How to Lose a Chapter 7 Discharge: Failure to Keep Adequate Records
Posted by | Posted on 06-02-2010
A while back I wrote an article about the importance of keeping records and receipts, as they are necessary in a bankruptcy case (see http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/2008/11/receipts-and-documentation/). This requirement was recently revisited by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Caneva, 550 F.3d 206 (9th Cir. 2008). In that case, the court held that a debtor filing bankruptcy would be denied his discharge because he failed to maintain or preserve adequate books and records from which the Trustee in bankruptcy (and creditors) could assess the debtor’s financial condition.
This is one of the prerequisites to obtaining a discharge in a Chapter 7 case. 1