Local Rule 3015-1: FILING, OBJECTION TO CONFIRMATION, EFFECT OF CONFIRMATION, AND MODIFICATION OF A PLAN IN A CHAPTER 12 OR A CHAPTER 13 CASE.

Local Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3015-1. FILING, OBJECTION TO CONFIRMATION, EFFECT OF CONFIRMATION, AND MODIFICATION OF A PLAN IN A CHAPTER 12 OR A CHAPTER 13 CASE.

(a) Plan and Confirmation Order Format - Chapter 13 Every Chapter 13 debtor shall file a proposed Chapter 13 plan in a format which substantially conforms to TXEB Local Form 3015-a. Any proposed confirmation order must substantially conform to TXEB Local Form 3015-b.

(b) Service and Notice A debtor filing an original or modified Chapter 12 or 13 plan must serve such plan upon the master mailing list (matrix) as constituted by the Court on the date of service, including the standing trustee. A certificate of service evidencing the proper service of the plan on the matrix must be filed with the Court or such plan will be stricken. If a plan summary is not filed concurrently with a proposed plan, the plan summary must clearly identify by date of filing the proposed plan which it summarizes.

(c) Plan Payments 1. Except to the extent that a proposed Chapter 13 plan provides for retention of collateral and direct payments by the debtor to the holder of a claim secured thereby or is otherwise authorized by the Court, no Chapter 13 debtor may provide adequate protection payments directly to a holder of a secured claim under the provisions of §1326(a)(1)(C) but shall instead tender required adequate protection payments to the Chapter 13 Trustee in an amount equivalent to 1.50% of the value of the utilized collateral on the Petition Date and accruing for each 30-day period from the Petition Date until the month in which equal monthly payments to such holder are initiated under a confirmed plan, or as otherwise ordered by the Court. 2. Any adequate protection payment tendered to the Chapter 13 Trustee pursuant to this rule shall be held solely for the benefit of the affected secured creditor to the exclusion of the debtor and shall be tendered to that secured creditor by the Chapter 13 Trustee at the earliest practicable time, notwithstanding any failure of a debtor to confirm a Chapter 13 plan.

(d) Chapter 12 - Initial Confirmation Process 1. In a Chapter 12 case, the initial confirmation hearing date will be established by separate order. 2. An objection to confirmation by a creditor or party-in-interest must be filed no later than seven (7) days prior to confirmation, and untimely objections may not be considered by the Court. 3. The Chapter 12 Trustee must submit a confirmation recommendation and report, in which the Trustee must set forth all objections to the confirmation of the proposed Chapter 12 plan. This report must be filed with the Court and served on the debtor and the debtor's attorney at least seven (7) days prior to the scheduled confirmation hearing.

(e) Chapter 13 - Initial Confirmation Process 1. The notice of the initial § 341 meeting of creditors in a Chapter 13 case contains notice of the initial hearing to consider confirmation of a proposed Chapter 13 plan. 2. An objection to confirmation by a creditor or party-in-interest, other than the Chapter 13 Trustee, must be filed no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the scheduled hearing to consider confirmation of the plan, and untimely objections may not be considered by the Court. 3. No later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled hearing to consider confirmation of the plan, a debtor shall: (A) tender to the Chapter 13 Trustee a proposed confirmation order in a format which substantially conforms to TXEB Local Form 3015-b; (B) file with the Court a declaration under penalty of perjury from the Debtors regarding the status of post-petition mortgage obligations which substantially conforms to TXEB Local Form 3015-c; 4. No later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled hearing on confirmation of the plan, the Chapter 13 Trustee must determine whether to recommend confirmation of the proposed plan to the Court: (A) if the Chapter 13 Trustee wishes to object to the confirmation of a proposed plan, a confirmation report must be filed in which the Trustee must set forth all objections to the confirmation of the proposed Chapter 13 plan. This report must be filed with the Court and served on the debtor and the debtor's attorney at least seven (7) days prior to the scheduled confirmation hearing; (B) if the Chapter 13 Trustee wishes to recommend confirmation of the proposed plan and if all objections have been resolved, the Chapter 13 Trustee may upload an approved proposed confirmation order to the Court and such action will constitute a recommendation by the Trustee for confirmation of the proposed plan without the necessity of presenting additional documentation. 5. Upon the upload of an approved confirmation order by the Chapter 13 Trustee, the confirmation of the plan shall be considered unopposed, the attendance of the Debtor and the Debtor's counsel at the scheduled confirmation hearing shall be excused, and the Court may enter the submitted confirmation order without further hearing. Upon its review of the proposed plan and confirmation order, the Court reserves the right to reschedule the confirmation hearing with notice to all parties. 6. Upon the entry of an order denying confirmation of any original or amended Chapter 13 plan, any objection previously filed to that plan is resolved for all purposes and any objection by a creditor or party-in-interest to the confirmation of a subsequently-proposed Chapter 13 plan must be filed no later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled hearing to consider that subsequently-proposed plan.

