After you make your last payment to the Chapter 13 Trustee, it takes a couple months before your Chapter 13 is over and you get your discharge.
There’s One or Two More Things You Have to Do
Your Chapter 13 isn’t over and you can’t get your discharge unless you file your §1328 Certification.
You have to swear that you have filed all your taxes and are up to date on your child support. And you swear that didn’t cause the housing crisis or steal money from the 2008 Bank Bailout. (I’ve never met anyone who was involved in the bank bailout!) Our bankruptcy court in Northern Virginia has a local form for that certification. We’ll send you the form after you’ve made the last payment, but feel free to remind us. (Don’t try to fill in the form yourself–for some reason the court doesn’t like to get them early.)
If you have a mortgage, you also need to file a statement that your mortgage is current. Unless both you and the mortgage company agree you are current, your case can get thrown out at the finish line.
There’s At Least Four Things the Chapter 13 Trustee Has to Do Before Your Chapter 13 is Over
Do you have a mortgage? The trustee notifies the mortgage company that he’s paid them what he was supposed to pay them. Then the mortgage company replies that you are current–or NOT.
That mortgage provision, Rule 3002.1, helps the consumer know where they stand. (I used it just last month to help a consumer who was in a fight with the outfit who falsely claimed they were late on their second mortgage.) But some judges have stood that purpose on it’s head. Those judges now throw out cases at the finish line if you’ve missed a mortgage payment while paying your chapter 13. That’s why it’s really important that you keep track of your mortgage payments while in Chapter 13. and let us know if there’s a problem.
Second, the trustee tells the court that you have made all the required Chapter 13 payments. A couple days after the trustee report, the Clerk of the Court sends out of notice that you are due to receive your discharge; but giving creditors 21 days to object.
Chapter 13 trustee
The Chapter 13 needs to mail out the final payments and wait until all the checks have cleared.
(The only creditors I’ve ever seen object at the end of the case have been angry ex-spouses.)
At the same time, the trustee mails out the last payment to the creditors and waits for the checks to clear.
Last, the trustee makes a final report to the court on how much money came in and who got paid with it.
Then You Get Your Discharge and the Case Closes: That’s When your Chapter 13 is over.
All that takes two or three months after you make your final payment, until the court issues your discharge and your case is over.