Answer to Question 1
Although a Chapter 13 debtor is not allowed to cram down the mortgage balance on a primary residence, the debtor has the option of lien stripping. Student should discuss the following: If there is a second or even a third mortgage or a home equity line of credit on the debtor's property, the secondary loan or loans may be eligible to be stripped away from the primary loan on the property. This process works only if the debtor's home has insufficient value to secure the secondary loans on the property. If there is just enough or not enough value in the debtor's home to secure all or some of the primary loan on the property, the secondary loans are presumed unsecured, and the bankruptcy court will strip away the secondary loans. The court will treat those loans (liens) as unsecured debt that will receive little or no payment from the debtor's repayment plan.
Answer to Question 2
Student should address how a Chapter 13 debtor must submit a plan indicating how he or she intends to pay creditors over a three- to five-year period. If the debtor's repayment plan is not filed with the petition and schedules, it should be filed with the court at least 15 days after filing the petition. Student should discuss how the creditors must be provided for in the plan, i.e. some must be paid in full by the end of the plan. A reasonable and fair repayment plan drafted with the assistance of a competent bankruptcy attorney should pass muster with the court with relative ease. The debtor's plan may be objected to by a creditor or rejected by the court necessitating a redraft and resubmission of the plan.