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Rule 3022-1

CLOSING REPORTS IN CHAPTER 11 CASES – Amended December 1, 2016

            Unless the Court orders otherwise, within fourteen (14) days after the estate is fully administered and the Court has discharged any trustee serving in the case, the debtor, trustee or estate representative must file and serve upon the United States Trustee a closing report substantially in the form available on the Court’s website (http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/3022-1-report.docx).

Comment

            This rule was amended in 2009 to change the time period from fifteen (15) to fourteen (14) days.  The purpose of the amendment was to conform the time period in this rule to the 2009 time-related amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.  Throughout the Bankruptcy Rules, as well as the Local Bankruptcy Rules, most time periods that are shorter than thirty (30) days were changed so that the number of days is in multiples of seven (7), thereby reducing the likelihood that time periods will end on a Saturday or Sunday.

            This rule was amended in 2013 to conform to section 350(a) of the Bankruptcy Code.  Prior to its amendment, the rule required a closing report within fourteen (14) days following “substantial consummation,” which required that distributions under the plan be commenced rather than completed.  Despite substantial consummation, there may have remained unresolved claim allowance litigation, preference and fraudulent conveyance adversary proceedings, and other proceedings that should have been resolved before the case was closed.  The amended language of this rule tracks section 350(a) on the closing of cases.  This amended rule should give greater assistance to the Court, which is required by Bankruptcy Rule 3022 to enter a final decree closing the case after the estate is fully administered.

            The amendment to this rule in 2013 also provides a link to the closing report form on the Court’s website.

            This rule was amended in 2016 to allow any estate representative to file and serve the closing report on the United States Trustee.