Creditors–DON’T BE LATE
Creditors–DON’T BE LATE–Creditor Being a Few MINUTES Late in Filing Creditor’s Nondischargeability Adversary Proceeding against Debtor, in Debtor’s Bankruptcy Case, Resulted in Complaint being Thrown Out, as AFTER DEADLINE. In Anwar v. Johnson, ___ F.3d.___, 2013 DJDAR 8725 (9th Cir. 7/3/2013). Same reasoning would apply to cause Bankruptcy Court to have to throw out a creditor’s, trustee’s, or US Trustee’s Complaint seeking to deny the debtor any discharge, if filed after the deadline that the Bankruptcy Code sets for filing “nondischargeability” or “denial of discharge” complaints.
There are certain excuses that may excuse untimely filing of Complaint, but none of those excuses applied in Johnson, and The 9th Circuit held that the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedures did NOT afford the Bankruptcy Court the discretion to extend, retroactively (after deadline had passed) the dealine for filing nondischargeability complaints when an attorney’s computer difficulties cause him to miss the electronic filing deadline. The 9th Circuit Court of appeals held that the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure to NOT allow retroactive extension of the deadline.