Alisoun Hayes Hughes

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
In re
ALISOUN HAYES HUGHES,
Debtor.
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Case No. 08-00826
(Chapter 7)
Not for Publication in
West’s Bankruptcy Reporter
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER DENYING THE DEBTOR’S
REQUEST FOR A TEMPORARY WAIVER OF THE PREPETITION
CREDIT COUNSELING REQUIREMENT OF 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)
The court entered an order directing the debtor to
supplement her request for a temporary waiver of the credit
counseling requirement and reserving a determination regarding
the exigent circumstance alleged by the debtor (Docket Entry
(“DE”) No. 20) because she failed to certify that she requested
credit counseling services from an approved credit counseling
agency before she filed her petition, but was unable to obtain
the necessary services within five days of that request, as
required by 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3)(A)(ii). 	The debtor has
supplemented her request (DE No. 30), detailing her attempts to
obtain the requisite credit counseling prepetition. 	As explained
The decision below is signed as a decision of
the court.
Signed: January 27, 2009.
_____________________________
S. Martin Teel, Jr.
United States Bankruptcy Judge
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below, the court must nonetheless deny her request for a
temporary waiver and dismiss her case with prejudice.
Section 109(h) provides that all individuals filing for
bankruptcy must obtain an individual or group briefing that
outlines the opportunities for available credit counseling and
assists the individual in performing a related budget analysis
from an approved non-profit budget and credit counseling agency
during the 180-day period preceding the date of the filing of the
individual’s petition. 	11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(1).
Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3)(A), the court can waive
this requirement temporarily if (i) the debtor certifies that
there are exigent circumstances that merit a waiver of the credit
counseling requirement, (ii) the debtor certifies that she
requested credit counseling services from an approved non-profit
budget and credit counseling agency before she filed her
petition, but was unable to obtain the necessary services within
five days of the request, and (iii) the court finds good cause to
grant the waiver.
In support of the second requirement for a temporary waiver,
the debtor explains that her employer told her on December 15,
2008, that her wages would be garnished beginning on December 26,
2008, unless she submitted a bankruptcy case number by December
16, 2008, giving her only one day to complete the prepetition
credit counseling requirement and to file her petition. 	She
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1 	The portion of the debtor’s explanation that one agency
informed her that she would not receive a certificate to submit
to the court for another 24 to 48 hours is irrelevant. 	The
debtor could have completed the credit counseling session and
certified in Exhibit D, which she filed with her petition, that
she received the counseling prepetition but did not have her
certificate. 	She could then file a copy of the certificate
within 15 days after her bankruptcy case was filed.
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attempted to obtain credit counseling from two agencies during
the afternoon of December 16, 2008. 	She first attempted to
obtain the counseling using the internet, but failed because the
agency’s website had technical problems. 	She called that agency,
but after being on hold for over eight minutes, she hung up and
attempted to obtain telephone counseling from a second agency.
She was on hold with the second agency for fifteen minutes and
was then told that the counseling session would last 45 minutes
to an hour. 	At this point in time, it was 1:30 p.m. 	The debtor
ascertained that she would not be able to complete the counseling
until approximately 2:30 p.m. and placed at risk her being able
to file her bankruptcy case on December 16, 2008, which her
employer told her she needed to do in order to avoid garnishment
of her wages. 	The debtor therefore abandoned her attempts to
obtain the counseling prepetition and filed her petition. 1
Notwithstanding the debtor’s two attempts to obtain the
requisite prepetition counseling, the court must deny her request
for a temporary waiver and dismiss her case. 	The statute is
clear that the debtor must have found herself unable to obtain
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4	O:\TEEL\Alex\Orders\Order Denying Request for Waiver of 109(h) (Alisoun Hughes).wpd
credit counseling within five days of her request. 	The debtor
could have obtained the counseling from at least one of the
agencies if not both on December 16, 2008, the same day that she
requested counseling. 	Unfortunately, had the debtor completed
the counseling, she may very well have been unable to file her
case that same day. 	Assuming the debtor’s imminent wage
garnishment would constitute an exigent circumstance, the statute
does not permit the court to look to the debtor’s exigency to
circumscribe the application of the second requirement for a
temporary waiver. 	Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the debtor’s request for a temporary waiver of
the credit counseling requirement is DENIED. 	It is further
ORDERED that because the debtor was ineligible to be a
debtor under the Bankruptcy Code, an order will be entered
dismissing the case without prejudice.
[Signed and dated above.]
Copies to: Debtor; Chapter 7 Trustee; Office of the U.S. Trustee
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