Winter 2013 Newsletter

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1 Notable Highlights: Home Loan Modification Process Page 1 Attorney Fee Applications Page 2 Filing Financial Management Certificates & Local Form Page 2 Secured Creditor Proof of Claims Page 2 Pre-Confirmation Status Report & Modified Plan Status Report Page 3 Updated Staff Contact Information Page 4 Sample Status Report Page 5 Happy holidays from our office to yours! Season s Greetings! This is the first newsletter we ve produced from our office but we hope to make it a seasonal occurrence. The purpose of this newsletter is to keep attorneys and the bankruptcy community informed on recent and/or upcoming changes to our office policies and procedures. We hope you find this to be a helpful resource. Please let us know if you have any questions. Happy Holidays! First Up: Home Loan Modification Process As of January 1, 2014, the Trustee s Office will no longer issue a no objection letter in response to the debtor (s) request to enter into a loan modification. If the lender and borrowers who are parties to the mortgage loan desire to consensually modify the mortgage loan, they are free to do so without the involvement of the Trustee s Office. Also, the Trustee will no longer place a hold on funds being disbursed on the mortgage claim the debtor(s) is seeking to modify. If the debtor (s) wish that the payment not be disbursed to the mortgage creditor as scheduled, they should modify the plan to stop the payments to the mortgage creditor. In the event that the debtor(s) enter into a home loan modification with their mortgage company and no modified plan is filed to stop payments on the mortgage claim and the claim is GREGORY A. BURRELL, TRUSTEE Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Office, Minneapolis, MN First Edition December Gregory Burrell, Trustee later amended by the mortgage creditor, the Trustee will not be requesting the return of funds that were properly disbursed to the mortgage creditor pursuant to the confirmed plan. (This process only pertains to home loan modifications and debtors should follow the current procedure when requesting permission to purchase a new vehicle, etc.)

2 Page 2 of 4 Attorney Fee Applications Please file all fee applications before confirmation of the Chapter 13 plan in cases where you are only requesting the no look fee. In all other cases, the fee application should be filed promptly after confirmation of the plan or within sixty (60) days of completion of any work the attorney desires to receive compensation for. We have a number of cases whereby letters and s are sent to attorney offices advising the need to file fee applications that go unanswered. Too often the fee applications are being filed at the end of the case when there are not sufficient funds to cover all of the attorney fees. If fee applications are not filed within sixty (60) days after signing of the confirmation order or completion of any work performed by attorneys, there is a possibility that funds may not be available to pay attorney fees. Filing of Financial Management Certificate & Local Form As our current procedure stands, the Trustee sends a letter to the debtor(s) and counsel advising that the final payment due under the plan has been honored and that the financial management certificate and local form must be filed. We will continue to send this letter; however, it has been modified to state that if the requirements set out by Federal Bankruptcy Rule 1007(b)(7) and Local Bankruptcy Rule are not met within thirty (30) days of the date of the letter, there is a possibility that the case may be closed without a discharge being entered. Also, the Trustee will be filing this letter in the case docket on ECF. To avoid the debtor(s) case being closed without a discharge being entered, please file these forms in a timely manner. Secured Creditors Failure to File a Proof of Claim If a secured creditor fails to file a proof of claim, the Trustee sends a letter advising the creditor that in order to receive payment a claim must be filed. The Trustee will continue to send this letter, but if no claim is filed within thirty (30) days of the letter and the claims bar date has passed, the Trustee will file a trustee modification providing for disbursement of the funds to unsecured creditors.

