MasConcepts Incorporated

I had my 341 Meeting today and it mostly went smoothly except when the trustee asked my lawyer why did he file chapter 13 instead of Chapter 7.

The lawyer responded that I had additional funds to pay creditors but the Trustee noted that my current chapter 13 plan doesn’t pay any unsecured debt. The lawyer then said he wanted to save me extra money on my car payments. The Trustee asked was I behind on car payments and how much were my car payments. I answered with no, I wasn’t behind on payments and my car payment was $150 more a month than I’m paying now.

The trustee then asked if I could afford my initial car payments and before I could answer my lawyer cut me off and said something I couldn’t hear then the Trustee said she wasn’t going to ask anymore questions but the lawyer might need to appear before the judge to explain his fees.

The reason he told me I had to file chapter 13 was to protect my car and house. My Buyer Purchase Opinion on my house came in way lower than I thought leaving me with about $10,000 in equity left after the bankruptcy home exemption for my state. However, my Lawyer didn’t mention any of this.

This has me questioning why am I on a 13, instead of a 7 if he couldn’t answer that question when the trustee asked and why would he need to explain his fees to the judge as if this is an usual situation?

I signed up for a pacer account but I can’t gain any information as of yet due to an error on my account but I’m wondering if the lawyer who I thought was pretty good, did something slick my case?