Source: http://cabankruptcyatty.com/bankruptcy-law-offices/bankruptcy-information/federal-rules-of-bankruptcy-procedure/rule-1001-scope-of-rules-and-forms/part-v-courts-and-clerks/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 01:57:51+00:00

Document:
Subdivision (b) of the rule fills a procedural void left by §362. Pursuant to §362(e), the automatic stay is terminated 30 days after a motion for relief is made unless the court continues the stay as a result of a final hearing or, pending final hearing, after a preliminary hearing. If a preliminary hearing is held, §362(e) requires the final hearing to be commenced within 30 days after the preliminary hearing. Although the expressed legislative intent is to require expeditious resolution of a secured party’s motion for relief, §362 is silent as to the time within which the final hearing must be concluded. Subdivision (b) imposes a 30 day deadline on the court to resolve the dispute.
Section 363(c)(3) authorizes the court to conduct a preliminary hearing and to authorize the use of cash collateral “if there is a reasonable likelihood that the trustee will prevail at a final hearing.” Subdivision (b)(2) of the rule permits a preliminary hearing to be held earlier than 15 days after service. Any order authorizing the use of cash collateral shall be limited to the amount necessary to protect the estate until a final hearing is held.
Notice of the motion for relief from the automatic stay or to prohibit or condition the use, sale, or lease of property must be served on the entities entitled to receive notice of a motion to approve an agreement pursuant to subdivision (d). If the movant and the adverse party agree to settle the motion and the terms of the agreement do not materially differ from the terms set forth in the movant’s motion papers, the court may approve the agreement without further notice pursuant to subdivision (d)(4).
Subdivisions (b)(1), (c)(1), and (d)(1) are amended to require service on committees that are elected in chapter 7 cases. Service on committees of retired employees appointed under §1114 of the Code is not required. These subdivisions are amended further to clarify that, in the absence of a creditors’ committee, service on the creditors included on the list filed pursuant to Rule 1007(d) is required only in chapter 9 and chapter 11 cases. The other amendments to subdivision (d)(1) are for consistency of style and are not substantive.
New clause (5) of the rule imposes on the debtor the duty to advise the clerk of any change of the debtor’s address.
This rule is amended to implement §521(a)(1)(B)(iv) and (e)(2), added to the Code by the 2005 amendments. These Code amendments expressly require the debtor to file with the court, or provide to the trustee, specific documents. The amendments to the rule implement these obligations and establish a time frame for creditors to make requests for a copy of the debtor’s Federal income tax return. The rule also requires the debtor to provide documentation in support of claimed expenses under §707(b)(2)(A) and (B).
Subdivision (b) of the rule is also amended to require the debtor to cooperate with the trustee by providing materials and documents necessary to assist the trustee in the performance of the trustee’s duties. Nothing in the rule, however, is intended to limit or restrict the debtor’s duties under §521, or to limit the access of the Attorney General to any information provided by the debtor in the case. Subdivision (b)(2) does not require that the debtor create documents or obtain documents from third parties; rather, the debtor’s obligation is to bring to the meeting of creditors under §341 the documents which the debtor possesses. Under subdivision (b)(2)(B), the trustee or the United States trustee can instruct debtors that they need not provide the documents described in that subdivision. Under subdivisions (b)(3) and (b)(4), the debtor must obtain and provide copies of tax returns or tax transcripts to the appropriate person, unless no such documents exist. Any written statement that the debtor provides indicating either that documents do not exist or are not in the debtor’s possession must be verified or contain an unsworn declaration as required under Rule 1008.
Because the amendment implements the debtor’s duty to cooperate with the trustee, the materials provided to the trustee would not be made available to any other party in interest at the §341 meeting of creditors other than the Attorney General. Some of the documents may contain otherwise private information that should not be disseminated. For example, pay stubs and financial account statements might include the social-security numbers of the debtor and the debtor’s spouse and dependents, as well as the names of the debtor’s children. The debtor should redact all but the last four digits of all social-security numbers and the names of any minors when they appear in these documents. This type of information would not usually be needed by creditors and others who may be attending the meeting. If a creditor perceives a need to review specific documents or other evidence, the creditor may proceed under Rule 2004.