(f) Pre-Confirmation Amendment Process 1. If a Chapter 12 or Chapter 13 plan is amended in the pre-confirmation period with less than 35 days' notice before the confirmation hearing, the confirmation hearing will proceed only if the Court determines that: (a) the modification does not adversely affect any creditors; (b) any adversely affected creditor has consented; or (c) the adverse impact of the modification on creditors is de minimis. If a pre-confirmation plan amendment does not meet one of the three preceding requirements and additional notice of the amended plan is therefore required, a new confirmation hearing shall be scheduled, the deadline for filing an objection to the amended plan shall be extended to seven (7) days prior to the new confirmation hearing date, and the debtor shall provide notice of the new confirmation hearing date and the corresponding new 7-day objection deadline to the master mailing list (matrix) as constituted by the Court on the date of service. A certificate of service evidencing that proper notice has been given must be filed with the Court. 2. In the event that a new confirmation hearing is required to be scheduled due to a pre-confirmation amendment of the plan, and unless the Court orders otherwise, the continuation of the confirmation hearing in that context shall establish a final dismissal deadline for achieving confirmation of the proposed amended plan without the necessity of the entry of an independent order and, in the event that the debtor fails to confirm such an amended plan upon consideration by the Court at the rescheduled confirmation hearing, the underlying bankruptcy case shall be immediately dismissed, pursuant to §349(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, without further notice or hearing and with prejudice to the rights of the debtor to file a subsequent petition under any chapter of Title 11, United States Code, for a period of 120 days from the entry of the order of dismissal.

(g) Claims Adjudication in Chapter 13 Cases 1. A Trustee's Reconciliation Concerning Claims ("TRCC") shall be filed by the Chapter 13 Trustee within 45 days following the latter of: (a) the expiration of the time allowed for the filing of a proof of claim by a governmental unit; (b) the entry of an order confirming the Chapter 13 plan. The Chapter 13 Trustee is authorized to extend the TRCC deadline to a specified future date without leave of court on one occasion in any case by filing a notification with the Court which outlines the necessity for such an extension. 2. A TRCC shall serve primarily as a reconciliation device between the claims registry and the terms of the confirmed Chapter 13 plan. 3. As set forth below, the TRCC shall also provide prominent notice of the deadline by which challenges to claims filed in a Chapter 13 case must be filed by any party-in-interest, regardless of the means utilized to bring such challenge. 4. Absent a court order to the contrary, the deadline in a Chapter 13 case for any party-in-interest to: (i) file an objection to the allowance of any proof of claim; (ii) file a motion under Rule 3012 to determine the amount of a secured claim through the valuation of collateral; or (iii) avoid or otherwise challenge the validity of any security interest claimed in any proof of claim, shall be the twenty-first (21st) day following the date of service of the TRCC. 5. A TRCC shall therefore contain the following notice:

Notice of Filing Deadline for Challenging Claims YOU ARE NOTIFIED that, pursuant to LBR 3015(g), the deadline for: (1) filing an objection to the allowance of any proof of claim filed in this case; (2) filing a motion for valuation of collateral to determine the amount of a secured claim filed in this case pursuant to Rule 3012; or (3) filing an appropriate pleading to avoid or otherwise challenge the validity of any security interest claimed in any proof of claim filed in this case, is the twenty-first (21st) day following the date of service of this document.

