The automatic stay in bankruptcy prohibits most creditors from taking any action to enforce a debt, even if the debt or the creditor are not included in the schedules.  The automatic stay is complex, and creditors should consult an attorney before proceeding. 

If you have been listed as a creditor in a bankruptcy case and if the case is an “asset” case, you will receive a notice of the deadline for filing a proof of claim. All chapter 11, 12 and 13 cases are “asset” cases.

Most chapter 7 cases are considered to be “no asset” cases in the beginning and are not determined to be asset cases until after the trustee has had an opportunity to examine the debtor(s) at the Meeting of Creditors. If and when the trustee determines the case to be an asset case, the court will send a notice of the deadline to file claims to all the creditors listed in the case.

To file a proof of claim (ePOC), click here.

If your ex-spouse has filed a chapter 7 and if you are a co-signer with your ex-spouse on a debt, the creditor can normally require the entire payment of that debt from you even though the divorce decree assigns the debt to your ex-spouse. The provisions of the divorce decree are not binding upon creditors. Depending on the terms of your divorce decree, however, non-support debts ordered to be paid by the ex-spouse under the decree may not be discharged.

If your ex-spouse has filed for bankruptcy under chapter 12 or chapter 13, the "automatic" stay extends to any individual co-debtor that is liable on consumer debts with the debtor (11 U.S.C. §§ 1201, 1301). In order to pursue collection from a co-debtor, the creditor must file and prevail on a Motion For Relief From Co-Debtor Stay using LBF 1220 and LBF 1220.5 for chapter 12 or LBF 720.80 for chapter 1--see also LBF 720 (Notice of Motion) and LBF 720.50 (Procedures re Motions for Relief from Stay). In addition, a chapter 12 or 13 debtor may be able to discharge non-support marital debt ordered in a divorce decree, even if it is not dischargeable in chapter 7.

As this is a very complicated area of law, you should seek legal advice from an experienced bankruptcy attorney for a thorough explanation of your rights and obligations in this area as soon as you find out that your ex-spouse has filed a bankruptcy.

Debtors are supposed to list everyone they owe money to at the time of filing. If they are unsure whether or not money is still owed, many times the debtor will list them anyway as a precautionary measure. If you are sure that you do not know the person/company who is the debtor you are certainly free to recycle the documents/notices as you see fit. You may also send the court a copy of the notice, and date and sign a request that you be removed from the mailing list in that case.

If you are trying to find out why you were listed by the debtor, you should call the debtor’s attorney. No one at the court will be able to help you with that information.

Copies of the Local Bankruptcy Rules for the District of Oregon can be downloaded from this website in PDF Format, or obtained from the Clerk’s office.

I. Disclaimer

This FAQ is general information, not legal advice. It does not address all elements of the rules or all fact situations. It has not been updated since May 14, 2021, and there is no guaranty that its content is current. The people in the clerk’s office can provide you with general information, but neither they nor the bankruptcy judge can give you legal advice.

II. Who should read this FAQ?

Read this FAQ if you have filed or are considering filing a complaint starting an adversary proceeding, a motion, or a plan in a case under chapter 12 or chapter 13. This FAQ tells you how to serve the documents that start those types of litigation in the Oregon bankruptcy court.

III. What is service?

“Service” is the way that you must send other people certain litigation documents in a bankruptcy case. Documents that start litigation must be served in the way that is required by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure (FRBP or Rule) 7004.

If you fail to serve documents that start litigation in the way required by Rule 7004, the bankruptcy judge could be unable to rule for you. And if a service error is discovered after the judge has ruled for you, the judge could be required to set aside the ruling.

IV. What bankruptcy documents must be served under Rule 7004?

There are two categories of bankruptcy litigation in which the documents that start the litigation must be served under Rule 7004. The first category is called an adversary proceeding. An adversary proceeding is started by the filing of a complaint, and it has its own number separate from the number of the main bankruptcy case.

The second category of litigation in which documents starting the litigation must be served under Rule 7004 occurs in the main bankruptcy case. That litigation starts and ends as part of the main bankruptcy case, and it addresses a specific dispute within the main bankruptcy case for the court to resolve. The dispute is called a contested matter, and there can be several contested matters within one main bankruptcy case. The document that starts a contested matter is usually a motion, but it can also be another type of document, such as a chapter 12 or 13 plan.

