MasConcepts Incorporated

My attorney filed my Chapter 13 petition and plan in March 2026 in Virginia. The case has progressed as expected, but I recently received an unexpected positive development.

Before filing bankruptcy, like many of you I worked with a debt settlement company in an effort to resolve my debts. Unfortunately, the experience was unsuccessful and ultimately led to my Chapter 13 filing.

A few weeks ago, I learned that the U.S. Trustee filed a motion against the debt settlement company, arguing that certain fees that I paid for debt resolution services were excessive and unreasonable. The motion acknowledged my good-faith effort to address my debts outside of bankruptcy and cited case law supporting the return of fees where the work was minimal, the services provided little benefit, and bankruptcy became necessary anyway.

The Trustee is seeking to have approximately $4,000 refunded directly to me, and the funds would not be required to be paid into my Chapter 13 plan. I thought this was a very unexpected development and I wanted to share it since so many of us have been harmed by these predatory debt settlement companies, and I wasn’t expecting a UST to try and recoup funds to be paid directly to the debtor. The hearing on the motion is later this month and I can follow up afterwards!