Announcement Archive

Judge Hannah L. Blumenstiel of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California asked the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) to survey attorneys and trustees to obtain feedback about her judicial performance. The FJC is the research and education agency for the federal courts. The judge's decision to ask the FJC to conduct this survey is entirely voluntary and reflects Judge Blumenstiel's ongoing commitment to provide the highest level of public service possible.

During the week of July 17th, the FJC will send an email to each attorney or trustee who has had a case assigned to Judge Blumenstiel since January 1, 2019. The email will explain how to access and complete an online questionnaire.

The survey procedure is set up so responses are anonymous. Research staff at the FJC will compile the survey responses and provide Judge Blumenstiel a report, including the comments that are provided in response to the open-ended questions and tables or figures aggregating the responses to the closed-ended questions. The survey results and report are exclusively for Judge Blumenstiel's use in improving her performance.

If you do not receive a survey link from the FJC and want to participate, please contact Jessica Snowden of the FJC at 202-502-4049 or at jsnowden@fjc.gov.

If you have questions about the survey or encounter any technical difficulties, please also contact Jessica Snowden.

The Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California (the Court) is soliciting vendors to include on an approved list of qualified transcription services providers that will be publicly posted on the Court’s website. Vendors interested in received a solicitation packet detailing the Court’s requirements should send an email request to the Procurement Administrator, Suzanne McBride, at: suzanne_mcbride@canb.uscourts.gov.

All proposals must be received via email no later than Friday, July 28 2023 at 5:00pm PDT.

On June 8, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT, the Boston Bar Association will present a FREE webinar explaining the U.S. DOJ’s New Guidance on Discharging Federal Student Loans in Bankruptcy Cases.  Panelists include:  Hon. Hannah L. Blumenstiel (Bankr. N.D. Cal.); John Rao (National Consumer Law Center); and William Austin Hinkle (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).  Among many other things, the panelists will discuss the Guidelines and related forms recently promulgated by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California concerning the Guidance.  You do not need to be admitted to the Massachusetts bar and do not need to be a member of the Boston Bar Association to join the webinar.  No CLE credit can or will be provided for this program.  Please see the below program announcement for more information and a link to online registration.

All divisions of the Bankruptcy Court will be closed on Monday, May 29th, in observance of Memorial Day.

CM/ECF will be temporarily unavailable from Saturday, April 22, 2023, at 8:00 AM to Sunday, April 23, 2023, at 11:59 PM due to system maintenance.

The California Northern Bankruptcy Court will upgrade our Case Management and Electronic Case Filing system to version 1.7.1. The system will be temporarily unavailable from Friday, March 10, 2023, at 5:00 PM to Monday, March 13, 2023, at 8:00 AM.
 

Prior to viewing the recording, please download the below pdfs as they will be referred to by the presenters.

To view the recording in a web browser, click here.

Topics discussed: Completing and ECF Filing the Chapter 13 Plan, Distributions under the Chapter 13 Plan, Defaulted Home and Vehicle Loans and Reporting Thereon, Treatment of Government Claims, Estimated Plan Lengths, and Lien Strips and Cramdowns

Presenters: Judge Hammond, Judge Johnson, Brisa Ramirez, Esq., Office of Trustee David Burchard, Darya Druch, Esq., and James S.K. (“Ike”) Shulman, Esq.

After 17 years on the Northern District of California bankruptcy bench, Judge Roger Efremsky is retiring, effective January 31, 2023.  Given the Northern District’s relatively low weighted caseload, it is not anticipated that the Ninth Circuit will replace him in the foreseeable future.  To ensure a smooth transition, effective November 1, 2022, Judge Efremsky will be removed from the Oakland and Santa Rosa divisions’ case assignment “wheels,” and no bankruptcy cases filed on or after that date will be assigned to him.  All new Oakland bankruptcy cases will be assigned to Judges Novack or Lafferty, and Judge Lafferty will replace Judge Efremsky on the Santa Rosa wheel.  With regard to Judge Efremsky’s Oakland cases that are pending on February 1, 2023, all cases that end in an “even” number will be assigned to Judge Novack, and all cases that end in an “odd” number will be assigned to Judge Lafferty.  Pending adversary proceedings will follow the main bankruptcy case. Judge Efremsky’s Santa Rosa cases and adversary proceedings that are pending on February 1, 2023, will be assigned to Judge Lafferty.

Please be advised that the Honorable Hannah L. Blumenstiel will not be available on Saturday, January 7, 2023 through and including Thursday, January 26, 2023.

