Instructions for Debtors Online Access Through the National Data Center(NDC)

Please assist your debtors to apply for an account to review their financials through the NDC’s website.  Creating an account with NDC has benefits, among other things, access to the financial transactions in the case such as tracking payments made by debtor, disbursements made by the Trustee, setting alerts when a payment is due, seeing which creditors filed claims, and archiving reports so the Debtor can better monitor the progress of their case. If you have any questions, click here.


Forms Update

Please visit the Forms/Matrix tab of our website to download the new Stipulation & Order Adjourning Debtor’s Plan Modification, Stipulation & Order Adjourning Trustee Plan Modification, Stipulation & Order Adjourning Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss and Stipulation & Order to Convert!  Please review and become familiar with these documents as they will be the new forms used by the Trustee’s office.


Plan Modifications

We are looking to streamline the Post Confirmation Plan Modification process but we need your assistance to effectuate this.

Ultimately, we would like to minimize the number of objections we are filing along with the number of hearings that are being scheduled for post confirmation plan modifications.  Please provide the following documentation to our office either prior to or concurrently with the filing of the plan modification as this will significantly cut down on the number of objections we are having to file and the number of hearings being scheduled:

1)  File amended Schedules I and J contemporaneously with the plan modification;

2)  Provide 1 month verification of income for the Debtors;

3)  Provide 1 month verification of income for the non-filing spouse;

4)  Provide complete copies of federal tax returns to our office regardless of whether your client remits 100% of income tax refunds;

5)  If there is a delinquency – address it by providing justification for it and if  good cause exists, excuse it;  if no cause exists for the delinquency, then provide for a cure;

6)  If significantly increasing expenses on Schedule J, provide evidence of the increased expense;

7)  If excusing tax refunds or plan payments, please provide estimates or evidence of repairs.

Many of you are already providing the supportive documentation at the time a plan modification is filed and we thank you for your continued cooperation.  Having said that, there are also a number of attorneys who do not provide the documentation.  The lack of post confirmation plan modification documentation is a problem which has become prevalent.  The lack of documentation only leads to objections filed by our office which in many instances leads to numerous adjourned hearings which could have been avoided had we received documentation to support the modification in the first place.

Going forward, if the above referenced information is not provided to our office at the time the plan modification is filed, we will not only object to the modifications but we will also bring them before the Court and request sanctions or reductions in attorney fees.  Attorneys have a duty to exercise due diligence and investigate the facts prior to  filing a plan modification.  Therefore, you should have the supportive documentation already in your possession prior to filing the plan modification.  Please pass the information on to us.


New Model Plan 3.0 & treatment of the City of Flint Water Department’s Administrative Expense Claims

Internet Rule V. E of the New Model Plan 3.0 reads as follows:

E. PAYMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE CLAIMS:  Administrative Expense Claims as defined in 11 U.S.C. Sec. 503 other than those claims provided for in Paragraphs B,C and D of these Additional terms, Conditions and Provisions will be deemed allowed and will be paid only upon entry of a specific Order of this Court determining the allowance and amount of that claim.

1)      For all Debtors who wish to have the City of Flint Water Department’s claim paid as an administrative expense please provide the following language in your proposed Order Confirming Plan:

Caption of the Order Confirming Plan: Order Confirming Plan

and

Order Allowing the City of Flint’s Administrative Claim

Body of the Order Confirming Plan:

The City of Flint shall be treated as a Class XXX administrative claim in the amount of $XX and as a Class XXXX secured claim in the amount of $XXXX pursuant to its filed claim.

2)      For those future plans not yet filed with the Court, please specifically treat the City of Flint’s administrative claim & any secured claim in the Chapter 13 plan in order to provide notice to all interested parties.  Since Internet Rule V. E requires a  specific order determining the allowance of the administrative claim please also include the above language the proposed Order Confirming Plan even though your plan specifically treats the administrative debt.


Acceptable Forms of Identity and Proof of Social security Number

Any document used to confirm a debtor’s identity and social security number must be an original 11 U.S.C. § 521(h), 28 U.S.C. § 586(b).  Acceptable forms of picture identification (ID) include: driver’s license, U.S. government ID, State ID, student ID, passport (or current visa, if not a U.S. citizens, military ID, resident alien card and identity card issued by a national government authority.

Acceptable forms of proof of social security number include:  social security card, medical insurance card, pay stub, W-2 form, IRS Form 1099, and Social Security Administration (SSA) Statement.  In the discretion of the standing trustee, copies of W-2 form 1099 or a recent payroll stub may be accepted.


