Is credit card debt included in a Chapter 13 repayment plan?
To qualify for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, a debtor must repay all secured creditors and priority debts in full and must repay a portion of the amount owed to unsecured creditors. “Secured debt” is a debt obligation backed by collateral such as a car or real property; “priority debt” includes child support payments and back taxes; and “unsecured debt” are those obligations that are not backed by collateral. Unsecured debt includes money owed on a credit card. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy places a filer’s debt into a repayment plan. A bankruptcy court will not approve a plan unless the arrangement requires that the debtor repay all priority and secured debt in full. The repayment plan must also require the debtor to repay unsecured creditors in an amount equal in value to the filer’s nonexempt property. Nonexempt property includes any interest held in real property, business assets, and artwork. Once a Chapter 13 repayment plan begins, a trustee will disburse the monthly payment made by the debto