Changes Made After Publication. The second paragraph of the Committee Note was amended to clarify that the debtor’s duty to provide copies of tax returns or tax transcripts are governed by a different standard than the debtor’s duty to provide other financial information.
(2) The trustee may file an objection to a claim of exemption at any time prior to one year after the closing of the case if the debtor fraudulently asserted the claim of exemption. The trustee shall deliver or mail the objection to the debtor and the debtor’s attorney, and to any person filing the list of exempt property and that person’s attorney.
(4) A copy of any objection shall be delivered or mailed to the trustee, the debtor and the debtor’s attorney, and the person filing the list and that person’s attorney.
This rule is derived from §522(1) of the Code and, in part, former Bankruptcy Rule 403. The Code changes the thrust of that rule by making it the burden of the debtor to list his exemptions and the burden of parties in interest to raise objections in the absence of which “the property claimed as exempt on such list is exempt;” §522(1).
Subdivision (a). While §522(1) refers to a list of property claimed as exempt, the rule incorporates such a list as part of Official Form No. 6, the schedule of the debtor’s assets, rather than requiring a separate list and filing. Rule 1007, to which subdivision (a) refers, requires that schedule to be filed within 15 days after the order for relief, unless the court extends the time.
Section 522(1) also provides that a dependent of the debtor may file the list if the debtor fails to do so. Subdivision (a) of the rule allows such filing from the expiration of the debtor’s time until 30 days thereafter. Dependent is defined in §522(a)(1).
GAP Report on Rule 4003(b). The words “trustee or creditor” were replaced by “party in interest” to conform to §522(l) of the Bankruptcy Code which permits any party in interest to object to claimed exemptions. Style revisions also were made to the published draft.
Subdivision (d) is amended to clarify that a creditor with a lien on property that the debtor is attempting to avoid on the grounds that the lien impairs an exemption may raise in defense to the lien avoidance action any objection to the debtor’s claimed exemption. The right to object is limited to an objection to the exemption of the property subject to the lien and for purposes of the lien avoidance action only. The creditor may not object to other exemption claims made by the debtor. Those objections, if any, are governed by Rule 4003(b).
Changes Made After Publication. The deadline for filing objections to exemptions under subdivision (b)(1) was returned to 30 days after the conclusion of the §341 meeting of creditors rather than the 60 day period proposed in the published rule. The second paragraph of the Committee Note which discussed this change was therefore deleted. Subdivisions (b)(2) and (b)(3) were amended to add the debtor and the debtor’s attorney to the list of persons to whom objections to exemptions must be delivered.
(a) Time for Objecting to Discharge; Notice of Time Fixed. In a chapter 7 case, a complaint, or a motion under §727(a)(8) or (a)(9) of the Code, objecting to the debtor’s discharge shall be filed no later than 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors under §341(a). In a chapter 11 case, the complaint shall be filed no later than the first date set for the hearing on confirmation. In a chapter 13 case, a motion objecting to the debtor’s discharge under §1328(f) shall be filed no later than 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors under §341(a). At least 28 days’ notice of the time so fixed shall be given to the United States trustee and all creditors as provided in Rule 2002(f) and (k) and to the trustee and the trustee’s attorney.
Subdivision (c). If a complaint objecting to discharge is filed, the court’s grant or denial of the discharge will be entered at the conclusion of the proceeding as a judgment in accordance with Rule 9021. The inclusion of the clause in subdivision (c) qualifying the duty of the court to grant a discharge when a waiver has been filed is in accord with the construction of the Code. 4 Collier, Bankruptcy 727.12 (15th ed. 1979).
Subdivision (f). Registration may facilitate the enforcement of the order of discharge in a district other than that in which it was entered. See 2 Moore’s Federal Practice 1.04 (2d ed. 1967). Because of the nationwide service of process authorized by Rule 7004, however, registration of the order of discharge is not necessary under these rules to enable a discharged debtor to obtain relief against a creditor proceeding anywhere in the United States in disregard of the injunctive provisions of the order of discharge.
The substitution of the word “filed” for “made” in subdivision (b) is intended to avoid confusion regarding the time when a motion is “made” for the purpose of applying these rules. See, e.g., In re Coggin, 30 F.3d 1443 (11th Cir. 1994). As amended, this rule requires that a motion for an extension of time for filing a complaint objecting to discharge be filed before the time has expired.
