one-factory town or a debilitating illness.
If the bankruptcy court won’t let you modify your plan or give you a hardship discharge, you might be able to convert to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or ask the bankruptcy court to dismiss your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case (you would still owe your debts, plus any interest creditors did not charge while your Chapter 13 case was pending). For information on your alternatives in this situation, see Chapter 13 Bankruptcy: Repay Your Debts, by attorney Stephen Elias and Robin Leonard, J.D.
How a Chapter 13 Case Ends
Once you complete your repayment plan, all remaining debts that are eligible for discharge will be wiped out. Before you can receive a discharge, you must show the court that you are current on your child support and/or alimony obligations and that you have completed a budget counseling course with an agency approved by the United States Trustee. (This requirement is separate from the mandatory credit counseling you must undergo before filing for bankruptcy — you can find a list of approved agencies at the Trustee’s website, www.usdoj.gov/ust; click “Credit Counseling and Debtor Education.”)
Chapter 13: Repayment Plan and Confirmation Hearing
The Repayment Plan
Unless the court grants an extension, under Chapter 13 a bankruptcy debtor must file a repayment plan with the bankruptcy petition, or within 15 days after the petition is filed. A plan must be submitted for court approval and must provide for payments of fixed amounts to the trustee on a regular basis, typically biweekly or monthly. The trustee then distributes the funds to creditors according to the terms of the plan, which may offer creditors less than full payment on their claims.
Creditors’ Claims and Repayment under the Plan
There are three types of claims:
- Priority
- Secured
- Unsecured
Priority claims are those granted special status by the bankruptcy law, such as most taxes and the costs of bankruptcy proceeding. Secured claims are those for which the creditor has the right take back certain property (i.e., the collateral) if the debtor does not pay the underlying debt. In contrast to secured claims, unsecured claims are generally those for which the creditor has no special rights to collect against particular property owned by the debtor.
The plan must pay priority claims in full unless a particular priority creditor agrees to different treatment of the claim or, in the case of a domestic support obligation, unless the debtor contributes all “disposable income” – discussed below – to a five-year plan.
“Secured” Claims Under the Repayment Plan
If the debtor wants to keep the collateral securing a particular claim, the plan must provide that the holder of the secured claim receive at least the value of the collateral. If the obligation underlying the secured claim was used the buy the collateral (e.g., a car loan), and the debt was incurred within certain time frames before the bankruptcy filing, the plan must provide for full payment of the debt, not just the value of the collateral (which may be less due to depreciation). Payments to certain secured creditors (i.e., the home mortgage lender), may be made over the original loan repayment schedule (which may be longer than the plan) so long as any arrearage is made up during the plan. The debtor should consult an attorney to determine the proper treatment of secured claims in the plan.
“Unsecured” Claims Under the Repayment Plan
The plan need not pay unsecured claims in full as long it provides that the debtor will pay all projected “disposable income” over an “applicable commitment period,” and as long as unsecured creditors receive at least as much under the plan as they would receive if the debtor’s assets were liquidated under chapter 7. In chapter 13, “disposable income” is income (other than child support payments received by the debtor) less amounts reasonably necessary for the maintenance or support of the debtor or dependents and less charitable contributions up to 15% of the debtor’s gross income. If the debtor operates a business, the definition of disposable income excludes those amounts which are necessary for ordinary operating expenses. The “applicable commitment period” depends on the debtor’s current monthly income. The applicable commitment period must be three years if current monthly income is less than the state median for a family of the same size – and five years if the current monthly income is greater than a family of the same size. The plan may be less than the applicable commitment period (three or five years) only if unsecured debt is paid in full over a shorter period.
The Confirmation Hearing
No later than 45 days after the meeting of creditors, the bankruptcy judge must hold a confirmation hearing and decide whether the plan is feasible and meets the standards for confirmation set forth in the Bankruptcy Code. Creditors will receive 25 days’ notice of the hearing and may object to confirmation. While a variety of objections may be made, the most frequent ones are that payments offered under the plan are less than creditors would receive if the debtor’s assets were liquidated or that the debtor’s plan does not commit all of the debtor’s projected disposable income for the three or five year applicable commitment period.
If the court confirms the plan, the chapter 13 trustee will distribute funds received under the plan “as soon as is practicable.” If the court declines to confirm the plan, the debtor may file a modified plan. The debtor may also convert the case to a liquidation case under chapter 7 (A fee of $15 is charged for converting a
case under chapter 13 to a case under chapter 7). If the court declines to confirm the plan or the modified plan and instead dismisses the case, the court may authorize the trustee to keep some funds for costs, but the trustee must return all remaining funds to the debtor (other than funds already disbursed or due to creditors).
Occasionally, a change in circumstances may compromise the debtor’s ability to make plan payments. For example, a creditor may object or threaten to object to a plan, or the debtor may inadvertently have failed to list all creditors. In such instances, the plan may be modified either before or after confirmation. Modification after confirmation is not limited to an initiative by the debtor, but may be at the request of the trustee or an unsecured creditor.
Making the Repayment Plan Work
The provisions of a confirmed plan bind the debtor and each creditor. Once the court confirms the plan, the debtor must make the plan succeed. The debtor must make regular payments to the trustee either directly or through payroll deduction, which will require adjustment to living on a fixed budget for a prolonged period. Furthermore, while confirmation of the plan entitles the debtor to retain property as long as payments are made, the debtor may not incur new debt without consulting the trustee, because additional debt may compromise the debtor’s ability to complete the plan.
A debtor may make plan payments through payroll deductions. This practice increases the likelihood that payments will be made on time and that the debtor will complete the plan. In any event, if the debtor fails to make the payments due under the confirmed plan, the court may dismiss the case or convert it to a liquidation case under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. The court may also dismiss or convert the debtor’s case if the debtor fails to pay any post-filing domestic support obligations (i.e., child support, alimony), or fails to make required tax filings during the case.