Announcements

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland will discontinue the practice of manually adding federal, state, and local taxing authorities to the list of creditors for noticing purposes in all new bankruptcy cases effective January 1, 2025.  As of that date, only parties listed on the debtor’s mailing matrix and parties who file a request for notices or otherwise actively participate in the case will receive notices in bankruptcy cases filed in the District of Maryland.  Bankruptcy records are publicly available and can be accessed via PACER at www.pacer.gov.

Mail delivery to Canada, including bankruptcy notices, had been temporarily suspended due to a national strike by the Canadian Union of Post Workers.  The strike has been resolved, and effective January 6, 2025, the U.S. Postal Service resumed mailing operations to Canada.

Bankruptcy Restyled Rules Parts I through IX, amendments to Bankruptcy Rules 1007, 4004, 5009, 7001, 9006, and new Rule 8023.1 are effective December 1, 2024. The text of the amended rules, new rule, and the accompanying committee notes can be viewed here.  In addition, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland has approved amendments effective December 1, 2024, to the Court’s Local Bankruptcy Rules and Local Bankruptcy Forms.  To view the Administrative Order implementing the amendments, a summary of the changes, and a redlined copy of the amended local rules and amended local forms, please click here.

There has been nationwide reporting of fake CM/ECF Notices of Electronic Filing (NEFs) being sent to attorneys and law firms (so far none have been identified as relating to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland).  These fake NEFs are phishing attempts to convince recipients to respond back to the emails. Once a recipient replies to the email, they are sent a follow-up email containing a link to access a document that leads the user to a malicious website.  Users should validate cases and case documentation only through CM/ECF, and never download any attachments or click any links from unofficial or questionable sources.

CM/ECF users please be aware the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland has recently discovered that CM/ECF infrequently but erroneously reuses a transaction ID for two unrelated case transactions, which may interfere with the proper docketing of a filing.  When this happens the filer gets an unusual message from CM/ECF that appears to indicate a filing has been accepted, but reports two separate case numbers. If users receive this unusual ECF message they must check the docket sheet to confirm that the intended transaction was docketed, and resubmit the transaction if it does not appear on the docket sheet.  For more information including a screen shot of the ECF message at issue, click here.

Amendments to Bankruptcy Rules 3011, 8003, 9006, and new Rule 9038 are effective December 1, 2023. The text of the amended rules and new rule and the accompanying committee notes can be viewed here.  In addition, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland has approved amendments effective December 1, 2023, to the Court’s Local Bankruptcy Rules and Appendices D, F, G, H and J.  To view the Administrative Order implementing the amendments, a summary of the changes, and a redlined copy of the amended local rules, please click here.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland is pleased to introduce COURTney, the Court’s new chatbot.  COURTney is located on the Court’s public website and visible when viewing any page on the website.  COURTney not only provides relevant information when users click on buttons in the chat (e.g., list of fees, forms, filing information, etc.), but during regular business hours it will enable users to chat directly with Clerk’s Office staff members. 

The United States Trustee Program (“Program”) will implement virtual § 341 meetings of creditors, primarily via Zoom, for chapter 7, 12, and 13 cases filed in Maryland on or after September 1, 2023.  The Program believes Zoom meetings will foster greater participation, result in substantial cost and time efficiencies for debtors and creditors, and better ensure the efficiency and integrity of the bankruptcy system.  The Program will hold two open Information Sessions to prepare for the change, covering topics such as connecting to a new Zoom meeting, participating in a virtual meeting, and requirements for verifying a debtor’s identity.  Click here for more information.

The EDSS Pilot Program was made available during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide self-represented parties an alternative to bringing documents to the courthouse, after the Court significantly altered operations including restricting access to the courthouses by non-court personnel. The COVID-19 national emergency ended and the Court has returned to normal operations, including access to the Clerk’s Office during normal business hours and the after hours drop boxes located in both courthouses.  The EDSS Pilot Program will end on July 1, 2023, and as of that date the Court will not accept filings by EDSS.  To see the Administrative Order rescinding the Pilot EDSS, please click here. 

The online Electronic Self Representation (eSR) tool is now available to help self-represented individuals in the District of Maryland complete and file a bankruptcy petition electronically.  eSR is only available for non-emergency Chapter 7 individual filings.  eSR is not available to bankruptcy petition preparers.  Further information on eSR as well as a link to access the eSR tool can be found here.