U.S. District Court, Western District of New York Case Summaries:

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Jan 28, 2008

U.S. District Court, Western District of New York

Bankruptcy

Automatic Dismissal

In Re Riffle

07-22372

Judge Ninfo

Issue: Does the debtor's failure to file all earnings information in the accepted format trigger automatic dismissal of the petition when the earnings information is still submitted within "other evidence of payment?"

Background: The debtors filed a petition for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and indicated Community Bank held a first mortgage on their residence. Debtors received payment advice from an employer but filed only one. As a result of non-compliance with Section 521, requiring disclosure of earnings, the bank moved to dismiss.

Ruling: The motion to conform the automatic dismissal is denied. The debtor filed "other evidence of payment" for the 60 days preceding the petition. While not in the usual form, evidence nevertheless was in satisfaction of the statute. In such a case, the automatic dismissal provisions of Section 521 are not triggered.