I'm on a chapter 13 bankruptcy and buddy's home furniture is…

You can try to amend your chapter 13 filing to add this omitted creditor, but depending on when in the process that occurs, it a complicated process and may require a new plan to be approved. For example, if you are already 2 years into a 5 year repayment plan that is paying a certain percentage to unsecured creditors, and the Trustee has been making payments already to those creditors, then if you add a new creditor now, they are not going to receive the same amount as the other creditors. There may be ways to equalize the payments to them and it would require a modification of the existing plan.

Please Note:

(1) This information is for educational purposes only and it may not reflect current legal developments for your specific jurisdiction. It is not guaranteed to be correct or complete and you should not act or fail to act based on this information alone. This and all other Just Answer disclaimers also apply to any telephone communications we may have.

(2) Most follow-up questions are answered with in the hour; however, if I am not signed on, please allow up to 24 hours.

(3) Please remember to assign a feedback rating when we are done so that Just Answer will compensate me for my time.

You need to file to amend your chapter 13 and add buddy as a creditor.

When you file your Chapter 13 case, the judge, the trustee, and your creditors all review your proposed repayment plan. If the trustee or one of your creditors doesn’t agree with the terms of your plan, they can object to confirmation of the plan. The terms of your plan are finalized only upon confirmation by the court, which can take several months. Fortunately, you can modify your plan before or after the court confirms it.

Well, it appears that it is already in BK court. But, yes, you can go back to your lawyer and add buddy's debt before your proposed repayment plan get confirmed or ask the court to approve a new repayment plan if one has already been confirmed.

I did not realize this was a rent to own lease arrangement. He is correct. Your basic options are either to “accept” the lease or else “reject” it. When “accepting” the lease you keep possession of the property and must accept ALL of the lease’s terms and obligations. When “rejecting” the lease, you surrender the property and ALL of the remaining lease debt is discharged. THAT SAID, if that lease is really just a disguised purchase over time, with the “leased” property as collateral; then the lease is treated as a secured purchase and chapter 13 may still be filed.

The longer you wait the harder and more expensive it becomes to add it to the bankruptcy. Also, if it is a true lease it appears that you need to add it now if you want to reject the lease so the debt can be discharged. Otherwise, you will need to accept the lease and keep up with the payments.

You need to meet with your lawyer in person and ask these questions; not the secretary as these are not ordinary bankruptcy issues that can be easily answered.

We have gone round and round on this. Please review the answers I have already provided as they address you latest inquiry.

I noticed that you did not yet assign a feedback rating. Without you doing that, I do not get paid for my time. If you are genuinely not satisfied with my answer, please know that Just Answer has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. You can either ask for a refund or click the "opt out" button to get a different expert.

BTW: You can assign a rating by clicking on the 5 stars in your email or on your chat screen.