The United States Bankruptcy Court at Richmond, in Lubman v. Hall, refused to grant a discharge because the debtors refused to keep records required by the trustee and failed to cooperate with the trustee as required by Bankruptcy Code §521(3) and Rule 4005 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
The Court found that the debtors, a U.S. Postal Service computer programmer and a secretary, refused to comply with the trustee's request that they file income tax returns for the previous years, claiming that they were not required to file such returns. The Court ruled, however, that the debtors had a duty to preserve those records which others in like circumstances would ordinarily keep. The basis for the duty was the necessity for the trustee to be able to fully determine the debtors' financial condition.
This decision can be used by creditors in all cases - check the debtor's bankruptcy petition for important missing information and bring this to the trustee's attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment