IN MATTER OF CHEEK (Bankr.N.D.Ind. 4-15-2005)

IN THE MATTER OF: RANDY EUGENE CHEEK Debtor.

Case No. 05-40062.United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Indiana, Hammond Division at Lafayette.
April 15, 2005

DECISION AND ORDER
ROBERT GRANT, Bankruptcy Judge

On March 28, 2005, Debtor filed a notice of amendment. Attached to this notice are amended bankruptcy schedules and a motion to amend bankruptcy petition. Presenting these items for filing in this fashion is contrary to Local Bankruptcy Rule B-1009(a).

Whenever a bankruptcy petition, list, statement or schedule is amended, Local Bankruptcy Rule B-1009(a) requires the amendment to be accompanied by “a separate notice of amendment.” The notice required by this rule must be filed separately from the amended schedules to which it relates. It should not be attached to or incorporated into the item being amended; neither should those items be attached to or incorporated into it. Indeed, taking debtor’s submission at face value, the only thing filed was a notice of amendment because that is what the document filed says it is. See, N.D. Ind. L.B.R. B-9013-1(a) (all requests shall be named in the caption). See also, N.D. Ind. L.R. 5.1(a); N.D.Ind. L.B.R. B-5005-1(a) (the name of each filing must be set forth on the first page). Consequently, although debtor has filed a notice of amendment, it has yet to file the amended schedule to which the notice refers.[1]

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Based upon the foregoing, it appears that debtor’s filing of March 28, 2005, does not comply with the local rules of this court. Accordingly, the court will take no action with regard thereto or as a result thereof. Furthermore, debtor shall, within fourteen days of this date, show cause why that filing should not be stricken.

SO ORDERED.

[1] Even if the court were to consider the copy of the schedule attached to the motion as having been filed separately, it still does not comply with the local rules of the court. It is not denominated as an amended schedule and the new information it contains is not emphasized in any way. See N.D. Ind. L.B.R. B-1009(a) (“[T]he amended information shall be highlighted or underlined on all copies. In order to accommodate the possibility of multiple amendments, each amendment shall be numerically identified.”)

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