08 B 06743

A secured creditor objected to the plan of a chapter 13 debtor. The creditor’s claim was for a retail installment contract on a motor vehicle. The plan initially provided for adequate protection payments of approximately 1% of the collateral until payment to the creditor would begin April 2009 when the creditor would begin to receive payment on its claim at 6.25% annum. The creditor objected, arguing that the amount of adequate protection was incorrect, that the plan violated the equal monthly payment provision of § 1325 of the Bankruptcy Code, that it was entitled to attorney’s fees as provided by the original contract between the parties, and the interest rate under the plan was insufficient. The plan was later amended using a calculation for adequate protection that uses the difference between the value of the motor vehicle from the month the petition was filed and the value of the motor vehicle in the month immediately after filing. The Court sustained the creditor’s adequate protection argument but noted that the plan was amended to provide the correct amount. Next, the Court overruled the creditor’s § 1325 argument since it is adequately protected under the plan and that § 1325 does not specifically require the equal monthly payments to a creditor to begin with the first payment to the chapter 13 trustee made under the plan. The creditor’s attorney’s fees were sustained since they were provided for by the original contract. Lastly, the Court held that the creditor did not meet its burden of proving that it was entitled to a higher interest rate than the one provided by the plan.