Disadvantages of a Badly-Timed 5-Year Chapter 13 Case

Following up on last week’s scenario, here are the financial, credit record, and other disadvantages of a forced 5-year Chapter 13 plan.

Our last two blog posts were about how the last 6 calendar months of income of a person filing a Chapter 13 case can determine whether his or her Chapter 13 payment plan lasts only 3 years or instead a full 5 years. We showed how even relatively small shifts in income can cause this huge difference.

The last blog post gave a scenario illustrating how this would work in a real-life situation. It showed how under certain circumstances one person would have a 3-year payment plan if he or she filed a Chapter 13 case in January but a 5-year plan if filed in February. Today we look at the financial and other consequences of this difference, and some other practical considerations.

Filing a Chapter 13 Case in January vs. February 2019

Our scenario involved a person receiving an extra $2,500 in income in January 2019 from a temporary holiday job. (That’s in addition to the $3,000 every month from the person’s regular job.) Because of the way income is calculated, that $2,500 would push this person over the median family income threshold, but only IF that income is counted. Filing the Chapter 13 case in January would result in that extra $2,500 NOT being counted. That’s because you count only the last 6 FULL CALENDAR MONTHS’ income (and double that for the annual amount). Those 6 months with a January filing are July through December 2018. You DON’T count the income of the month you’re filing the case—in this situation, January.

When filing the Chapter 13 case in February you DO COUNT the extra $2,500 in determining the plan’s length. That’s because the last 6 full calendar months are then August 2018 through January 2019, including the $2,500.

Financial Consequences

Our scenario assumed that your budget requires you to pay $300 per month into your Chapter 13 plan. If you have to pay that for 5 years instead of 3, that’s 2 more years of payments. 24 months of $300 payments totals $7,200. That’s a lot of extra money to pay just because you happened to file your Chapter 13 case in February instead of January.

That could potentially include filing the case just one day later—February 1 instead of January 31. Again, that’s because when filing on February 1 you must include January’s income—including the extra $2,500. When filing on January 31 you don’t include January’s income, avoiding that very troublesome $2,500.

Of course if your monthly Chapter 13 plan payment would be larger than $300, the extra money you pay will be that much more. For example, a $500 monthly plan payment would mean an extra $6,000 paid during the extra two years.

In addition, the longer your case lasts the more likely that your income would increase during your case. That may well require you to increase your monthly plan payment. That would result in you paying that much more during the final two years.

For example, assume you’re paying $500 per month into your payment plan from the beginning of your case. After 3 years you get a new job or a promotion increasing your income by $300 per month. If you had a 3-year plan (based on your initial income calculation) you’d be finishing your Chapter 13 case then. You’d pay nothing more into the payment plan; you’d get to keep all your income, including the pay increase.

Instead, if you’re in a 5-year plan you’d have two more years to go. You may well have to increase your $500 plan payments by $300 to $800 monthly. $800 per month for the final two years would mean an additional $19,200 paid to your creditors. And this could happen merely by filing your case with unwise timing!

Credit Record Consequences

These financial consequences of a longer case are bad enough. But the intangible consequences could be pretty bad as well.

Having your case last 2 years longer means 2 more years before you can really rebuild your credit. To some extent you may be able to build some positive credit history DURING a Chapter 13 case. That can happen if as part of the case you’re making regular contractual payments on your home or vehicle. But you’re still in the midst of a bankruptcy case, which harms your credit record. The sooner you complete your Chapter 13 case the better for credit purposes.

Two extra years in your case means that much longer before you’re free of the Chapter 13 trustee’s supervision. That likely means two more years that the trustee can take your income tax refunds to benefit your creditors. And, as described above, that’s two more years that increases in income could go, partly or fully, to your creditors.

Also, it’s 2 more years of the risk that you won’t finish your case successfully. To get some of the most important benefits of a Chapter 13 case you must complete it. The longer a case lasts the more opportunities for things to happen that jeopardize a successful completion.

Lastly, being in a Chapter 13 case can be emotionally challenging. You wouldn’t be in it unless it was providing you significant financial benefits. (For example, saving your home and/or your vehicle(s), paying your income taxes or child support while protected from these creditors.) But you are in a sort of financial limbo. It feels very good to finish it and get it over with. You definitely want to do so in 3 years instead of 5 if you can.

“Three-Year Plans” that Last Longer

One last thing: a Chapter 13 plan that is allowed to be finished in 3 years may last longer. Your income may allow you to have a 3-year plan but you can chose to have it last longer. The law provides that the bankruptcy “court, for cause,” may approve a length up to 5 years.

Many things that could push your allowed-to-be-3-year plan to be longer. You may want to pay for something—a home mortgage arrearage or priority income taxes, for example—and need more time to do so within a reasonable budget. So your plan may last up to 5 years in order for it to accomplish what you need it to.

IF this applies to you, being required to pay for 5 years because of your income may not be a practical disadvantage. On the other hand, you certainly don’t want to stumble into a 5-year Chapter 13 case simply because you didn’t time it well.

Talk with an experienced and conscientious bankruptcy lawyer to learn where your own unique circumstances puts you in all this.