Announcements

To address staffing issues, effective December 22, 2025 and until further notice, the public intake counters for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, in both Baltimore and Greenbelt, will close from 1 pm to 2 pm, Monday through Friday.  The Clerk’s Office will otherwise remain open during this time for phone calls and email, and the Court’s Chatbot COURTney will be available for live chats with staff.  CM/ECF will remain available during this time. 

Effective December 10, 2025, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland is making the paymentless operations in the Court's Greenbelt Intake office permanent.  Cash, money orders, and certified checks are no longer accepted in Greenbelt.  Rather, Greenbelt customers may pay filing and other fees (1) online using a debit card via pay.gov, including at a public terminal located in Greenbelt Intake, (2) by mailing a certified check or money order to the Baltimore Division, or (3) by going to Baltimore Intake during regular business hours to pay with cash, money order or certified check.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland will be closed on Wednesday, December 24, 2025; Friday, December 26, 2025; and Friday, January 2, 2026.  The afterhours drop box in Greenbelt will not be available on these days, but the afterhours drop box in Baltimore at 101 West Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 will be available.  CM/ECF will remain available and emergency contact numbers are on the court's website.  December 24, 2025, December 26, 2025 and January 2, 2026 will be treated as “legal holidays” for the purposes of Federal Bankruptcy Rule 9006 and Fed. R. Civ. P. 6, in addition to December 25, 2025 and January 1, 2026.

Amendments to Bankruptcy Rules 3002.1 and 8006 and Official Bankruptcy Form 410S1, and new Official Bankruptcy Forms 410C13-M1, 410C13-M1R, 410C13-N, 410C13-NR, 410C13-M2, and 410C13-M2R, are effective December 1, 2025. The text of the amended rules 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, 2025, to the Court’s Local Bankruptcy Rules. 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.

Canada Post announced a recent shutdown due to national labor actions between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.  Bankruptcy notice delivery has been impacted. As of October 10, 2025, the prior general strike has been updated to a rotating strike.  As of October 17, 2025, the BNC has resumed mailing to Canada, but significant delays are expected.  Please visit the Bankruptcy Noticing Center’s site for more information and updates at https://bnc.uscourts.gov/.

The process for payment of Unclaimed Funds held by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland has been updated.  Effective October 1, 2025, subsequent to entry of an Order authorizing payment of Unclaimed Funds, payment will be made only upon receipt of an original, signed verification form sent from the Clerk’s Office to the Claimant.  Additional information on the updated Unclaimed Funds payment process is available in the Court’s Instructions for Filing Application for Payment of Unclaimed Funds. 

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland has approved for publication and public comment amendments to the Court’s Local Bankruptcy Rules.  Please click here for a summary of the proposed changes, a redline copy of the amendments, and instructions on how to submit comments. Comments on the proposed revised rules should be submitted on or before October 7, 2025.  If adopted, the amended Local Bankruptcy Rules will go into effect on December 1, 2025.

As first announced in May 2025, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) is implementing multifactor authentication (MFA) nationwide for CM/ECF and PACER users on a rolling basis.  Users with CM/ECF filing access will be required to enroll in MFA.  Several guides are available to assist you, including Enrolling in MFA (by adding an authentication application) and Logging in with MFA (once you have enrolled in MFA).  For additional information, please visit the MFA Tips and Resources webpage on the PACER website.

Starting this month, on a rolling basis the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) will begin implementing multifactor authentication (MFA) for CM/ECF and PACER users.  MFA provides an added layer of security to protect against cyberattacks and other security risks. The AO expects to fully implement MFA for all CM/ECF filing users by the end of 2025. Users with CM/ECF filing access will be required to enroll in MFA. While not required, users with PACER access only will be able to opt in to MFA. For more information, please visit the PACER website.

Adjustments to the dollar amounts in certain provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and one provision of Title 28 of the United States Code will go into effect on April 1, 2025, for cases filed on or after that date. 11 U.S.C. § 104 outlines the adjustments’ timing and calculation, which in 2025 is an increase of 13.2%.  A chart showing the affected sections, including the current and adjusted dollar amounts, can be found here. Seven Official Bankruptcy Forms and two Director’s Forms also contain references to several of the affected dollar amounts. The revised forms, available here, will be effective on April 1, 2025, and will apply to cases filed on or after that date.

Adjustments are also being made to the “no look” fee amounts in Appendix F to the Local Bankruptcy Rules.  In accordance with paragraph 2.C. of Appendix F, the following dollar adjustments will be effective for cases filed on or after April 1, 2025:

• 2.A. Fees -- $5,300 (current $4,675)
• 2.B. Fees -- $6,800 (current $6,000)