Franklin Park Bankruptcy Attorney Illustrates Aspects of Chapter 13

The trustee is not the end-all, be-all when it comes to whether or not a plan is going to be confirmed according to Franklin Park bankruptcy attorney.  The court can hold a confirmation hearing and can take testimony and evidence in taking all the factors into consideration to determine whether or not the debtor has proposed a plan that is confirmable.  If the case is dismissed, the debtor usually will get a second bite at the apple where they can bring a second bankruptcy case and try and have a Chapter 13 plan approved.  If a case is dismissed and a case is re-filed within one year of that dismissal, then the automatic stay will only last for 30 days unless extended by court order.  If you have a skilled, seasoned, competent attorney, then that attorney will bring a motion to extend the automatic stay within 30 days after the second case is filed.   

If the motion is not brought within 30 days of the second case being filed after the first case has been dismissed within a year’s time, then the stay cannot be extended.  This is a very strict timeframe where if you don’t bring it within 30 days, you have lost the right to get the stay extended.  You are then at the mercy of creditors to allow for the repayment plan under Chapter 13.  Also, at any time during the course of the Chapter 13, a creditor who does not have a stay extended against him can bring an action such as a foreclosure or a repossession, even though they’re accepting payments through the Chapter 13 plan.  You may have a collateral estoppel argument, but the truth is there is no stay; thus, there is no significant bankruptcy protection.  If you hire a competent, skilled, seasoned Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney, then you are not going to run into the issue of having a situation where the stay is not extended against all creditors.   

Once you are proceeding with your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, if you are making all of your payments on time, you are going to have success.  If, however, you fail to make either the trustee payment or a post-petition mortgage payment outside of the plan, then you are going to run into potential problems.  The Chapter 13 trustee can bring a motion to dismiss for failure to make plan payments on time.  Or the mortgage company can bring a motion to modify the stay and/or dismiss your bankruptcy case for failure to make regular post-petition mortgage payments directly to the lender.  If either one of these were to occur, you will have a drastic on your case.  Your case will either be dismissed by the Chapter 13 trustee or the mortgage company will be free to pursue foreclosure proceedings because they will no longer be part of your bankruptcy case.