Chapter 13 debtors modified their confirmed plan to lower their monthly payment after debtor-husband lost his job and committed to file another modified plan if he found new employment. Debtor did eventually get a new job, but nevertheless failed to file a modified plan. After completion of the Debtors’ sixty month plan, the chapter 13 trustee discovered this omission and moved to dismiss. The parties reached a stipulation that would have allowed Debtors to pay a substantial cure amount seven months after the end of their sixty-month plan and thereby obtain a discharge. The Court denied the motion to approve the stipulation, ruling that extending a plan’s repayment period beyond five years would violate 11 U.S.C. §§ 1322, 1325, and 1329. In addition, the Court determined that it lacked discretion to allow a reasonable period of time for a cure, disagreeing with the holding of in In re Klaas, 858 F.3d 820 (3d Cir. 2017). Even if it had such discretion, the Court held it would not exercise it to approve the stipulation given the circumstances of the case.
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