This year (2019) has been an exciting year in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases for South Carolina. Cases in the Columbia area are using a new plan form that allows for the whole mortgage payment and the arrears to be paid through the Chapter 13 Plan payment. In prior years, the Chapter 13 Plan payment only allowed the “arrears” to be paid in the plan. One of the benefits with this plan format is there is now only one payment to make instead of two payments. Also, it as long as the Trustee is being timely paid, it will avoid the mortgage lender from filing “motions for relief”. There are some downsides however. The Plan payment is slightly higher than it would have been without the mortgage payment because the Trustee receives a percentage each payment.
Trustees in Greenville and Charleston are also allowing the new “Conduit” form plan. Chapter 13 can be a very effective reorganization plan to deal with your consumer debts. In some instances, a Chapter 13 Plan has more power than a Chapter 7. Examples are dealing with property issues in a Domestic Support issue and valuing tax liens. In addition, unlike Chapter 7 cases, Debtors in a Chapter 13 cannot lose any assets to a Trustee (they can still lose assets to a lender such as a car if they fall behind on).