Rule 7004 service is required for documents starting all contested matters. In addition, certain documents are specifically required to be served under Rule 7004: an involuntary petition; an objection to the claim of the United States or of any of its officers or agencies or of an insured depository institution; a chapter 12 or 13 plan that seeks to determine the amount of a secured claim; a debtor’s motion, either by itself or in a plan, to avoid a lien on or other transfer of exempt property; a debtor’s motion in a chapter 12 or 13 case for an order declaring a lien satisfied and released under a confirmed plan; a motion for sanctions; a motion for appointment of a next friend or guardian ad litem for the debtor; and a chapter 12 or 13 plan in which the debtor provides for assumption, rejection, or assignment of an executory contract or unexpired lease.

This FAQ uses the term “motion” to mean motions and other documents that start contested matters or are required to be served under Rule 7004.

V. What documents must be served?

A. Summons

After you start an adversary proceeding by filing a complaint, the clerk will issue and send you a summons. The summons tells the defendant when and where to file an answer or motion responding to the complaint, and it includes the time and place of the first hearing. The summons and complaint must be served together under Rule 7004.

With one exception, no summon is issued in a contested matter. The exception is for the summons issued when an involuntary petition is filed.

B. Notice of motion

With certain exceptions, a motion that starts a contested matter must include a notice of motion before the substantive part of the motion (where you say what you want and why you are entitled to it). The notice of motion serves a function similar to the summons in an adversary proceeding, telling the target of the motion when and where to file an objection to the motion.

The notice of motion must follow this template:

Notice. If you oppose the proposed course of action or relief sought in this motion, you must file a written objection with the bankruptcy court no later than [insert number of days in objection period, excluding any additional time provided by FRBP 9006] days after the date listed in the certificate of service below. If you do not file an objection, the court may grant the motion without further notice. Your objection must set forth the specific grounds for objection and your relation to the case. The objection must be received by the clerk of court at 1050 SW 6th Ave #700, Portland, OR 97204 or 405 E 8th Ave #2600, Eugene, OR 97401 by the deadline specified above or it may not be considered. You must also serve the objection on [insert name, address, and phone number of movant] within that same time. If the court sets a hearing, you will receive a separate notice listing the hearing date, time, and other relevant information.

If no specific objection deadline applies to the motion, the deadline is 14 days, so use “14” in place of the language in the first bracket. “Movant” means you if you are filing the motion, so use your name, address, and phone number in the last bracket.

The notice isn’t required in several circumstances, including if the motion is filed using a local bankruptcy form (LBF) or official bankruptcy form; the motion seeks to convert or dismiss the case (unless the motion is by a chapter 13 trustee); the motion is unopposed, joint, or stipulated; the motion seeks certain relief that the court can grant without notice and a hearing; or the motion requests expedited consideration.

VI. How must documents be served under Rule 7004?

Although Rule 7004 describes ways in which service is permitted, service using a permitted method is mandatory. In other words, it’s possible that more than one method of service could be available to you, depending on the circumstances, but you must follow at least one of them for service to comply with Rule 7004.

A. Service by mail

You may serve documents under Rule 7004 by mailing them, postage prepaid, to an address within the United States—but only in the specific ways described below. The ways that service is permitted depend on the type of defendant who will be served. The following explanation of the service rules applies to litigation started in the Oregon bankruptcy court and uses the term “defendant” to refer not only to the defendant in an adversary proceeding, but also to the target of a motion.

With certain exceptions listed below, mail service must be by first-class mail.

1. Individual

If the defendant is an individual, other than an infant or incompetent person, the mailing may be to the defendant’s dwelling or usual place of abode or to the place where the defendant regularly conducts a business or profession. A post office box isn’t a dwelling or usual place of abode or a place where a business or profession can be conducted.

2. Infant or incompetent person

If the defendant is an infant or incompetent person, the mailing may be to the person upon whom process is prescribed to be served by the law of the state in which service is made when a lawsuit is brought against such a defendant in the courts of general jurisdiction of that state. In both cases, you must mail to the defendant and each other person who must be served by a mailing addressed to the person’s dwelling house or usual place of abode or where the person regularly conducts a business or profession.

A minor defendant under age 14 may be served in Oregon by serving the defendant and the defendant’s father, mother, conservator of the defendant’s estate, or guardian, or if there is none, then to any person having the care or control of the defendant, or with whom the defendant resides, or in whose service the defendant is employed, or upon a guardian ad litem appointed under Oregon Rule of Civil Procedure (ORCP) 27 B.

