Case No. 05-18724.United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana, Fort Wayne Division.
December 13, 2005
DECISION AND ORDER CONCERNING DEBTOR’S COMPLIANCE WITH § 109(h)
ROBERT GRANT, Bankruptcy Judge
As a result of the bankruptcy reforms of 2005, to be eligible for relief under Title 11 an individual must have received credit counseling from an approved agency during the 180 days prior to filing the petition. 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(1). This requirement may be waived, however, if the debtor files “a certification,” which “is satisfactory to the court,” describing “exigent circumstances” necessitating the immediate filing of a bankruptcy petition without waiting for the completion of credit counseling, and which “states that the debtor requested credit counseling . . . but was unable to obtain [it]” within five days. 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3)(A)(i-iii). The certification must be filed with the petition, see, Interim Bankruptcy Rule 1007(b)(3), (c), and it must state the facts demonstrating both exigent circumstances and the debtor’s efforts to obtain credit counseling “with particularity.” Fed.R.Bankr.P. Rule 9013. If the certification is satisfactory to the court, the debtor is then required to obtain credit counseling within the 30 days following the petition. 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3)(B).
The debtor in this case has asked the court to waive the requirement of pre-petition credit counseling. Yet it has not properly done so. Although the bankruptcy petition clearly instructs the debtor that if it is seeking a waiver of the pre-petition credit counseling requirement it “must attach
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[a] certification describing” the facts justifying that request, the debtor has not done so and no certification, of any kind, accompanies debtor’s petition.Based upon the present record the debtor is not eligible for relief under Title 11. Debtor shall file a certification demonstrating eligibility for relief under Title 11, which mustfully comply with all of the requirements of § 109(h)(3), within fourteen (14) days. The failure to do so will result in the dismissal of this case without further notice or hearing.
SO ORDERED.
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