Russell J. Nowell

UNITED S TATES B ANKRUPTCY COURT
FOR T HE E ASTERN DISTRICT O F PENNSYLVANIA
In re 	: 	Chapter 13
:
RUSSELL J. NOWELL 	: 	Bankruptcy No. 06-14099DWS
:
Debtor. 	:
ORDER
AND NOW, this 14th day of September 2006, Debtor having filed a voluntary
petition in bankruptcy under chapter 13 on September 13, 2006;
And Debtor 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 06-14099-dws Doc 7 Filed 09/14/06 Entered 09/14/06 16:00:10 Desc Main
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In re Russell J. Nowell - Bankruptcy No. 06-14099DWS
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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 Debtor having filed a certification that does not meet the requirements of
§ 109(h)(3)(A), but rather raises only Debtor’s ignorance of the credit counseling
requirement;
It is hereby ORDERED that Debtor’s case shall be and hereby is DISMISSED for
failure to comply with § 109(h).
DIANE WEISS SIGMUND
Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
Case 06-14099-dws Doc 7 Filed 09/14/06 Entered 09/14/06 16:00:10 Desc Main
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