Southern District of Alabama

 

Mark S. Zimlich
Bankruptcy Administrator

 

U. S. Bankruptcy Administrator Program

The U. S. Bankruptcy Administrator Program (BA), established by Congress in 1986, is the Judiciary's bankruptcy estate oversight program. The BA oversees the administration of bankruptcy cases, supervises a panel of private trustees and monitors the transactions and conduct of parties in bankruptcy. The BA program consists of six judicial districts of Alabama and North Carolina and is the counterpart to the U. S. Trustee Program in the Department of Justice.

Some duties performed by the BA include:

• establish, maintain and supervise a panel of private trustees
• conduct meeting of creditors in chapter 7, 11 and 12 cases
• maintain current status of bankruptcy cases for analysis and evaluation and file necessary motions with the court
• monitor the payment of chapter 11 quarterly fees and file motions on delinquent fees
• audit debtor's operating reports and trustee's final reports
• audit professional fee applications and report findings to the court
• oversee random audits of chapter 7 and chapter 13 cases
• apply "means test" in chapter 7 cases for compliance under the Bankruptcy Code
• appear in court on issues in bankruptcy cases
• report suspected criminal activity and/or bankruptcy fraud to the U.S. Attorney and FBI
• approve and maintain a list of credit counseling agencies and debtor education course providers