Subdivision (c)(3) is new. It postpones the entry of the discharge of an individual debtor in a case under chapter 11, 12, or 13 if there is a question as to the applicability of §522(q) of the Code. The postponement provides an opportunity for a creditor to file a motion to limit the debtor’s exemption under that provision.
Subdivision (a). Subdivision (a) is amended to include a deadline for filing a motion objecting to a debtor’s discharge under §§727(a)(8), [sic] (a)(9), or 1328(f) of the Code. These sections establish time limits on the issuance of discharges in successive bankruptcy cases by the same debtor.
Subdivision (c). Subdivision (c)(1) is amended because a corresponding amendment to subdivision (d) directs certain objections to discharge to be brought by motion rather than by complaint. Subparagraph (c)(1)(B) directs the court not to grant a discharge if a motion or complaint objecting to discharge has been filed unless the objection has been decided in the debtor’s favor.
Changes Made After Publication. Subdivision (d) was amended to provide that objections to discharge under §§727(a)(8), (a)(9), and 1328(f) are commenced by motion rather than by complaint and are governed by Rule 9014. Because of the relocation of this provision from the previously proposed Rule 7001(b), subdivisions (a) and (c)(1) of this rule were revised to change references to “motion under Rule 7001(b)” to “motion under §727(a)(8) or (a)(9).” Other stylistic changes were made to the rule, and the Committee Note was revised to reflect these changes.
The suspension by §108(c) of the Code of the statute of limitations affecting any debt of a debtor terminates within 30 days after the debtor is denied a discharge or otherwise loses his right to a discharge. If, however, a debtor’s failure to receive a discharge does not come to the attention of his creditors until after the statutes of limitations have run, the debtor obtains substantially the same benefits from his bankruptcy as a debtor who is discharged.
Subdivision (a) is amended to delete the words “with the court” as unnecessary. See Rules 5005(a) and 9001(3).
The substitution of the word “filed” for “made” in the final sentences of subdivisions (c) and (d) is intended to avoid confusion regarding the time when a motion is “made” for the purpose of applying these rules. See, e.g., In re Coggin, 30 F.3d 1443 (11th Cir. 1994). As amended, these subdivisions require that a motion for an extension of time be filed before the time has expired.
(b) Statement in Support of Reaffirmation Agreement. The debtor’s statement required under §524(k)(6)(A) of the Code shall be accompanied by a statement of the total income and expenses stated on schedules I and J. If there is a difference between the total income and expenses stated on those schedules and the statement required under §524(k)(6)(A), the statement required by this subdivision shall include an explanation of the difference.
The expression “not more than” contained in the first sentence of the rule is for the explicit purpose of requiring the hearing to occur within that time period and cannot be extended.
This rule is amended to establish a deadline for filing reaffirmation agreements. The Code sets out a number of prerequisites to the enforceability of reaffirmation agreements. Among those requirements, §524(k)(6)(A) provides that each reaffirmation agreement must be accompanied by a statement indicating the debtor’s ability to make the payments called for by the agreement. In the event that this statement reflects an insufficient income to allow payment of the reaffirmed debt, §524(m) provides that a presumption of undue hardship arises, allowing the court to disapprove the reaffirmation agreement, but only after a hearing conducted prior to the entry of discharge. Rule 4004(c)(1)(K) accommodates this provision by delaying the entry of discharge where a presumption of undue hardship arises. However, in order for that rule to be effective, the reaffirmation agreement itself must be filed before the entry of discharge. Under Rule 4004(c)(1) discharge is to be entered promptly after the expiration of the time for filing a complaint objecting to discharge, which, under Rule 4004(a), is 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors under §341(a). Accordingly, that date is set as the deadline for filing a reaffirmation agreement.
Changes Made After Publication. The only change was stylistic. The phrase “of the Code” was added to subdivision (b).

References: §362
 §362
 §362
 §362
 §1114
 §521
 §707
 §521
 §341
 §341
 §522
 §522
 §522
 §522
 §522
 §341
 §727
 §341
 §1328
 §341
 §522
 §727
 §108
 §524
 §524
 §524
 §524
 §341