Bankruptcy Ct. erred in denying Chapter 13 Trustee’s motion to modify previously confirmed repayment plan, where Trustee had claimed that debtor’s income had increased $50,000 since confirmation date, and where Bankruptcy Ct. based denial on erroneous belief that Bankruptcy Code did not contain provision that would allow for modification of confirmed Chapter 13 plan for reasons cited by Trustee. Modification of confirmed Chapter 13 plan is permissible under 11 USC section 1329(a), where, as here, purpose of modification was to increase payments to unsecured creditors, and where proposed modification would not result in payments for more than five-year period of time. Remand, though, was required for Dist. Ct. to determine whether debtors’ financial circumstances had sufficiently changed so that it would be equitable to require proposed higher payments.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Bankruptcy