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Debtor Audit Information

 
Under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-8, 119 Stat. 23 (2005), the United States Trustee Program (USTP) is authorized to contract with independent firms to perform audits of individual chapter 7 and chapter 13 cases. The purpose of the audit is to determine the accuracy, veracity, and completeness of petitions, schedules, and other information required to be provided by the debtor under sections 521 and 1322 of title 11.

The USTP is authorized to randomly designate for audit a specified uniform percentage of consumer bankruptcy cases per federal judicial district and to designate cases for exception audit in which the income or expenditures of a debtor deviate from the statistical norm of the district in which the case was filed. By statute, a debtor is required to cooperate with the audit.

Each year, by delegation from the Attorney General, the USTP issues an annual public report on the aggregate results of the audits, including the percentage of cases, by district, in which a material misstatement of income or expenditures is reported. These reports are available on the Reports & Studies page of this Web site.
 

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING DEBTOR AUDITS

December 12, 2022

As authorized in section 603(a) of Public Law 109-8, the USTP established procedures for independent audit firms to audit petitions, schedules, and other information in consumer bankruptcy cases. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 586(f), the USTP contracts with independent accounting firms to perform audits in cases designated by the USTP.

Effective March 13, 2023, the USTP will resume its designation of individual chapter 7 and chapter 13 cases for audit. These audits previously had been suspended in March 2020 due to public health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have established a site with the latest information from the CDC and overarching medical community on COVID-19: https://www.coronavirus.gov

 

Debtor Audit
Date Subject Other Formats
March 2023 Document Request Form [PDF - 149 KB]
October 2006 SB 256 -- Section 603 Audit Procedures [PDF - 189 KB]
October 2006 Federal Register Vol. 71, No. 190 Debtor Audit Standards [PDF - 60 KB]

 

Updated March 3, 2023