Julia Shea Sims

IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
In re
Case No. 3:26-bk-30608-SHB
JULIA SHEA SIMS 	Chapter 13
Debtor
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
A hearing was held May 6, 2026 (“May 6 Hearing”), on (1) the Order entered April 6, 2026
(“April 6 Order”), directing Debtor, pro se, to appear for the Court to determine whether exigent
circumstances merit a temporary waiver of the credit counseling briefing requirement of 11 U.S.C.
§ 109(h) and to show cause why this case should not be dismissed for failure to file her statements
and schedules and the Court, as authorized by 11 U.S.C. § 349(a), incorporating 11 U.S.C. §
109(g), should not impose a 180-day bar against the filing of a bankruptcy case by Debtor under
any chapter of Title 11 “for her repeated and willful failure to abide by orders of this Court and
otherwise comply with the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code” in this and a prior case filed within
the previous 180 days [Doc. 11 at ¶¶ 2-3]; and (2) the Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss filed by Debra
L. Miller, Chapter 13 Trustee (“Trustee”), on April 6, 2026 [Doc. 10]. 	Debtor did not file a
response to either the April 6 Order or the Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss, did not file her statements
and schedules, and did not appear at the May 6 Hearing.
SO ORDERED.
SIGNED this 7th day of May, 2026
THIS ORDER HAS BEEN ENTERED ON THE DOCKET.
PLEASE SEE DOCKET FOR ENTRY DATE.
_____________________________________________________________
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I. FINDINGS OF FACT
The record reflects the following undisputed facts. This is Debtor’s second bankruptcy case
filed within five months. The histories of the cases are summarized as follows:
(A) In Case No. 3:25-bk-32141-SHB filed on November 13, 2025, Debtor failed to
(1) file the Certificate of Credit Counseling; Statement Regarding Payment Advices;
Schedules A/B through J; Declaration About Schedules; Summary of Assets and Liabilities
and Certain Statistical Information; Statement of Financial Affairs; Chapter 13 Statement
of Current Monthly Income and Calculation of Commitment Period; and Chapter 13 Plan
required by 11 U.S.C. §§ 109, 521, and 1321; and Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
1007(b) and 3015(b); and (2) appear at the hearing held December 17, 2025, as required
by the Order entered on December 1, 2025 [No. 3:25-bk-32141-SHB, ECF Doc. 13],
directing her to appear and show cause why the case should not be dismissed for non-
compliance, and the Notice of Hearing on the Chapter 13 Trustee’s Motion to Dismiss filed
November 26, 2025 [No. 3:25-bk-32141-SHB, ECF Doc. 12], resulting in dismissal of the
case by an Order entered on December 18, 2025, “for willful failure of the debtor to abide
by orders of the court [and] to appear before the court in proper prosecution of the case”
[No. 3:25-bk-32141-SHB, ECF Doc. 16 (quoting 11 U.S.C. § 109(g)(1))].
(B) In this case filed on April 2, 2026, Debtor failed to (1) file the Certificate of
Credit Counseling, stating instead in Part 5: Number 15 of her Voluntary Petition that she
asked for pre-petition credit counseling services from an approved agency, as required by
11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(1), but was unable to obtain the required services during the seven days
after she made the request and that exigent circumstances merit a temporary waiver of the
pre-petition credit counseling briefing requirement for thirty days; (2) file a certification
describing exigent circumstances satisfactory to the Court as required by § 109(h)(3)(A)(i)
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and (iii)1; (3) file the Statement Regarding Payment Advices; Schedules A/B through J;
Declaration About Schedules; Statement of Financial Affairs; Summary of Assets and
Liabilities and Certain Statistical Information; Chapter 13 Statement of Current Monthly
Income and Calculation of Commitment Period; and Chapter 13 Plan required by §§ 109,
521, and 1321 and Rules 1007(b) and 3015(b), and as further evidenced by the Notice of
Additional Documents to Be Filed dated April 3, 2026 [Doc. 6]; (4) pay the filing fee by
April 30, 2026, as directed in an Order entered April 2, 2026 [Doc. 5]; (5) request an
extension of time to file the delinquent documents; and (6) appear at the May 6 Hearing as
directed by the April 6 Order and the Notice of Hearing on the Chapter 13 Trustee’s Motion
to Dismiss.
II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(7), debtors are required to file and proceed in their Chapter 13
cases in good faith with an almost identical standard as cases concerning good faith and dismissal
under 11 U.S.C. § 1307(c). In re Hall, 346 B.R. 420, 426 (Bankr. W.D. Ky. 2006); see also In re
Gomery, 523 B.R. 773, 785 (Bankr. W.D. Mich. 2015) (“The factors that are relevant to the good
faith determination under either § 1325 or § 1307(c) obviously overlap to some extent[.]”).
Whether a debtor has filed a case in bad faith requires examination of the totality of the
circumstances and is based on past and present circumstances. Soc’y Nat’l Bank v. Barrett (In re
Barrett), 964 F.2d 588, 591 (6th Cir. 1992).
