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Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 28 C.F.R. § 58.24 Procedures for obtaining final agency action on United States Trustees’ decisions to deny agencies’ applications and to remove approved agencies from the approved list.

(a) The United States Trustee shall remove an approved agency from the approved list whenever an approved agency requests its removal in writing.

(b) The United States Trustee may issue a decision to remove an approved agency from the approved list, and thereby terminate the approved agency’s authorization to provide counseling services, at any time.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: I.1 Median Income by State

Debtors with incomes below their state’s median family income will not be subjected to the “means test” formula to determine whether a debtor is presumed ineligible for a chapter 7 discharge. The debtor’s current monthly income restated on an annualized basis is compared with United States Census Bureau figures for the state’s median family income for that household size.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 5.15.1.10.1 Housing and Utilities (11-22-2021)

1. Housing expenses include: mortgage (including interest) or rent, property taxes, necessary maintenance and repair, homeowner's or renter's insurance, homeowner dues and condominium fees.

2. The utilities include gas, electricity, water, heating oil, bottled gas, trash and garbage collection, wood and other fuels, septic cleaning, cable television, internet services, telephone and cell phone.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: 5.15.1.10.2 Transportation (11-22-2021)

1. This includes vehicle insurance, vehicle payment (lease or purchase), maintenance, fuel, state and local registration, required inspection, parking fees, tolls, driver's license and public transportation. Public transportation includes mass transit fares for a train, bus, taxi, etc., both within and between cities.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: I.2.2 National Standards for Allowable Living Expenses

On October 1, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made substantial changes to its Collection Financial Standards, which were made effective for bankruptcy purposes on January 1, 2008. Income ranges for the National Standard allowances were eliminated. The IRS National Standards now provide a single allowance for food, clothing, household supplies, personal care, and miscellany regardless of income, depending upon household size. The separate allowances for Alaska and Hawaii were eliminated and these states are now included in the National Standards.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: I.2.3 Local Housing and Utilities Expense Standards

On October 1, 2007, the IRS made substantial changes to its Collection Financial Standards, which were made effective for bankruptcy purposes on January 1, 2008. The dollar amounts in the standards are routinely updated. The Local Housing and Utilities Expense Standards are based on information provided by the IRS, which is derived from Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The Housing and Utilities standards break down housing expenses into a non-mortgage expense and a mortgage/rent expense, based on family size and county.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: I.2.4 Local Transportation Expense Standards

On October 1, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made substantial changes to its Collection Financial Standards, which were made effective for bankruptcy purposes on January 1, 2008. The IRS local standards for transportation differentiates between ownership costs, operating costs, and public transportation costs. The IRS removed the public transportation allowance from the vehicle operating expense and there is now a separate Public Transportation expense amount.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: I.2.5 Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expense Standard

On October 1, 2007, the IRS made substantial changes to its Collection Financial Standards, which were made effective for bankruptcy purposes on January 1, 2008. A new National Standard was added for out-of-pocket health care expenses. The dollar amount for this standard is intended to cover medical services, prescription drugs, and medical supplies (e.g., eyeglasses, contact lenses, etc.). Each debtor in the household is allowed the standard amount monthly, on a per person basis.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: I.2.6 Administrative Expenses Multipliers

11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)(A)(ii)(III) allows debtors eligible for chapter 13 to include in their calculation of monthly expenses the actual administrative expenses of administering a chapter 13 plan in the judicial district where the debtor resides. The United States Trustee Program issues the schedules of actual administrative expenses which contain, by judicial district, the chapter 13 multiplier needed to complete Official Bankruptcy Forms 122A and 122C (Statement of Current Monthly Income and Calculations).

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: H.1 Date Calculator

The Bankruptcy Code specifies several time periods relating to certain prepetition events that may control fundamental aspects of a bankruptcy case, such as the availability of the automatic stay, the ability to claim exemptions, and the right to a discharge. In some cases, these time periods may affect the debtor’s decision when to file bankruptcy.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Introduction

The Bankruptcy Code requires the debtor to provide tax returns or transcripts in certain situations. The debtor is given the election of whether to provide a copy of the return or a transcript of the return. Typically, it is quicker and easier to obtain tax transcripts rather than tax returns, and the tax information provided in transcripts will generally cause less invasion of the debtor’s privacy. There are several different types of tax transcripts.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Introduction

This report has been prepared by Fellows of the American College of Bankruptcy (the “College”). The College and its Fellows do not warrant or represent the accuracy or completeness of any of the information, or any of the recommendations, contained in this report. The recipient of this report, by receipt, acknowledges the foregoing.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Retainer Agreement

The attorney should provide the debtor with a plain-English written retainer agreement in every case, setting forth the duties and obligations of the attorney and the client, no later than the time when the initial fee payment is made or, if the petition is filed before payment of a fee, prior to the petition being filed. The agreement should clearly state the attorney’s fees and terms of payment, as well as, in general terms, the scope of services that are covered and not covered by the fees stated.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Investigating the Facts

The debtor client is, of necessity, the primary source of information in a consumer bankruptcy case, and the client’s statement of the facts, obtained in a thorough and probing interview, should be presumed to be true absent particular circumstances that give rise to a suspicion that it is not. The debtor’s attorney should also obtain all documents reasonably available that are necessary to complete the petition, statement and schedules as fully and accurately as is reasonably possible.

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: Preparing the Schedules and Statements

An attorney preparing the schedules and statements required in a consumer bankruptcy case must set forth the required information in a way that is as clear and accurate as possible given the practical limitations on the information that can be gathered. These limitations arise from a lack of all the relevant contracts and other documents, debtors’ inability to give precise information with respect to many facts, the costs of obtaining precise information, and the general uncertainties and instabilities in debtors’ financial situations.

Student Loan Law: 20 U.S.C. § 1087d. Agreements with institutions

(a) Participation agreements

An agreement with any institution of higher education for participation in the direct student loan program under this part shall—

(1) provide for the establishment and maintenance of a direct student loan program at the institution under which the institution will—

Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice: H.5 Best Practices for Document Production Requests by Trustees in Consumer Bankruptcy Cases

Shortly after the effective date of BAPCPA, the United States Trustee Program (“USTP”) reviewed its document production requirements and decided that USTP staff would not routinely request from debtors any documentation that is not otherwise required by the Bankruptcy Code (“Code”) or Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (“Rules”). The USTP similarly notified chapter 7 and chapter 13 trustees that we did not require them to collect additional documents without a specific need for additional information.

Student Loan Law: 20 U.S.C. § 1078-6. Default reduction program

(a) Other repayment incentives

(1) Sale or assignment of loan

(A) In general

Each guaranty agency, upon securing 9 payments made within 20 days of the due date during 10 consecutive months of amounts owed on a loan for which the Secretary has made a payment under paragraph (1) of section 1078(c) of this title, shall—

Student Loan Law: 20 U.S.C. § 1087bb. Allocation of funds

(a) Allocation based on previous allocation

(1) From the amount appropriated pursuant to section 1087aa(b) of this title for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall first allocate to each eligible institution an amount equal to—

(A) 100 percent of the amount received under subsections (a) and (b) of this section for fiscal year 1999 (as such subsections were in effect with respect to allocations for such fiscal year), multiplied by