Tax Returns & Refunds

Please be advised that we have requested a complete copy of the 2022 tax return from all debtors as well as any tax refund if included in their plan.  Our office is directing debtors to send their tax returns to YOU!  You will then need to either mail it to the office at 400 N. Saginaw Street, Suite 331, Flint, MI 48502 or create an upload account with bkdoc’s.  Thank you!


New ECF Codes for Loan Modification Approval


Chapter 13 Model Plan
In accordance with the Administrative Order Adopting Guideline 14 Regarding New Chapter 13 Model Plan entered October 24, 2012, all Chapter 13 plans filed in the Eastern District of Michigan must be in the form and contain the content of the new model plan that is available on the Court’s website, www.mieb.uscourts.gov, www.13edm.com, and attached hereto.  This Guideline applies only to chapter 13 cases filed on or after January 1, 2013 and not to Chapter 13 cases filed before such date.  Please take some time to familiarize your staff with this new model plan.

Notice re New Chapter 13 Model Plan

Second Notice re New Chapter 13 Model Plan

Model Plan


National Mortgage Settlement

The National Mortgage Settlement is an agreement among federal government, 49 states, and the five largest mortgage servicers and their affiliates.  It provides benefits to borrowers, including borrowers in bankruptcy, whose mortgages loans are serviced by those banks.  Please read the informational sheet(pdf) and frequently asked questions(pdf) for more information.

National Mortgage Settlement Agreement

National Mortgage Settlement website


Order Confirming Plan Format

The Order Submission program that the Court has provided for Trustees will accept orders formatted by Word 2007 and 2010 (the “docx” format). To summarize, our office will now accept orders in the following formats:

  • doc (Word 2003 and earlier)
  • docx (Word 2007 and later)

Our office will reject orders submitted in any other format as the Court will not accept the document.


Updated Notice Regarding Tax Refunds in Chapter 13 Cases


Income Tax Refund
This office has encouraged attorneys to 1/12th debtors tax refund on Schedule I and many do. We still have a significant number of attorneys that use the model plan which contains the standard language that debtors shall submit 100% of their tax refunds. This office will begin to object to these plans that state that the debtor is to pay 100% of their tax refund into their plan. To account for this refund, please 1/12th it on Schedule I accordingly. Take the average refund debtor has received over the past 4 years and divide it by 12 to come out with a monthly average to insert on debtors Schedule I. If debtor receives a significantly large refund please review the possibility of having your client change their W4 withholding. Also, be conscious that if you have 1/12th debtors tax refund on Schedule I that your plan does not also contain that standard 100% tax refund language.


Making Home Affordable Options
Please visit www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov for possible options for the debtor.

Please note we will not be providing legal advice to the debtor but will be directing them to this web page. We view this as an endeavor that can be accommodated by the debtor with or without possible help from your support staff. Please outline any time spent on mortgage options as support staff services for any possible fee application.


EFT – Electronic Funds Transfer

This will allow us to electronically transfer to your bank account your attorney fees. If interested, please fill out the EFT request form and send into the Chapter 13 Office.

Click here for the EFT Request Form


Plan Calc 1

We are pleased to announce the addition of Plan Calc I for attorneys to use through the “13 Network.” Plan Calc I is an accounting program that allows user data manipulation to determine necessary plan payments, plan length, creditor payments and other financial information. Access to Plan Calc I is found on the case page – the tab is labeled “Plan Calc I.” If you are an attorney and do not have Plan Calc I when you access a case, please let us know. A manual for using Plan Calc 1 on the 13network is available on the website of Trustee David Ruskin, a Chapter 13 Standing Trustee of Detroit. The manual can be found HERE. It is called “13Network v 3.0, A Guide to Online Information.”

A word of caution: Plan calc I is not an exact duplication of the Trustee’s accounting program. Plan Calc I may provide a result different from the result obtained from the Trustee’s accounting program. However, the results obtained from Plan Calc I can be helpful to you. Therefore, the program is offered to you with that warning.


13 Network

The 13Network is a service hosted by Bankruptcy Software Specialists, LLC.   It gives its users free access to more than 2.5 million Chapter 13 Bankruptcy cases.

The 13Network is accessible through the main navigation bar of this website above the scrolling pictures of Flint.

Attorneys, please note: The information provided in the 13Network financial portion of this website is correct. However, accounting program inconsistencies between the Chapter 13 Trustee live data and the 13Network may result in calculation inconsistency between the two databases. In the event of an inconsistency, the Chapter 13 Trustee live data is deemed correct. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please do not take action based on website information and plan calculation results without first contacting and confirming the numbers with the Chapter 13 Trustee office. This plan calculation tool is meant to help you with your math analysis of the plan. It is not a substitute for your own analysis and should not be relied upon exclusively.