Courts generally focus on the following factors to make the good faith determination:
(1) the debtor’s income; (2) the debtor’s living expenses; (3) the debtor’s attorney
fees; (4) the expected duration of the Chapter 13 plan; (5) the sincerity with which
the debtor has petitioned for relief under Chapter 13; (6) the debtor’s potential for
future earning; (7) any special circumstances the debtor may be subject to, such as
unusually high medical expenses; (8) the frequency with which the debtor has
1 The handwritten explanation of “Foreclosure sale schedules April 2, 2026, Insufficient time to obtain counseling”
fails to satisfy the statutory certification requirements.
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sought relief before in bankruptcy; (9) the circumstances under which the debt was
incurred; (10) the amount of payment offered by debtor as indicative of the debtor's
sincerity to repay the debt; (11) the burden which administration would place on
the trustee; and (12) the statutorily-mandated policy that bankruptcy provisions be
construed liberally in favor of the debtor.
Id. at 592 (citation modified). Other factors include “the accuracy of the plan’s statements of the
debts, expenses and percentage repayment of unsecured debt[,] and whether any inaccuracies are
an attempt to mislead the court[.]” Hardin v. Caldwell (In re Caldwell), 851 F.2d 852, 859 (6th
Cir. 1988) (citation omitted). Courts may also consider
the nature of the debt, including the question of whether the debt would be
nondischargeable in a Chapter 7 proceeding; the timing of the petition; how the
debt arose; the debtor’s motive in filing the petition; how the debtor’s actions
affected creditors; the debtor’s treatment of creditors both before and after the
petition was filed; and whether the debtor has been forthcoming with the
bankruptcy court and the creditors.
Alt v. United States (In re Alt), 305 F.3d 413, 419 (6th Cir. 2002) (citation omitted). By weighing
the factors, “which may circumstantially reflect the debtor’s motivation, and ultimately his good
faith in seeking relief under chapter 13,” courts may determine whether “the debtor’s purpose in
filing for chapter 13 relief is consistent with the underlying purpose and spirit of chapter 13 – i.e.,
financial rehabilitation through repayment of debt – and if the filing is likely in good faith.”
Condon v. Brady (In re Condon), 358 B.R. 317, 326 (B.A.P. 6th Cir. 2007) (citation modified).
Although courts must find that imposition of a sanction “be commensurate with the
egregiousness of the conduct,” the purpose of adding § 109(g) was to address abuse of the system
including “the filing of meritless petitions in rapid succession to improperly obtain the benefit of
the Bankruptcy Code’s automatic stay provisions as a means of avoiding foreclosure under a
mortgage or other security interest.” In re Cline, 474 B.R. 789 (Table), No. 11-8075, 2012 WL
1957935, at *7 (B.A.P. 6th Cir. June 1, 2012) (citations omitted). “While multiple filings are not,
in and of themselves, improper or indicative of bad faith, a history of multiple filings and
dismissals may be construed as bad faith.” Cusano v. Klein (In re Cusano), 431 B.R. 726, 735
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(B.A.P. 6th Cir. 2010) (citing In re Glenn, 288 B.R. 516, 520 (Bankr. E.D. Tenn. 2002)).
As stated previously, Debtor filed two pro se Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases within five
months of each other. 	Debtor did not file a certification reflecting that she took the required
prepetition credit counseling briefing in the first case, and she stated in her Voluntary Petition in
this case that she did not take the briefing, claiming exigent circumstances for a waiver that were
unproved. Further, Debtor did not file in either case the statements and schedules required by §
521(a) or a proposed plan as required by § 1321, and she has not appeared at any hearing before
this Court as ordered. Significantly, Debtor did not appear at the May 6 Hearing notwithstanding
that the April 6 Order expressly warned her that the Court intended to impose a 180-day bar against
refiling another case. [Doc. 11 at ¶ 3.] 	A totality of the circumstances evidences that Debtor
repeatedly and willfully failed to comply with orders of this Court and the Bankruptcy Code and
did not file this case in good faith.
For the foregoing reasons, constituting the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law
as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52, applicable to contested matters by Federal Rule
of Bankruptcy Procedure 9014(c), the Court directs the following:
1. 	Because Debtor did not obtain the required credit counseling briefing within the 180
days preceding the date of the filing of her petition as required by 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(1), she is not
eligible to be a debtor under Title 11, and this bankruptcy case is DISMISSED.
2. Likewise, the Motion to Dismiss filed by the Trustee is GRANTED.
3. As authorized by 11 U.S.C. § 349(a), incorporating therein 11 U.S.C. § 109(g)(1), based
on her repeated and “willful failure . . . to abide by orders of the court, . . . to appear before the
court in proper prosecution of the case[,]” and to otherwise comply with the provisions of the
Bankruptcy Code, Julia Shea Sims is BARRED from filing another bankruptcy petition under any
chapter of Title 11 of the United States Code for a period of 180 days from the date of entry of this
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Order.
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