Bankruptcy cases may be dismissed for a variety of reasons. A debtor may seek a voluntary dismissal of a case. A creditor or interested party may request that a case be dismissed and the court may dismiss the case following a hearing. Dismissal may also result from an administrative action of the court because the debtor has failed to take a required action [e.g., failure to file documents or to pay a fee]. If the debtor disagrees with the dismissal of the case there are two actions which the debtor may take to get a review of the dismissal: (1) File a motion for reconsideration, or (2) File an appeal of the order dismissing the case. Both of these actions must be taken within 10 days of the date on which the order of dismissal was entered on the court docket sheet.

Motion for Reconsideration: This motion asks the bankruptcy judge who issued the order to reconsider the basis on which the order was granted and to issue another order reinstating the case. There is no fee for filing a motion for reconsideration. A motion for reconsideration is most likely to be successful if a case has been administratively dismissed because the debtor has failed to file documents or to pay a filing fee. If the debtor wishes the court to reconsider the action, then the debtor should file a Motion to Reconsider Order Dismissing Case and either file the missing documents or pay the required fee with the motion for reconsideration. This motion does not need to be served on any parties. If the court grants the motion, the court will prepare an order reinstating the case. A motion for reconsideration of an order dismissing a case which is the result of a contested hearing, is possible but is much less likely to be successful. A motion for reconsideration of a contested dismissal, must be based on new evidence or facts not available to the court at the time the original decision was made. A motion for reconsideration in such circumstances requires a hearing. The debtor must serve all creditors and interested parties with the motion and a notice of hearing. We have no suggested forms for this motion.

Appeal: An appeal is a request for review of an order or judgment of the Bankruptcy Court and the appeal is heard by either a judge of the U.S. District Court or before the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. The fee for filing an appeal is $255.00. The debtor is required to file a notice of appeal within 10 days of the entry of the order of dismissal on the court docket. See our procedure on Appeals.