Effective December 1, 2013, Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1007(b)(7) has been amended to permit a U.S. Trustee-approved debtor education provider to notify the court directly that the debtor has completed a post-petition instructional course concerning personal financial management.  

Note:   This rule change pertains to post-petition debtor education certificates only, not to certificates received for pre-petition credit counseling.

U.S. Trustee-Approved debtor education providers may file Official Form 23, Debtor's Certification of Completion of Postpetition Instructional Course Concerning Personal Financial Management electronically using the eFinCert (Electronic Financial Management Course Certificate) program.  The eFinCert program does not require a login or password and may be accessed through the Court’s website.

Use of the eFinCert program to file Official Form 23 constitutes certification by the filer of the following:

1. You swear and affirm under penalty of perjury that you are properly authorized to submit this Certificate on behalf of the debtor(s) to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts and that you are doing so as a U.S. Trustee-Approved debtor education provider.
2. You understand and agree that failure to timely file a Certificate of a debtor’s completion of the course in accordance with Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1007(c) could result in the closing of the debtor’s case without a discharge. Further, should a Certificate be filed late, through no fault of the debtor(s), the court will notify the Executive Office for U.S. Trustee and request reconsideration of your approval status.
3. You understand that the penalty for filing a fraudulent certification: is a fine of up to $500,000 or imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both. See 18 U.S.C. §152 and §3571.

File Certificate of Debtor Education (eFinCert)   Click here for filing instructions