THREE STRIKES AND YOU ARE OUT

By Christopher C. Carr, Esq. Chester County bankruptcy attorney.

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 One mistake does not a bad faith petition make perhaps but 3 may well take you over the edge:  Rule of Thumb: 1 mistake is a mistake, but 2 mistakes is suspect, and 3 is concealment.  In fact, there is a great letter from Judge Jaroslovsky in the 9th circuit out of California, which was written to the debtor attorneys in his district.  The text of the letter is set forth below. He was trying to reign in some of the rampant petition amendment issues taking place due to the sloppy legal work going on in his district but his words and wisdom have general application.

So let’s stay out of trouble, please tell me EVERYTHING and let me decide.  As you can see below, I will almost always decide in FAVOR of disclosure but there are ways of dealing with such things that you don’t know about and I won’t either unless you “spill the goods” now not after it is too late. For more information see my blog on this topic HERE. An open letter for debtors and their counsel: I have noticed a disturbing trend among debtors and their counsel to treat the schedules and statement of affairs as “working papers” which can be freely amended as circumstances warrant and need not contain the exact, whole truth.  Notwithstanding execution under penalty of perjury, debtors and their counsel seem to think that they are free to argue facts and values not contained in the schedules or even directly contrary to the schedules. Some debtors have felt justified signing a statement that they have only a few, or even a single creditor, in order to file an emergency petition, knowing full well that the statement is false.  Whatever your attitude is toward the schedules, you should know that as far as I am concerned they are the sacred text of any bankruptcy filing.  There is no excuse for them not being 100% accurate and complete.  Disclosure must be made to a fault.  The filing of a false schedule is a federal felony, and I do not hesitate to recommend prosecution of anyone who knowingly files a false schedule. I have no idea where anyone got the idea that amendments can cure false schedules.  The debtor has an obligation to correct schedules he or she knows are false, but amendment in no way cures a false filing.  Any court may properly disregard subsequent sworn statements at odds with previous sworn statements.  I give no weight at all to amendments filed after an issue has been raised. As a practical matter, where false statements or omissions have come to light due to investigation by a creditor or trustee, it is virtually impossible for the debtor to demonstrate good faith in a Chapter 13 or entitlement to discharge in a Chapter 7 case.  I strongly recommend that any of you harboring a cavalier attitude toward the schedules replace it with a good healthy dose of paranoia. (my emph.)   /s/ Judge Alan Jaroslovsky U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Northern District of California, Santa Rosa Division.

Law Offices of Christopher C. Carr, MBA,  P.C., is a quality bankruptcy and debt relief practice, located in  Valley Township, west of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, where Attorney Christopher Carr, a Chester County bankruptcy attorney, who has over 30 years if diversified ;egal experience, concentrates on serving the residents of and businesses located within Western Chester County and Eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, including the communities in and around Atglen, Bird in Hand, Caln, Christiana, Coatesville, Downingtown, Eagle, Exton, Fallowfield Gap, Honeybrook, Lancaster, Lincoln University, Modena, New Holland, Parkesburg, Paradise, Ronks, Sadsbury, Thorndale, Valley Township, Wagontown & West Chester,  Pennsylvania. If you reside or do business in the area and need assistance with a legal issue, please call Mr. Carr at (610)380-7969 or write him at cccarresq@aol.com today!  

©Christopher C. Carr, Attorney at Law 2013, All Rights Reserved.