28 U.S.C. § 159 — Bankruptcy statistics

submitted 21 years ago by Pub. L. 109-8 to r/title-28-JUDICIARY-AND-JUDICIAL-PROCEDURE · 584 words · no verdicts yet

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Courts must collect standardized statistics on people filing for consumer bankruptcy. The Director of the Administrative Office compiles this data and reports to Congress every year. The report breaks down debts, income, case outcomes, and misconduct by district.

(a) The clerk of the district court — or the bankruptcy court clerk, if one is certified — must collect statistics about individual debtors whose debts are mainly consumer debts and who seek relief under chapters 7, 11, or 13 of title 11 (the Bankruptcy Code). These statistics must follow a standardized format the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (the "Director") sets. (b) The Director must: (1) compile these statistics; (2) make them available to the public; and (3) by July 1, 2008, and every year after that, prepare and send Congress a report analyzing this information. (c) This compiled report must: (1) be broken down by bankruptcy chapter; (2) be shown both nationally and for each individual district; and (3) include information about — (A) debtors' total assets and liabilities, broken down by category, as reported on their bankruptcy schedules; (B) debtors' current monthly income, average income, and average expenses, as reported on their schedules and statements; (C) the total amount of debt discharged during the reporting period — the difference between debtors' total reported debt and the debt reported in categories that are mostly non-dischargeable; (D) the average time between filing a case and closing it, for cases closed in the reporting period; (E) for cases closed in the reporting period — (i) how many cases had a reaffirmation agreement filed; and (ii) the total number of such agreements filed, how many of those cases had a debtor without a lawyer, and how many of those agreements the court approved; (F) for chapter 13 cases in the reporting period — (i) how many final orders set the value of property securing a claim below the claim's amount, and the total number of such value-setting orders; (ii) how many cases were dismissed (including for missed payments), how many were refiled after dismissal, and how many completed their plan (noting how many modifications happened before completion); and (iii) how many debtors had filed another case in the preceding six years; (G) how many cases had creditors fined for misconduct, and the total punitive damages courts awarded for that misconduct; and (H) how many cases had sanctions imposed on the debtor's attorney under Bankruptcy Rule 9011, or damages awarded under that rule.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(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 sections 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.

Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 109–8, title VI, § 601(a), Apr. 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 119; amended Pub. L. 111–327, § 2(c)(2), Dec. 22, 2010, 124 Stat. 3563.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2005Enacted · Pub. L. 109-8 · 119 Stat. 119
2010Amended · Pub. L. 111-327 · 124 Stat. 3563

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 109-8 on 2005-04-20.

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