Two years ago we filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy. We were initially told our monthly payment would be 2100.00. I had reservations about this amount because in months when my husband did not have OT, a payment this high would render us unable to eat. Our attorney assured us that this amount included our second mortgage, but once he was able to "strip down" the second mortgage the payment would be less. A motion was filed and granted, but our payment did not change. I called his office and was told by the secretary that the amount would not change but our time in the plan would be less because we now owed less.
In addition, we were told that our unsecured creditors would be receiving 13% of their claims. I have been watching the payment dispersal on Data Center, and it now appears as though all unsecured creditors have received 13% of their claim. We were so happy thinking we might be close to being done with this. Today my husband saw our attorney and advised him we were close to being done. The attorney told my husband that our plan is mandatory 5 years because of our income level -hence we are no where close to being done. When my husband asked about all the extra money we would be paying, the attorney said it would be refunded back to us after 5 years???
Sorry to be so long winded but it boils down to this. The attorney told us 13% would be paid to unsecured- not a minimum of 13%. This strip down business was supposed to be saving us thousands of dollars(he also did this for our car). It now appears to me that the unsecured creditors are going to receive far more than 13%-if we continue to pay for the next 3 years. Why did we pay him all this extra money for a strip down? Paying 2100 a month for 5 years pretty much pays everyone in full. Can someone please explain this to me??

