PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The court clerk (or the bankruptcy clerk if certified under section 156(b)) must collect data about people who are individuals with mostly consumer debts who file under chapters 7, 11, and 13 of title 11. The data must follow a standard form set by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The Director must put the data together, make it public, and send a report with analysis to Congress by July 1, 2008 and every year after. The report must show totals and district-by-district counts, broken down by chapter. It must include: total assets and debts and their categories from debtor schedules; current monthly income, average income, and average expenses; the total amount of debt discharged in the reporting period (calculated as the difference between total debt listed and amounts in mostly nondischargeable categories); average time from filing to case closing; counts about reaffirmation agreements (how many filed, total filed, how many without an attorney, and how many approved); chapter 13 details (valuation orders, dismissals, dismissals for missed payments, refilings after dismissal, plan completions with number of modifications, and prior filings in the 6-year period); cases where creditors were fined or given punitive damages; and cases where sanctions under rule 9011 were imposed on the debtor’s lawyer or damages awarded under that rule.

Title 28, §159

Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The clerk of the district court, or the clerk of the bankruptcy court if one is certified pursuant to section 156(b) of this title, shall collect statistics regarding debtors who are individuals with primarily consumer debts seeking relief under chapters 7, 11, and 13 of title 11. Those statistics shall be in a standardized format prescribed by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (referred to in this section as the “Director”).

(b)The Director shall—

(1)compile the statistics referred to in subsection (a);

(2)make the statistics available to the public; and

(3)not later than July 1, 2008, and annually thereafter, prepare, and submit to Congress a report concerning the information collected under subsection (a) that contains an analysis of the information.

(c)The compilation required under subsection (b) shall—

(1)be itemized, by chapter, with respect to title 11;

(2)be presented in the aggregate and for each district; and

(3)include information concerning—

(A)the total assets and total liabilities of the debtors described in subsection (a), and in each category of assets and liabilities, as reported in the schedules prescribed pursuant to section 2075 of this title and filed by debtors;

(B)the current monthly income, average income, and average expenses of debtors as reported on the schedules and statements that each such debtor files under section 521 and 1322 of title 11;

(C)the aggregate amount of debt discharged in cases filed during the reporting period, determined as the difference between the total amount of debt and obligations of a debtor reported on the schedules and the amount of such debt reported in categories which are predominantly nondischargeable;

(D)the average period of time between the date of the filing of the petition and the closing of the case for cases closed during the reporting period;

(E)for cases closed during the reporting period—

(i)the number of cases in which a reaffirmation agreement was filed; and

(ii)(I)the total number of reaffirmation agreements filed;

(II)of those cases in which a reaffirmation agreement was filed, the number of cases in which the debtor was not represented by an attorney; and

(III)of those cases in which a reaffirmation agreement was filed, the number of cases in which the reaffirmation agreement was approved by the court;

(F)with respect to cases filed under chapter 13 of title 11, for the reporting period—

(i)(I)the number of cases in which a final order was entered determining the value of property securing a claim in an amount less than the amount of the claim; and

(II)the number of final orders entered determining the value of property securing a claim;

(ii)the number of cases dismissed, the number of cases dismissed for failure to make payments under the plan, the number of cases refiled after dismissal, and the number of cases in which the plan was completed, separately itemized with respect to the number of modifications made before completion of the plan, if any; and

(iii)the number of cases in which the debtor filed another case during the 6-year period preceding the filing;

(G)the number of cases in which creditors were fined for misconduct and any amount of punitive damages awarded by the court for creditor misconduct; and

(H)the number of cases in which sanctions under rule 9011 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure were imposed against the debtor’s attorney or damages awarded under such Rule.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, referred to in subsec. (c)(3)(H), are set out in the Appendix to Title 11, Bankruptcy.

Amendments

2010—Subsec. (c)(3)(H). Pub. L. 111–327 inserted “the” after “against”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 109–8, title VI, § 601(c), Apr. 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 120, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [enacting this section] shall take effect 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Apr. 20, 2005].”

§159 Bankruptcy Statistics

Summary

Title 28, §159

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Amendments

Citations & Metadata