LundinOnChapter13.com
Cite as: Keith M. Lundin, Lundin On Chapter 13, § 39.2, at ¶ ____, LundinOnChapter13.com (last visited __________).
The debtor is required to file a list of creditors, a schedule of assets and liabilities, a schedule of current income and expenditures and a statement of the debtor’s financial affairs. Typically, the debtor satisfies these statutory responsibilities by filing Official Bankruptcy Forms 6 and 7.1 The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA)2 added many new filing requirements to § 521(a)(1),3 including a certificate of delivery of the § 342 notice,4 copies of payment advices received within 60 days before filing,5 a statement of monthly net income6 and statement of reasonably anticipated increase in income or expenditures.7 Additional filing duties are found in Bankruptcy Rule 1007(b)(6) and elsewhere in § 521: Rule 1007(b)(6) requires every Chapter 13 debtor to file a statement of current monthly income formalized as Official Bankruptcy Form B22C;8 § 521(b) requires every debtor to file a certificate of completion of the prebankruptcy briefing required by § 109(h);9 § 521(c) requires the filing of any record of an interest in an education individual retirement account;10 and § 521(e) and (f) contain complex new filing and providing duties with respect to tax returns.11 The failure to file the documents required under § 521(a)(1) is a ground for conversion or dismissal under § 1307(c)(9) (but only on the motion of the U.S. trustee).12 Failure to file the documents required under other subsections of § 521 may be cause for dismissal and, in some instances, may trigger a problematic “automatic” dismissal.13
1 See §§ 35.1 [ Schedules—In General ] § 36.7 Schedules—In General–36.1 [ Statement of Financial Affairs ] § 36.22 Statement of Financial Affairs.
2 Pub. L. No. 109-8, 119 Stat. 23 (2005).
3 See the full list in § 387.1 [ New Filing Requirements and Other Duties: A List ] § 42.1 Filing Requirements and Other Duties: A List.
4 See §§ 36.9 [ Section 342(b) Certificate ] § 36.32 Section 342(b) Certificate and 375.1 [ Certificate of § 342(b) Notice ] § 36.33 Certificate of § 342(b) Notice after BAPCPA.
5 See § 42.3 Payment Advices.
6 See § 36.17 Statement of Monthly Net Income.
7 See § 36.18 Statement of Anticipated Increase in Income or Expenditures.
8 See § 36.19 Form 122C-1: Statement of Current Monthly Income–§ 36.21 Form 122C-2: Disposable Income Calculation and § 92.3 Current Monthly Income: The Baseline.
9 See § 36.25 Briefing Requirement and Certificate.
10 See § 36.34 Record of Education Individual Retirement Account.
11 See § 42.4 Tax Return Duties—In General–§ 42.9 Tax Return Confidentiality Issues.
12 See §§ 311.2 [ Conversion on Request of Creditor or Trustee ] § 141.2 Conversion on Request of Creditor or Trustee and 312.1 [ Cause for Conversion ] § 141.3 Cause for Conversion.
13 See § 388.1 [ Consequences of Failure to File Required Information, Including “Automatic Dismissal” ] § 42.2 Consequences of Failure to File Required Information, Including “Automatic Dismissal”.