Keep track of your payments!

     I recently had a frustrating chapter 13 case in which the mortgage company claimed that my client had not made some of the after-filing home mortgage payments.
     Because the mortgage company claimed that my client was behind on payments, the mortgage company hired local attorneys to bring a "motion for relief from stay".  This is a request to the court to permit the mortgage company to start a mortgage foreclosure, because the mortgage company claimed it is "not adequately protected".
     The problem was that the client could not prove that they had made all of the payments when due.
     Although I think we will eventually work things out and keep the mortgage company at bay, it is an important reminder to be able to document that you made the payments when due.
     Keeping a folder with copies of your money orders, or print-outs of the cancelled checks, would make your life a lot simpler if the bank claims you have not made a payment.