Here are the new requirements for submission of ch 11 7-day packages and MORS beginning next week. All of the Woodland Hills forms can be found on http://www.justice.gov/ust/r16/reg_info.htm
Electronic Service Instructions
The following procedures are to be used only to serve compliance items upon the United States Trustee. The United States Trustee will not accept service of legal pleadings pursuant to these procedures. Legal pleadings must be served upon the United States Trustee in accord with the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and Local Bankruptcy Rules. These procedures do not, in any manner, constitute a waiver of the requirements of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and Local Bankruptcy Rules regarding rules regarding service of legal pleadings upon the United States Trustee.
I. Mandatory electronic service of the 7-Day Package is required for all debtors represented by counsel. If service is not completed in the manner set forth herein, the submission will be rejected and returned to the submitting party via email. Service will not be successful until a 7-Day Package is served that fully complies with these procedures.
- A. Pro Se Exception: A person who is not represented by an attorney may file and serve papers in hard copy.
- B. Limited Exception for Attorneys: An attorney who is not approved to electronically file documents with the bankruptcy court and who serves papers in fewer than five (5) filed bankruptcy cases or adversary proceedings in a single calendar year, may file papers nonelectronically. However, we encourage all attorneys to utilize these electronic service procedures.
- 1. Any attorney claiming the Limited Attorney Exemption will be required to include, with the initial submission of the 7-Day Package, a declaration stating that he or she is not approved to file documents electronically with the bankruptcy court and has filed fewer than five (5) cases in a single calendar year.
- 2. The Office of the U.S. Trustee reserves the right in its sole discretion to revoke this limited exception at any time upon notice to the attorney.
- C. All 7-Day Packages submitted by counsel must be typed.
- D. Email Address: Documentation required to be filed electronically must be submitted to the United States Trustee via the following email address: USTP.REGION16@USDOJ.GOV (not case sensitive) DO NOT directly send or carbon copy the documentation to the UST attorney, analyst, paralegal, etc. Documents must be sent to the above email address ONLY.
- E. Subject Line of Email Submissions: The subject line for each submittal must clearly state the name of the debtor, the full case number (including Judge’s initials), and date of submission. Please refer to the following examples. For a Corporate Debtor: CH 11 Compliance 1:11-bk-12345-GM, A Happy Family, Inc., 12/7/11 For an Individual Debtor: CH 11 Compliance 1:11-bk-12345-GM, Last Name, First Name, 12/7/11
- F. Submissions in Parts: If a submission must be sent in parts due to file size, each part must be clearly identified in the email subject line. As an example: CH 11 Compliance 1:11-bk-12345-GM, A Happy Family, Inc., 12/7/11 PART 1 OF 2
- G. Signatures: All documents that require the signature of a party shall be electronically imaged by scanning, and electronically filed in portable document format (.pdf). (Attorneys are required to retain any wet signatures contained on the documents for five (5) years.)
- H. Document Size: Document files shall not be larger than 5 megabytes (MB) in size. Approximately 100 pages of text, converted from a standard word processing format to a PDF image, should not exceed 5 MB. However, a PDF file created by scanning a document or by inserting additional pages that have been scanned may result in a file exceeding 5 MB. In particular, scanning a document with graphics or dark areas will significantly affect file size. A file exceeding the 5 MB limit must be broken into smaller sections. Any scanning should be done in black and white only and at a minimum of 200 dpi.
- I. Image Size: Individual pages of documents shall not exceed 8.5 x 11 inches. PDF files with pages exceeding the 8.5 x 11 inch limit must be modified before uploading.
- J. Submission of Tax Returns: Tax returns always must be submitted as a separate attachment. Any email that includes tax returns may also include other compliance items as long as the tax returns are contained in a separate PDF.