3 Page 3 of 4 Pre-confirmation Status Report and Modified Plan Status Report Gregory A. Burrell Standing Chapter 13 Trustee District of Minnesota 12 South Sixth Street Suite 310 Minneapolis, MN Phone: Fax: We re on the Web! Visit us at: The Trustee s Office will be issuing a status report in every case scheduled for confirmation. The status report will list all changes the Trustee deems necessary in order that a plan may be recommended for confirmation. To ensure the Trustee has enough time to review any amendments or documentation presented, we are requesting that all changes to plans, documentation submitted, amendments to schedules, etc., be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on the Monday before the confirmation hearing date. If all requested changes are not made by this deadline, the Trustee cannot guarantee that there will be sufficient time to review the changes. If you object to correcting any issues the trustee notes in the status report, we are asking that you please notify the Trustee in writing at least ten (10) days before the scheduled confirmation hearing date so that an objection to confirmation may be filed. If we do not receive a timely response requesting that a confirmation hearing be held, the Trustee will assume that there is no objection to a continuance of the confirmation hearing and may consider the confirmation hearing as continued by agreement. (Please see the attached sample status report) A Closing Note: If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. I look forward to working with everyone. The Chapter 13 Office would like to wish you and your family happy holidays! Yours Truly, Gregory A. Burrell Chapter 13 Trustee Wait! There s more!

4 Page 4 of 4 Staff Contact Information Here you will find a list of our support staff employees in the office. Please feel free to contact us if you need any assistance. We re happy to help! Direct Phone STAFF ATTORNEYS: St. Paul: Margaret Culp mhc@ch13mn.com Minneapolis: Karl Johnson kjj@ch13mn.com PARALEGALS: confirmations, modified plans, dismissals St. Paul: Amy Gildemeister alg@ch13mn.com Minneapolis: Dawn Kassa dlk@ch13mn.com OFFICE MANAGER: Jody Jayson jj@ch13mn.com OPERATIONS MANAGER: Heidi Christenson hlc@ch13mn.com CASE MANAGER: 341 meetings & rescheduling, pre-confirmation tax returns Laurie Frey lf@ch13mn.com 341mtgtaxreturns@ch13mn.com LEGAL ASSISTANT TO THE TRUSTEE: annual tax returns, DSO Lindsey Hansen lah@ch13mn.com annualtaxreturns@ch13mn.com COMPTROLLER: ACH-automated payments Kim Videen kkv@ch13mn.com PAYMENT CLERK: payments, wage orders, address changes Lyntrell Wilson ldw@ch13mn.com MOTIONS CLERK: lift stay motions, loan letters Shannon Haselman skh@ch13mn.com CLAIMS: Secured St. Paul: Kallan Bray kab@ch13mn.com Secured Mpls: Katie Forcier klf@ch13mn.com Unsecured: Patty Barber pab@ch13mn.com AUDIT: payoff requests St. Paul: Linda Arnold lma@ch13mn.com Linda Goneau lsg@ch13mn.com Mpls: Maureen Anderson mka@ch13mn.com CASE CLOSINGS: Jean Eckroth jme@ch13mn.com WEBSITE/IT: Kim Mielke kam@ch13mn.com

5 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA PRE-CONFIRMATION STATUS REPORT IN RE: CASE NO.: Debtor(s) Attorney: 341(A) Date: Confirmation Date: LIQUIDATION VALUE: $ PRESENT VALUE TO UNSECURED CREDITORS: $ The following is a list of items that need to be completed before the Trustee can recommend confirmation of this case: 1. If these items are not completed by 5:00 p.m. the Monday before the scheduled confirmation hearing date, the Trustee may request a continuance of the confirmation hearing. The Trustee may subsequently request another continuance of the hearing if the above listed items are not all completed by 5:00 p.m. the Monday before the date of the continued confirmation calendar. If you desire that a hearing be held on confirmation of the plan and object to correcting any issues the Trustee has noted above, please advise at least ten (10) days before the scheduled confirmation hearing date. The Trustee must be notified in writing on or before (date) so that the Trustee s Office may have adequate time to file an objection to confirmation. If we do not receive a timely response requesting that a confirmation hearing be held, the Trustee will assume that there is no objection to a continuance of the confirmation hearing and may consider the confirmation hearing as continued by agreement. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY: /s/margaret H. Culp GREGORY A. BURRELL CHAPTER 13 STANDING TRUSTEE 12 SOUTH 6 TH STREET, SUITE 310 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55402