A debtor in New Hampshire had his case thrown out of court for not taking a credit counseling course — even though he had completed the course twice!
The seemingly baffling result is due to the exacting requirement of bankruptcy code section 109 (h), which demands that the counseling be taking within 180 days immediately before the filing of the case — no more and no less.
In the New Hampshire case, the debtor had taken the course for the first time 259 days before he eventually filed. Probably sensing that that wasn’t going to cut it, he took the counseling again five days after he filed.
No dice, said the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ bankruptcy division. This part of the bankruptcy code needs to be followed exactly, or else a case is at risk for dismissal.
When a case filing gets delayed, and the counseling certificate gets too old, a few counseling agencies are willing to reissue the certificate as a favor. Based on a strict reading of the law, this too would not pass muster, although its hard to see how a re-issued certificate would be discovered.
by Doug Beaton