Case No. 05-14265.United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana, Fort Wayne Division.
June 16, 2006
DECISION AND ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR POST CONFIRMATION MODIFICATION
ROBERT GRANT, Bankruptcy Judge
This matter is before the court with regard to a motion to modify a confirmed plan and a proposed Chapter 13 Plan, both filed on May 19, 2006. By an order dated October 30, 2005, the court previously confirmed a Chapter 13 plan in this case. If the debtors want to change the obligations contained in their confirmed plan, the proper way to do so is to follow the procedure and meet the criteria established by the Bankruptcy Code and the applicable rules of procedure. See,11 U.S.C. § 1329; Fed.R.Bankr.P. Rule 3015(g). That procedure does not contemplate filing a complete plan, but only a proposed modification that simply addresses the portions of the confirmed plan that are to be changed. This proposal is supposed to be accompanied by a separate motion asking the court to approve it, which should explain the nature of the proposed changes and the reasons for making them. All creditors and parties in interest are then entitled to notice of the motion and the opportunity to object thereto. Id. See also, N.D. Ind. L.B.R. B-2002-2. There is absolutely nothing about this procedure that would require the debtors to restate and thus give everyone the opportunity to object to the parts of the plan that are not being changed; those provisions are already binding. 11 U.S.C. § 1327(a). Furthermore, this procedure also has the additional virtue of making it far easier to tell precisely what about the confirmed plan is really being changed.
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By apparently trying to propose a completely new plan, the debtors have not followed the proper procedure for modifying a confirmed plan. Their motion to do so is therefore DENIED, without prejudice to resubmission.
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