Central District Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney's Association

Thanks, Jim. Do you add the budget line to Schedule "J" or is it something
you just stick into the Plan in the attorneys fees section (that's what I
used to do, but it caused the Trustee's heads to spin and vomit pea soup, so
I stopped).

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Mark:
In reverse order
3. Sure they can. The debtors would not be contractually current.
2. I add a line item to the budget for additional fees, if anticipated,
so that there is sufficient income to pay, which may require a
modification of the plan.
1. See In Re: Pak
Why not file a 7 discharge the obligation under the second and negotiate
a small payoff to the individual who no longer has collateral for their
security interest and no personal obligation on the part of the debtor?
Jim King

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Thought I'd re-post this since I actually got a few private responses
telling me they were glad I asked the questions. If anyone has answers,
that would be great too J
I'm coming dangerously close to actually starting my first LAM motion case
(with extreme trepidation because it will be downtown and we all know which
Judge(s) is there.).
Anyway, here are the facts and my questions.
H&W have a property which probably qualifies for a lien strip of the second
(value $320,000; first mortgage $338,000; second $119,000). Second is an
individual, not a bank.
H&W's income is a combo of part-time work, and social security. They are
below median. With both mortgage payments, they are running a negative in
their budget. If the second is eliminated, they would have about $800
"surplus" income, although that would arguably be from exempt social
security income.
1. Does the "best efforts" requirement mandate that they pay the full
surplus even if it results from social security income, or could they do a
$100 per month plan?
2. Without disclosing what you all charge, how do you structure
payments for a LAM motion in your retainer agreements? It's obviously
additional to the "base fee" services. Do you just do fee apps and then
get paid from the future monthly plan payments? If so, what if there is
too small a plan payment to cover it? Do you build in additional fees in
case you get a certain judge?
3. If debtors are current with the payments on the mortgages on the
date their case is filed, but then stop paying on the 2nd which is to be
lienstripped (either immediately, or if a certain judge is on the case then
after the LAM trial is concluded in their favor) and then they end up
dismissing the Chapter 13 case prior to discharge, can the 2nd then declare
the loan in default and foreclose because less than the required monthly
payments had been made?
*************************
Mark J. Markus
Law Office of Mark J. Markus
11684 Ventura Blvd. PMB #403
Studio City, CA 91604-2652
(818)509-1173 (818)509-1460 (fax)
Toll Free: 1-866-576-6275
web: http://www.bklaw.com/
This Firm is a Qualified Federal Debt Relief Agency (see what this means at

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