All divisions of the Bankruptcy Court will be closed on Monday, January 16th, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday.

All divisions of the Bankruptcy Court will be closed on Monday, December 26th, in observance of Christmas Day.

The Court will conduct a seminar on the District’s new Chapter 13 Plan (effective January 1, 2023)

The seminar has reached capacity. The recording will be available for viewing on the courts website on December 19, 2022.

 Presenters:

Judge Hammond

Judge Johnson

Brisa Ramirez, Esq., Office of Trustee David Burchard

Darya Druch, Esq.

James S.K. (“Ike”) Shulman, Esq.

Topics will include:

Completing and ECF Filing the Chapter 13 Plan

Distributions under the Chapter 13 Plan

Defaulted Home and Vehicle Loans and Reporting Thereon

Treatment of Government Claims

Estimated Plan Lengths

Lien Strips and Cramdowns

This Program will be recorded and posted on the Court’s Website if you are not able to attend at the time it is offered.

All divisions of the Bankruptcy Court will be closed on Friday, November 11th, in observance of Veterans Day.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Court is considering changes to Bankruptcy Local Rule 9014-1. A PDF of the proposed changes (redlined version) is below, along with the Local Form for Certificate of No Objection. Comments regarding the proposed changes may be submitted by emailing ron_mastroianni@canb.uscourts.gov by September 30, 2022.

CM/ECF will be temporarily unavailable on Saturday, September 17^th from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM due to system maintenance. Following the system maintenance, CM/ECF will undergo tests to ensure proper back-up system operations. During this time, you may experience temporary intermittent access to certain CM/ECF features. Testing will conclude on Saturday, September 24, 2022.

  If you experience any issues, please contact the helpdesk.  

   PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Court is requesting comments on the new Chapter 13 plan that it has drafted in consultation with a committee of lawyers and Martha Bronitsky, Chapter 13 Trustee. PDF versions of the Chapter 13 plan and its attachments are below.  Comments regarding the new plan may be emailed to Ron_Mastroianni@canb.uscourts.gov by September 1, 2022.  The subject line of the email should be “Chapter 13 Plan Comments.”   

All divisions of the Bankruptcy Court will be closed on Monday, July 4th, in observance of Independence Day.

Access to CM/ECF will be temporarily unavailable on Saturday, June 25, 2022, from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM due to system maintenance.

PACER users and Next Generation (NextGen) Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) e-filers may experience intermittent authentication issues when logging on, and intermittent connection issues when making payments through Pay.gov on Sunday, June 12 from 3:55 AM to 4:00 PM due to PACER system maintenance.

All divisions of the Bankruptcy Court will be closed on Monday, May 30th, in observance of Memorial Day.

This order rescinds Amended Interim Bankruptcy Rule 1020, and the use of amended Official Forms 101, 122A-1, 122B-1, 122C-1, and 201 in this Court.

Access to CM/ECF will be temporarily unavailable on Saturday, February 26th, 2022, from 5:00 AM to 10:00 AM due to system maintenance.

A debtor who wishes to dismiss a pending chapter 13 case that has not previously been converted shall file a “Notice of Voluntary Dismissal Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1307(b)”.  This Notice shall be executed by the debtor(s) under penalty of perjury and shall attest that the case to be dismissed has not previously been converted under 11 U.S.C. §§ 706, 1112, or 1208.  At the same time that the debtor files this Notice, they shall submit an Order of Dismissal. 

On June 21, 2021, the United States Trustee Program’s rule entitled Uniform Periodic Reports in Cases Filed Under Chapter 11 of Title 11, published at 28 C.F.R. § 58.8 (the “Final Rule”) became effective. The Final Rule requires that chapter 11 debtors-in-possession and trustees, other than in small business and subchapter V cases, file monthly operating reports and post-confirmation reports using streamlined, data-embedded, uniform forms in every judicial district where the U.S. Trustee Program operates.

The United States Trustee Program has posted on its website updated versions of the UST Form 11-MOR, Monthly Operating Reports (“MOR”) and UST Form 11-PCR, Post-confirmation Reports (“PCR”), that should be used for all reports filed after that date. Designed to improve the overall user experience, the updates will streamline the process of embedding data on the forms by using standard PDF bar-code technology. The updates do not impact the information required to be reported on the MORs and PCRs.

To obtain important information related to periodic reporting under the Final Rule, please visit https://www.justice.gov/ust/chapter-11-operating-reports. While at that webpage, please subscribe to the “Chapter 11 Operating Reports E-mail Updates” feature to automatically receive future email updates about the forms and periodic reporting under the Final Rule.