Paul B. Hines and Nancy J. Hines

UNITED S TATES B ANKRUPTCY COURT
FOR T HE E ASTERN DISTRICT O F PENNSYLVANIA
In re 	: 	Chapter 13
:
PAUL B. HINES and 	:
NANCY J. HINES 	: 	Bankruptcy No. 07-15157DWS
:
Debtors. 	:
ORDER
AND NOW, this 21st day of September 2007, Debtors having filed a voluntary
petition in bankruptcy under chapter 13 on September 10, 2007;
And Debtors having failed to file a certificate evidencing prepetition credit
counseling, which is an eligibility requirement for bankruptcy relief pursuant to 11 U.S.C.
§ 109(h)(1) (“an individual may not be a debtor . . . unless such individual has, during the
180-day period preceding the date of filing of the petition by such individual, received from
an approved nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency . . . an individual or group
briefing (including a briefing conducted by telephone or on the Internet) that outlined the
opportunities for available credit counseling and assisted such individual in performing a
related budget analysis.”). Thus, the credit counseling requirement should be met before the
individual files a voluntary bankruptcy petition;
And 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3)(A) permitting a debtor to obtain credit counseling after
his/her bankruptcy case commenced, but only in very limited circumstances, i.e., a debtor
must certify: 	(1) that he/she sought credit counseling prior to the filing of the petition;
Case 07-15157-dws Doc 8 Filed 09/21/07 Entered 09/21/07 11:56:41 Desc Main
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1 Debtors also failed to file with the Petition Exhibit D - Statement of Compliance with
Credit Counseling Requirement, under which a debtor must assert one of several options,
including: (1) prepetition counseling was obtained and the certificate is attached; (2) prepetition
counseling was obtained but debtor has not yet received the certificate, in which case debtor is
allowed 15-days from the petition date to file the certificate; or (3) exigent circumstances existed
pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3)(A).
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(2) such counseling was not available within five days beginning from the date the debtor
made the request; and (3) the debtor needed to file his/her petition for valid, emergency
reasons and thus could not wait for such counseling to take place;
And Debtors having failed to file a certification asserting exigent circumstances, but
instead filed a Motion to Extend Time to File Certificate of Counseling (the “Motion”) that
indicates Debtors have been unable to schedule credit counseling due to their employment
commitments, which is not a basis for waiver under § 109(h)(3)(A); 1
It is hereby ORDERED that Debtors’ case shall be and hereby is DISMISSED
for failure to comply with § 109(h). FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion is DENIED
as moot.
DIANE WEISS SIGMUND
Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
Case 07-15157-dws Doc 8 Filed 09/21/07 Entered 09/21/07 11:56:41 Desc Main
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