6. Since a TRCC serves as a reconciliation document which requires no court approval, no negative notice language nor any proposed order is required. 7. A certificate of service is required, evidencing service of the TRCC upon the master mailing list (matrix) as constituted by the Court on the date of service. 8. Any claim objection filed by a party-in-interest in a Chapter 13 case must comply with the requirements of LBR 3007. 9. When any claim is challenged by a proper objection, the Chapter 13 Trustee shall reserve funds otherwise attributable to that claim until the dispute regarding such claim has been resolved. If the claim resolution results in an increase of money available for distribution to any class of creditors under the confirmed plan, the Chapter 13 Trustee may accordingly adjust payments to be made on allowed claims without the necessity of filing an additional TRCC.

(h) Post Confirmation Modification 1. In a Chapter 13 case, a proponent requesting the post-confirmation modification of a Chapter 13 plan shall file a proposed Motion to Modify Confirmed Chapter 13 Plan in a format which substantially conforms to TXEB Local Form 3015-d. The motion must be accompanied by a proposed Order Modifying Confirmed Chapter 13 Plan in a format which substantially conforms to TXEB Local Form 3015-e. 2. In a Chapter 12 case, a proponent requesting the post-confirmation modification of a Chapter 12 plan must file a modified plan as an attachment to a motion seeking confirmation of the modified plan which specifies the precise changes sought by the modification including, but not limited to: (A) the purpose of or the necessity for the modification; (B) the changes being made as to the plan payment, the term of the plan; the proposed distribution to any class, or any other substantive provision; and (C) the amount of additional attorneys' fees requested for services pertaining to the modification, subject to the provisions and limitations of LBR 2016(h)(5). 3. In either a Chapter 12 or 13 case, the standing trustee is authorized during the pendency of a post-confirmation modification motion to maintain payments on allowed claims the treatment of which stands unaffected by the proposed modification. 4. In a Chapter 13 case, a debtor seeking a modification of a confirmed plan must contemporaneously file with the Court: (a) a declaration under penalty of perjury regarding the status of post-petition mortgage obligations which substantially conforms to TXEB Local Form 3015-c; (b) an amended Schedule I and an amended Schedule J in order to verify current income and expenditure information or, in the alternative, certify under penalty of perjury in the modification motion filed with the Court that the information contained in Schedule I and Schedule J as previously filed with the Court remains true and correct. 5. In either a Chapter 12 or 13 case, a proponent seeking a modification of a confirmed plan must serve the proposed modification, together with any attachments, to the master mailing list (matrix) as constituted by the Court on the date of service and file a certificate of service evidencing such service. The motion must also contain the following 28-day negative notice language, which must appear as presented and be located in the motion text — preferably on the initial page:

28-DAY NEGATIVE NOTICE – LBR 3015(h):

Your rights may be affected by the plan modifications sought in this pleading. You should read this pleading carefully and discuss it with your attorney, if you have one in this bankruptcy case. If you oppose the relief sought by this pleading, you must file a written objection, explaining the factual and/or legal basis for opposing the relief.

No hearing will be conducted on this Motion unless a written objection is filed with the Clerk of the United States Bankruptcy Court and served upon the party filing this pleading WITHIN TWENTY-EIGHT (28) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF SERVICE shown in the certificate of service unless the Court shortens or extends the time for filing such objection. If no objection is timely served and filed, this pleading shall be deemed to be unopposed, and the Court may enter an order confirming this plan modification. If an objection is filed and served in a timely manner, the Court will thereafter set a hearing with appropriate notice. If you fail to appear at the hearing, your objection may be stricken. The Court reserves the right to set a hearing on any matter.

5. With the exception of the expanded response time, modifications shall be handled in accordance with the Court's usual motion procedures.