New Plan Form – Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Please remember to include the “or more” language under estimated payment amounts in
sections 3.1(b), 3.2, 3.3, 5.2 and 6.1
- Section 3.1(b) – Please make sure your plan includes all of the following language
under estimated amount of arrearage: “Includes amounts accrued through the (Month/Year) payment.”
However, please do not add the words “resumption date” because the regular payments will
automatically resume the month following after the (month/year) you put in this section
- Section 3.1(d) – Check this box if there is loan modification language in section 8.1
- Section 3.1(e) – Check this box if there is a secured creditor being treated in 8.1
- Section 3.2 – When valuing secured claims, the “estimated amount of secured claim,” column 6,
is the number that matters. Unless there are senior liens, this amount should match the “value of collateral”
in column 4. If the dollar amount in column 6 is the same as column 2, “estimated amount of creditor’s total claim,”
then that means the plan is paying the debt in full, and the treatment must be moved to 3.3 instead. See below:
- Section 3.3 – Remember to check one of the boxes specifying if payments will be “disbursed by Trustee or Debtor”
- Section 3.4 – (lien avoidance) Please include the dollar amount of the exemption in column 4 as well as the appropriate statute.
Also, in the last column, please use “100%” or “all” instead of a dollar amount, as the claim may not match your figure.
- Section 4.3(b) – please do not include any attorney fee amounts if you are being paid pursuant to the expedited fee procedure
- Section 4.4 – Please check at least one box in this section. The plan was revised to include a check box
in front of “Other Priority Debt” so one or more of the 3 boxes should be checked
- Section 5.3 – Student loans being paid outside the plan in a 100% plan should be listed here with all sections
completed. Please also specifically state that the student loan creditors will not receive any payments through the plan from the
Trustee. If the student loans are treated instead in section 8.1, you must specifically state that the student loan creditors
will not receive any payments through the plan from the Trustee, and also remember to check the “other” box in section 5.3
- Section 8.1 – If you include any unapproved nonconforming language in this section, a hearing will be required for Judge Burris
to rule on its inclusion in the plan. However, certain nonconforming language has previously been approved and does
not require a hearing: click here to see it
Also, if there is anything in 8.1, please make sure your plan includes all the italicized language below that
is part of the form plan:
- Under Bankruptcy Rule 3015(c), nonstandard provisions must be set forth below. A nonstandard provision is a provision not
otherwise included in this form or deviating from it. Nonstandard provisions set out elsewhere in this plan are ineffective.
- The following plan provisions will be effective only if there is a check in the box “Included” in 1.3.
- Please don’t forget to include all of the changes in the top right corner of the first page – you only need to identify the
paragraph number(s) with changes
- Many County tax claims are being filed as secured. If they are filed as secured, they need plan treatment
- For Judge Burris cases, please do not include the debtor statement in support of confirmation language or the notice language
regarding confirmed plan vs. proof of claim in 8.1. She has refused to confirm plans that contain this language in the past
NOTICE OF HEARING
If you are filing an Amended Plan before the original confirmation hearing has taken place, and the new plan is filed
more than
28 days prior to the originally-scheduled confirmation hearing, you do
not need to file or serve a
Notice of Confirmation Hearing
with the new plan.
(That is almost the ONLY time you do not have to file a separate Notice of Confirmation Hearing with an amended plan.)
If the date you file the Amended Plan is
less than 28 days prior to the original confirmation hearing, then there isn’t enough time for it to be heard
on the original hearing date. Therefore, you will need file and serve a new
Notice of Confirmation Hearing along with the Amended Plan,
choosing the next available hearing date that is
more than 28 days after you file the plan. You have to serve
all creditors with both
the new plan and the
Notice of Confirmation Hearing. Make sure the
Notice of Confirmation Hearing includes the date of the plan it refers to.
After the original confirmation hearing has already occurred, but
before the case is confirmed, every time you file a new plan, you will also need to
file and serve a new
Notice of Confirmation Hearing along with the Amended Plan, choosing the next available hearing date that is
more than 28 days
after you file the plan. You have to serve
all creditors with both the new plan and the
Notice of Confirmation Hearing. Make sure the
Notice of Confirmation Hearing includes the date of the plan it refers to.
After the case is confirmed, every time you file a new plan, you will also need to file and serve a
Motion to Modify Plan After Confirmation and
Opportunity for Hearing along with the Amended Plan, choosing the next available hearing date that is
more than 28 days after you file the plan.
You have to serve the Amended Plan together with the
Motion to Modify only on creditors who are or may be adversely affected by the modification.
THE PLAN DATE MUST ALWAYS BE INCLUDED IN THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE NOTICE OF HEARING.
