Today as I was reviewing the rules and regulations that govern the filing of bankruptcy cases in Oakland Bankruptcy Court, I ran across a form I hadn’t noticed before. Judge Efremsky, relatively new to Oakland Bankruptcy Court but a bankruptcy judge in the Northern District of California since 2006, has posted a form of order on requests for additional time to file missing documents. The order gives us an idea of what requests he’s willing to grant.
For instance, Judge Efremsky will grant up to an additional 45 days to file missing schedules and other basic documents such as the means test and statement of financial affairs. I can’t imagine needing that much time, but it’s nice to know that it’s an option.
There is also a check box on the order allowing for an extension of time to file a chapter 13 plan. This could be handy in the case of a complicated small-business case or one where there is a lot of real estate at issue. I’ve had a couple of those lately and could have used some extra time to formulate and propose a plan. Instead we ended up filing some plans that had to be quickly amended and re-served to creditors.
Judge Efremsky anticipates granting an extension of time to file a credit counseling certificate but I don’t get that one at all. Either you have it or your don’t. If you don’t, the odds are pretty good your case is going to be dismissed especially if it’s a chapter 13.
As a final note, Judge Efremsky also indicates a willingness to grant an extension to file a statement regarding the completion of a personal financial management course. Again, however, I have a hard time seeing where this would actually play out in reality. You file and you get around three months in a chapter 7 case to finish your financial management course. Seems like you’d have a hard time showing cause for your failure to complete a one-hour course at some point during that three-month period. I wouldn’t want to go in front of Judge Efremsky and explain that one.
