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Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee – Topeka
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee – Kansas City, Kansas
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee – Wichita
U.S. Trustee Region 20 – Wichita
Executive Office of the United States Trustee
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The bankruptcy means test gets a little nicer to Kansas consumer debtors on March 15, 2011, when new, higher median family income figures go into effect. Kansas families will be allowed to have more gross income to pass the bankruptcy means test on the first round of analysis.
The median family income is used as the first step in determining whether or not a consumer may file a chapter 7 bankruptcy. If the person’s median family income is below the average income for his state, then he qualifies to be in a chapter 7 without having to do any further analysis of his financial situation. In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the median family income is used as the first step in determining how much, if any, unsecured debt without priority has to be paid back. Many debtors pay little or no unsecured debt in their chapter 13 repayment plans. They use chapter 13 as a tool to adjust their debt and manage their financial difficulties in an affordable fashion.
Here are the new means test figures for Kansas bankruptcy cases by household size:
1Â $41,654 (up $672)
2Â $57,174 (up $923)
3Â $64,863 (up $1047)
4Â $69,272 (up $1118)
5Â Â $76,772 (up $1118)
6Â Â $84,272 (up $1118)
add $7500 for each additional person.
These figures are to be used for bankruptcy cases filed on or after March 15, 2011.
Kansas debtors have less errors on their bankruptcy paperwork than the national average, according to the report just issued by the U.S. Trustee. “Material misstatements” were reported in 12% of the audited cases, compared with 22% nationwide, although the report does not say just how serious the errors were.
The federal government audits bankruptcy cases just to keep everyone honest, but your odds of being selected are very low. There were 19 cases chosen for audit in Kansas during 2009 fiscal year. That is 19 out of 10,588 cases filed in Kansas, one in 557 cases.
Auditors filed Reports of Audits indicating at least one “material misstatement” in 17 Kansas cases. Two cases had Reports of No Audit. It is unknown whether any of these debtors did not get their discharges or had other negative outcomes because of the audits. It also is unknown why Kansans fare better on the audits.
See my post on the Bankruptcy Law Network today explaining audits.
One in 1000 bankruptcy cases are randomly selected by the U.S. Trustee for audit. When that happens, the debtor is sent a letter requesting copies of the following documents:
The audits are supposed to find material misstatements in the bankruptcy paperwork. [Read more…]
A Florida debt adjuster sent letters to Chapter 13 bankruptcy debtors in Kansas falsely telling them that their bankruptcy cases were dismissed and to call right away “to discuss the terms of your dismissal.” What a scam!
These letters from First American Debt Solutions are absolutely FALSE! The bankruptcy cases are NOT DISMISSED! These letters are outrageous! They frighten vulnerable consumer debtors and cause panic. Debtors are tricked into thinking they are no longer protected by the bankruptcy stay against collection.
If you receive one of these outrageous letters, call your bankruptcy attorney right away. She can assure you the letter is false, your case is active and you are still protected by the automatic stay. She will want the letter and mailer to save as evidence against this company. This fraudulent activity have been reported to the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee, the U.S. Trustee and the Office of the Kansas Bank Commissioner.
Here is part of one letter two clients got this week: [Read more…]
Richard Wieland
Richard A. Wieland has been named U.S. Trustee for Region 20, which covers Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
Wieland has been serving as acting Region 20 U.S. Trustee since September 1, 2007. He is familiar to the Kansas bankruptcy bar, having been a trial lawyer in the Wichita office since 1988. When the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was enacted in 2005, he played a pivotal role in implementing the consumer credit counseling and debtor financial management education requirements for the Executive Office of the U.S. Trustee in Washington, D.C
The U.S. Trustee program is charged with overseeing bankruptcy case administration. Region 20 offices are headquartered in Wichita with additional offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Albuquerque.
Here is a link to the official EOUST press release.
The U.S. Trustee has stopped auditing debtors in bankruptcy cases. The Executive Office of the U.S. Trustee says Congress did not fund the budget for the audits in the 2008 appropriations bill. Alternate funding is being sought so the audits can resume, the EOUST reports.
This is good news for debtors whose advocates testified at a Congressional hearing in October 2007 that the audits were abusive to debtors because of overbearing auditors and erroneous reports of material misstatements in the bankruptcy papers.
See my post on the Bankruptcy Law Network for more details and the official statement by the U.S. Trustee.
