Case No. 06-40022.United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana, Hammond Division, at Lafayette.
March 24, 2006
DECISION
ROBERT GRANT, Bankruptcy Judge
By the court’s order of March 2, 2006, the debtors were directed to file a certification which fully complied with the requirements of § 109(h) and demonstrated eligibility for relief under Title 11 within fourteen (14) days. The failure to do so was to result in dismissal without further notice or hearing. There has been no apparent response to that order. The only thing debtors have filed since the order of March 2 is a letter dated February 27, 2006, signed by a Dr. Wael Harb, which states that he is treating Mrs. Cordell and that she is unable to work. Even if this letter is construed as a response to the court’s order, it does not satisfy the requirements of § 109(h). To begin with, it is not signed by the debtors. Thus, it does not constitute a certification as required by § 109(h). See, In re DiPinto,336 B.R. 693, 696 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 2006); In re Rodriguez,336 B.R. 462, 469 (Bankr. D. Idaho 2005). More fundamentally, it fails to describe exigent circumstances which necessitated the immediate filing of the bankruptcy petition without waiting for the completion of credit counseling, and to demonstrate that the “the debtor requested credit counseling . . . but was unable to obtain [it]” within five days. 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3)(A)(i), (ii).
The debtors have not fulfilled the requirements of § 109(h) and are not eligible for relief under the United States Bankruptcy Code. This case should be dismissed. An order doing so will
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be entered.
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