Plan Base Payoff

Plan Payoff Information

The Chapter 13 Trustee’s Office does not give a firm quote on the pay-off balance for a particular case because a debtor may have a number of other obligations other than plan payments that  must be met before the debtor completes the Chapter 13 plan.  Examples of such may include the turnover over of all or a portion of the debtor’s tax refunds received during the term of the plan; non-exempt proceeds from a lawsuit or claim collected during the term of the plan; the sales proceeds from the sale of non-exempt property collected during the term of the plan; or other such obligations imposed upon the debtor as set forth in the provisions of the confirmed plan and/or the confirmation order.  There may also be ramifications for a debtor in paying off the plan base early.  The Bankruptcy Court may require a debtor to continue to make plan payments for the balance of the applicable commitment period of the debtor’s plan in spite of the debtor’s attempt to pay off the plan base early.  The Chapter 13 Trustee urges any debtor who is considering paying off the debtor’s case early to contact the debtor’s bankruptcy attorney to discuss the legal ramifications of such.  The Chapter 13 Trustee and his staff are not allowed to provide legal advice to debtors. 

If the debtor does in fact send in a lump payment that either purports to pay off the plan or makes a larger than normal payment, the debtor will need to be prepared to respond to an inquiry from the Trustee on the source of the funds so used to make such a lump payment.

Please note that a debtor may obtain information concerning plan payments and plan disbursement information, including the pay-off balance for a particular case, from the Trustee’s website at www.Ch13Tyler.com by following these steps:

--click “Login” and select the appropriate Trustee from the list (“John J. Talton”).

--use the case number as the user ID and the last four digits of the debtor’s social security number as the password.

--payoff of the unpaid plan base should be the difference between the “Base Amount” less the net of “Total Paid In” reduced by “Debtor Refunds”, if any.  This pay-off figure is subject to a final audit by the Chapter 13 Trustee’s Office to determine if the debtor has in fact met all of the obligations imposed upon the debtor under the terms of the confirmed plan and/or confirmation order.

Payments on a particular case should be mailed to the Trustee’s lockbox address at P. O. Box 734, Tyler, TX  75710, with payments being in the form of a cashier’s check or certified check.  Payments received at the Trustee’s lockbox account are accounted for each day and will be viewable after the data is updated the next business day.

If a debtor believes the information about the case available on the Trustee’s website is not accurate, the debtor should contact the Trustee’s accounting department between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on normal business days.  If a debtor is questioning the receipt of a plan payment, the debtor should be prepared to provide the date the payment was mailed, the amount of the payment, and the check number.