Letter Concerning Debtor Education Certificates

U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office for United States Trustees
441 G Street, NW, Suite 6150
Washington, DC 20530
(202) 514-4100
ust.de.help@usdoj.gov
October 13, 2022
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
[Provider Address]
Re: 	Provider Name and Number
Dear [Principal Contact],
As you may be aware, each year a certain number of debtors do not obtain their
bankruptcy discharge for failure to satisfy the debtor education requirement. 	In some
unfortunate instances, debtors timely complete the course but fail to timely file the certificate of
completion, and the court closes the debtor’s case or dismisses it without entry of the bankruptcy
discharge.
The Department of Justice is committed to seeking equal justice under the law and the
United States Trustee Program strives to promote full access to the bankruptcy system and fair
treatment of all participants in the system. We are therefore reaching out to you to urge that you
assist your clients in timely filing their certificates of completion, if requested by them. Your
assistance in filing these certificates could go a long way toward ensuring that debtors who
timely complete the debtor education course obtain their bankruptcy discharge.
As you know, the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure contemplate that a provider
may notify the court that a debtor has completed the debtor education course. Rule 1007(b)(7).
This is reflected in the current debtor education rules, which permit you to file the certificates for
your clients, if they request that you do so. Specifically, the debtor education rules state that “an
approved provider may notify the appropriate bankruptcy court in accordance with the Federal
Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that a debtor has completed the instructional course.” 28 C.F.R. §
58.35(a).
Not surprisingly, many debtor education providers already offer to file certificates for
their clients with the court for free. Indeed, the vast majority of the debtor education providers
who issue over 90% of certificates each year offer this service to their clients, many without

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charging a fee. In addition, approximately 50 chapter 13 trustees who provide debtor education
courses to debtors also offer this service to debtors for free.
We understand that [Provider] currently does not offer the option of filing a debtor
education certificate to its clients. For the reasons explained above, we are writing to strongly
encourage you to consider offering this filing service option, preferably for free, to assist debtors
who timely complete the debtor education course in filing the certificates so they can obtain their
discharges.
Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss this further or have any
questions.
Sincerely,
Juliet Drake
Deputy Assistant Director
Office of Oversight