The schedule can be found here.

The schedule can be found here.

The schedule can be found here.

Notice

There has been less than full compliance with the requirements of Local Rule 1007-4, as reproduced below (effective 12/01/17). This creates an unnecessary administrative burden on the chapter 13 office, and may prevent a thorough 341 meeting. Therefore, if there is a failure to comply with the rule by the originally scheduled 341 date, the meeting will not be held (unless and until there is compliance). Uploading pay advices to the chapter 13 office does not constitute compliance. Note also that under 11 U.S.C. §521(i)(1), the failure to comply within 45 days of the filing of the petition could result in an “automatic dismissal” of the case on the 46^th day after the filing of the petition.

Local Rule 1007-4 Submission of Evidence of an Employer’s Payments Within 60 Days of Filing the Petition

A debtor shall comply with §521(a)(1)(B)(iv) by filing with the court (1) the required payment advices (pay stubs), or (2) the documents available to the debtor accompanied by a statement that sets forth the reason why some payment documents have not been submitted and the debtor’s estimate of and other evidence, if any, of the payments received within the 60 day time period.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

PURSUANT TO 11 U.S.C. § 521(e)(2)(A), DEBTOR(S) MUST PROVIDE A COPY OF THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX RETURN FOR THE MOST RECENT TAX YEAR ENDING IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CASE AND FOR WHICH A TAX RETURN WAS FILED.

FOR CASES DOCKETED IN 2021, DEBTOR(S) WHO HAS/HAVE FILED RETURN(S) FOR 2020 SHOULD BE PROVIDING THOSE 2020 RETURNS FOR THE 341 HEARINGS. IF A RETURN FOR 2020 HAS NOT YET BEEN FILED (SINCE IT IS NOT DUE UNTIL 4/15/2021), THEN PROVIDING A RETURN FOR 2019 IS ACCEPTABLE. AFTER 4/15/21, HOWEVER, THE 2020 TAX RETURN MUST BE PROVIDED.

Effective October 1, 2020, the trustee commission in cases assigned to William C. Miller will be 8.0%, which will be collected on plan payments as they are received.

As we have always recommended, for plan confirmation purposes, please continue to calculate the fee at the ten (10) percent statutory maximum, to avoid having plans which become underfunded due to possible percentage fee changes.

Please use this revised form to submit to our office. We are not requiring copies of government issued ID’s and Social Security cards. As the form indicates, we are relying on debtors’ counsel to review the appropriate documents and verify identity.

Declaration Form

The IRS extension for filing of 2019 tax returns is 7/15/20. We shall not conduct any 341 meetings after that date unless debtor(s) redacted 2019 tax returns are provided prior to the scheduled hearing.

We are beginning to see debtors filing motions to modify plans under 11 U.S.C. Section 1329(d). So that our position is clear, we have drafted a pro forma answer to such motions,  a copy of which is available via the link in this notice.  Such an answer may or may not be filed in all such cases, depending upon the circumstances. It may also be modified. Please be guided accordingly.

PRO-FORMA ANSWER

On March 30, 2020, we posted our Protocol for telephonic 341’s. These have been going well, and we thank everyone for their cooperation. The Attorney Declaration form we were using required modifications, as noted in the prior Protocol. We were made aware of another Attorney Declaration form on the UST site, apparently from another region, simpler and better suited to our needs. Therefore, we have modified the Protocol, as attached, which includes a fillable version of the updated Attorney Declaration. Please use this form going forward.

PROTOCOL

DECLARATION FORM

As previously posted, our commission increased to 10% on May 1. There have been questions regarding the calculations needed to fund a plan. The steps are as follows: (1)  take the total amount of claims to be paid, including attorneys’ fees, and (2) divide the total by 0.9. For example, if there are $5,000 in attorneys’ fees, $5,000 in priority claims, $20,000 in secured claims, and $10,000 in unsecured claims, the total = $40,000. The trustee commission = $40,000/0.9 = $4,444, for a total plan = $44,444. Please refer any specific questions to the staff attorney or paralegal handling a particular judge’s list.