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Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Rule 2001. Appointment of Interim Trustee Before Order for Relief in a Chapter 7 Liquidation Case

(a) APPOINTMENT. At any time following the commencement of an involuntary liquidation case and before an order for relief, the court on written motion of a party in interest may order the appointment of an interim trustee under § 303(g) of the Code. The motion shall set forth the necessity for the appointment and may be granted only after hearing on notice to the debtor, the petitioning creditors, the United States trustee, and other parties in interest as the court may designate.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Rule 2002. Notices to Creditors, Equity Security Holders, Administrators in Foreign Proceedings, Persons Against Whom Provisional Relief is Sought in Ancillary and Other Cross-Border Cases, United States, and United States Trustee

(a) TWENTY-ONE-DAY NOTICES TO PARTIES IN INTEREST. Except as provided in subdivisions (h), (i), (l), (p), and (q) of this rule, the clerk, or some other person as the court may direct, shall give the debtor, the trustee, all creditors and indenture trustees at least 21 days’ notice by mail of:

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Rule 2003. Meeting of Creditors or Equity Security Holders

(a) DATE AND PLACE. Except as otherwise provided in § 341(e) of the Code, in a chapter 7 liquidation or a chapter 11 reorganization case, the United States trustee shall call a meeting of creditors to be held no fewer than 21 and no more than 40 days after the order for relief. In a chapter 12 family farmer’s debt adjustment case, the United States trustee shall call a meeting of creditors to be held no fewer than 21 and no more than 35 days after the order for relief.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Rule 2007. Review of Appointment of Creditors’ Committee Organized Before Commencement of the Case

(a) MOTION TO REVIEW APPOINTMENT. If a committee appointed by the United States trustee pursuant to § 1102(a) of the Code consists of the members of a committee organized by creditors before the commencement of a chapter 9 or chapter 11 case, on motion of a party in interest and after a hearing on notice to the United States trustee and other entities as the court may direct, the court may determine whether the appointment of the committee satisfies the requirements of § 1102(b)(1) of the Code.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Rule 2007.2. Appointment of Patient Care Ombudsman in a Health Care Business Case

(a) ORDER TO APPOINT PATIENT CARE OMBUDSMAN. In a chapter 7, chapter 9, or chapter 11 case in which the debtor is a health care business, the court shall order the appointment of a patient care ombudsman under § 333 of the Code, unless the court, on motion of the United States trustee or a party in interest filed no later than 21 days after the commencement of the case or within another time fixed by the court, finds that the appointment of a patient care ombudsman is not necessary under the specific circumstances of the case for the protection of patients.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Rule 2008. Notice to Trustee of Selection

The United States trustee shall immediately notify the person selected as trustee how to qualify and, if applicable, the amount of the trustee’s bond. A trustee that has filed a blanket bond pursuant to Rule 2010 and has been selected as trustee in a chapter 7, chapter 12, or chapter 13 case that does not notify the court and the United States trustee in writing of rejection of the office within seven days after receipt of notice of selection shall be deemed to have accepted the office.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Rule 2010. Qualification by Trustee; Proceeding on Bond

(a) BLANKET BOND. The United States trustee may authorize a blanket bond in favor of the United States conditioned on the faithful performance of official duties by the trustee or trustees to cover (1) a person who qualifies as trustee in a number of cases, and (2) a number of trustees each of whom qualifies in a different case.

(b) PROCEEDING ON BOND. A proceeding on the trustee’s bond may be brought by any party in interest in the name of the United States for the use of the entity injured by the breach of the condition.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: C.3 Miscellaneous Fees

The following miscellaneous fees schedule was issued by the Judicial Conference of the United States in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1930(b). It is effective as of December 1, 2023.

Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (28 U.S.C. § 1930)

The fees included in the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule are to be charged for services provided by the bankruptcy courts.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 4.7.3 Modification

It is often possible to modify the plan, under the provisions discussed above, to accommodate new problems as they arise.122 The payments under the plan may be reduced, or even terminated, if the plan, as modified, still complies with the requirements of chapter 13.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 4.7.5 Dismissal

Occasionally, dismissal may be preferable to any of the other options. The debtor may at any time obtain dismissal as of right unless the case was previously converted from another chapter.131 This route may be particularly attractive if it appears that the case may be converted to chapter 7 against the debtor’s will and if the debtor has nonexempt property that they do not wish to see liquidated.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 4.8 Discharge

The final step in a successfully completed chapter 13 case, or in one ended under the hardship provisions,134 is the discharge. A discharge must be granted by the court “as soon as practicable” after completion of all payments under a confirmed plan.135 However, there are several other prerequisites that must be met to obtain the chapter 13 discharge.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 5.1.2 Roles for Non-Attorneys

As will quickly become apparent, most of the tasks involved in preparing a bankruptcy case for filing can be ably accomplished by non-attorney legal workers with a relatively small amount of training. This situation presents a significant advantage to busy offices. Of course, an attorney involved in a case prepared by non-attorneys must supervise and take ultimate responsibility for handling the case. The attorney should review the case prior to filing and at various points thereafter, with particular attention to ascertaining that non-routine circumstances are handled properly.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 5.3.1 The Initial Interview

The steps necessary to assure complete information will vary somewhat from case to case. For example, if no real estate is involved, a title search might not be necessary; if a client has clearly kept organized and complete records, counsel may often rely upon them with little risk.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 9.4.7 Non-Automatic Stays

None of the inclusions or exceptions to the automatic stay in any way limits the general injunctive power of the court, under section 105(a) of the Code, to stay other actions.289 Thus, if the automatic stay is found to be not applicable to a criminal proceeding based upon a bad check, the court may nonetheless be persuaded that the purpose of the action is really to collect the liability and thus to circumvent the bankruptcy.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 9.6.3.1 Giving Notice

An issue in some cases is whether the creditor has received actual notice. For damages to be available, the debtor must prove notice of the stay to the party enjoined.327 A telephone call or fax to a creditor or its counsel provides such notice,328 though later problems of proof could arise when the notice is not in writing.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 9.6.3.2.1 Introduction

The 2005 Act added complicated and confusing notice requirements by making amendments to section 342 with which both debtors’ counsel and the courts must comply. While some of the new language is terribly drafted and confusing, the amendments to section 342 have little practical effect.330

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 9.6.3.2.2 Deletion of safe harbor in section 342(c)

Section 342(c)(1), as renumbered, was amended to delete language in the section that had stated the failure to provide a debtor’s name, address, and taxpayer identification (Social Security) number (now only the last four digits) does not invalidate the legal effect of a notice. It is unclear what deletion of this language means. Presumably effectiveness of notice will be determined by otherwise applicable law.