NOTICE TO DIVISION I PROPOSAL CLIENTS:
Dear Valued Clients:
Due to the recent series of events regarding COVID 19, we understand that several of you are feeling anxious, stressed and uncertain about the status of your Proposals and your ability to continue. Some of you may be in a position to maintain payments for the time being however we know that everyone’s circumstances are different and unfortunately there will be some cases where payments are unsustainable for the foreseeable future.
We want to assure our clients that BNA is doing everything possible to determine the federal government’s position regarding payments that are coming due. We have communicated our concerns with the local Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) here in Alberta and we have escalated our concerns to their head office in Ottawa as have other Trustees in the industry. In addition, we understand that our professional association, likewise, has been communicating with the Superintendent in Ottawa as this is a national issue. We understand that this matter is receiving priority in Ottawa and although we do not have a formal response, we are anticipating receiving some formal direction shortly.
Until such direction is received, we want to provide you all with some information in regard to your options going forward, however please keep in mind the legislation surrounding Proposals remains unchanged at this time so we have listed those specifics below for your consideration as well:
- Your Proposal must be completed within the timeframe that was agreed upon by your creditors. This will be listed in your most recent Proposal document signed by yourself. We have not received any communication that extensions will be allowed.
- There is a 1 payment clause in Proposals wherein if you are in default of a payment, you only have 30 days to remedy. Failure to do so results in your Proposal being annulled, and creditors rights are reinstated.
- If you are able to pay the arrears in full, we are able to make a Court Application for an Order to Reinstate your proposal. The Court is concerned about creditors being prejudiced with such applications and ultimately it is up to the Court whether they grant such applications or not.
- If you believe that your income is secure and stable, please continue to make your payments as required until such time that changes.
- If you are up to date on your payments and you believe your income will drop over the next few months, but anticipate it going back to normal in due course, please pay what you can towards your Proposal to keep it in good standing for the time being. You can always increase your monthly payments once your income has stabilized again to get back on track to complete your payments as required within your agreed upon timeframe.
- If you are close to annulling (close to being one full payment behind that you don’t intend to pay), you may wish to amend your proposal. This will restart the 21-day voting period for creditors to consider your amended proposal. If the creditors do not approve your amendment, you do NOT go back to the original proposal but instead you are deemed bankrupt. Because of this risk, the amendment needs to be done with good reason and a reasonable offer made. We will need to review your circumstances case by case to determine what a reasonable offer looks like, as your amended offer still needs to give creditors a better recovery in comparison to what they would receive in a bankruptcy scenario. Please note, we CANNOT amend once you have already annulled.
- If you feel that your proposal is not sustainable under any circumstances, we can discuss what a bankruptcy would look like for you and you can decide from there how best to proceed.
- If you have already annulled, the Trustee is required to notify the creditors and the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.
- If you end up needing to file for bankruptcy (or are deemed bankrupt by the Court) in the interim, if your situation improves down the road you do not need to remain in bankruptcy. We have the option to “flip” you out of the bankruptcy to file another Division I Proposal, with the Court’s approval. If the creditors accept the second Proposal, this annuls the bankruptcy and eliminates it from your credit history. If the creditors do not accept it, then you would remain in the bankruptcy.
If you wish to discuss the specifics of your situation, please feel free to contact our office via telephone or email for further information and assistance. Please note that several of our staff are working remotely and we only have limited staff in the office to help answer phone calls. If you are unable to get through to somebody, please leave a message and we will call you back at our earliest convenience. We ask that you are patient with us as we have thousands of clients and we are doing our best to respond to each and everyone of you with limited staff and resources.
Thank you all for choosing BNA Debt Solutions. Rest assured you that we will work together to find the best solution for your specific situation in these ever-changing circumstances.
