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New Privacy Rules effective on 12/1/03

Monday, December 1, 2003

To all parties, effective December 1, 2003 only the last four digits of a debtors social security
number will be displayed in CM/ECF.

Attorneys, petition filers and pro se debtors are required to file:

  • New bankruptcy cases using the petition, Official Form 1 which will contain only
    the last four digits of individual debtors’ Social Security numbers
  • Submit Form 21. STATEMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
  • Documents using the current versions of the Official Bankruptcy Forms -
    including the Voluntary Petition, Involuntary Petition, Schedules, Statement of
    Financial Affairs, and Proof of Claim.

 

Form B21

STATEMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

  • will not be kept in the general file but will be placed in a dated binder.
  • should be received stamped only as it will not be entered onto the docket sheet.
  • should not be included on the creditor matrix diskette, or submitted on any floppy
    diskette.

Form B21, the statement of Social Security number, is confidential and is not to be given out to the public via the counter, or, in person. The party must get leave of court to obtain the Form B21. It does not matter if the requestor is a creditor in the case!

Failure of attorneys or pro se filers to submit Form B21 STATEMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER with their new case filing will cause a deficiency notice to be issued requiring the Social Security number to submitted by a date certain or the case would be dismissed.

Public service clerks cannot refuse to accept any petition that does not comply with the new privacy rules. When a filer files a bankruptcy case with the old forms which do not comply with the new privacy rules the public service clerk will accept the filing and create a deficiency form.

Deputy clerks cannot give out the debtor(s) social security number(s) out to any party who requests it via the telephone, in person, or, through a copy request.

If a party is requesting verification of the social security number by giving the deputy clerk the social security number then the deputy clerk will advise the party if the social security number they were given matches, or, does not match. The deputy clerks are not allowed to give the party the debtors social security number when the number the party gives does not match.

Any party wishing to obtain access to a debtors’ social security number will have to file a motion with the Bankruptcy Judge who is assigned the case.

Under the new privacy rules, the section 341 meeting notice sent to the debtor’s mailing list (creditors and other parties) is the only notice which must include the debtor’s full Social Security number.

Two copies of the sectional 341 notice will go out. One with the redacted social security number which goes into the general file and one with the complete social security number which goes out to all listed creditors

Section 341 meeting notice will include a box listing all other names used by the debtor in the last six years.

After the first meeting notice any other notice will have only the redacted SSN, if any at all.

The redacted social security number will be displayed as “xxx-xx-1234".

The BNC Certificate of Service will state “that the notice sent to creditors has the full Social

Security number, whereas the court’s copy has been redacted.”