A defendant who is incapacitated or financially incapable, as those terms are defined in Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 125.005, may be served in Oregon by serving the defendant and the conservator of the defendant’s estate or guardian or, if there is none, upon a guardian ad litem appointed under ORCP 27 B.

3. Corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association

If the defendant is a domestic or foreign corporation, partnership, or other unincorporated association, the mailing may be to the attention of an officer, a managing or general agent, or any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process (such as a registered agent) on behalf of the defendant and, if the agent is one authorized by statute to receive service and the statute so requires, by also mailing to the defendant. The term “corporation” includes a limited liability company. For entities formed under Oregon law or registered to do business in Oregon and whose registration hasn’t lapsed, information about the entity, including the name and address of its registered agent, may be available on the website of the Oregon Secretary of State.

4. United States

If the defendant is the United States, the mailing may be to both (separately) the Civil Process Clerk at the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon and the Attorney General of the United States at Washington, D.C. If the adversary proceeding or contested matter attacks the validity of an order of an officer of an agency of the U.S. but the officer or agency hasn’t been made a party to the adversary proceeding or contested matter, the mailing must also be to the officer or agency.

5. Officer or agency of U.S.

If the defendant is an officer or agency of the U.S., the mailing may be to both (separately) the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon and the Attorney General at Washington, D.C., and also to the officer or agency. If the agency is a corporation, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the mailing must also comply with part VI.A.3 above governing service on a corporation.

6. State or municipal corporation or other governmental organization

If the defendant is a state or municipal corporation or other governmental organization, the mailing may be to the person or office upon whom process is prescribed to be served by the law of the state in which service is made when an action is brought against the defendant in the courts of general jurisdiction of that state, or, in the absence of the designation of any such person or office by state law, then to the chief executive officer of the defendant.

If the defendant is the State of Oregon, the mailing may be to the Attorney General, Oregon Department of Justice.

If the defendant is an Oregon county, incorporated city, or other public corporation, commission, board, or agency, the mailing may be to an officer, director, managing agent, or attorney of the defendant.

7. Debtor

If the defendant is the debtor in the bankruptcy case in which the adversary proceeding or contested matter is filed and the bankruptcy case hasn’t been dismissed or closed, the mailing may be to the debtor at the address shown in the petition or any other address that the debtor designates in a filed writing. The current address for the debtor is shown at the top of the online PACER docket for the main bankruptcy case. If the debtor’s designated address is a post office box, mail service may be addressed there even though that address wouldn’t be proper for mail service on an individual defendant who isn’t the debtor.

If the debtor is represented by an attorney, you must also mail to the attorney at the attorney’s mailing address. The name and address of any debtor’s attorney appears near the top of the online PACER docket for the main bankruptcy case.

8. U.S. trustee

If the defendant is the United States trustee, the mailing may be to an office of the U.S. trustee or another place designated by the U.S. trustee in Oregon.

9. Other mailing addresses for individual, corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association

In addition to the mailing addresses for a defendant who is an individual (described in part VI.A.1 above) or a corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association (described in part VI.A.3 above), the mailing may be to the person or entity on whom service is prescribed to be served by any federal statute or statute of the state in which service is made when an action is brought against the defendant in the court of general jurisdiction of that state.

10. Agent of defendant

For any type of defendant, the mailing may be to an agent of the defendant authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process—such as the registered agent of a corporation, limited partnership, or limited liability company—at the agent’s dwelling house or usual place of abode or where the agent regularly carries on a business or profession and, if the authorization so required, to the defendant as otherwise required by Rule 7004(b).

11. Insured depository institution

“Insured depository institution” includes most banks (including all with Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation deposit insurance), but it doesn’t include credit unions. If the defendant is an insured depository institution, you may mail by certified mail addressed to an officer of the institution unless one of the following three exceptions applies.

• If the institution has appeared in the bankruptcy case by its attorney, mail service on the institution must be by mailing to the attorney by first-class mail.
• If the court so orders after a prescribed notice to the institution, service on the institution must be made by first-class mail.
• If the institution has waived in writing its entitlement to service by certified mail and has designated an officer to receive service, mail service on the institution must be by first-class mail to the designated officer.

If you are uncertain whether mailing must be first-class or certified, you may mail both ways.

B. Other service methods

Because service by mail within the U.S. is the most common type of service in bankruptcy cases, this FAQ does not address all the other ways that you may make service, including within the U.S. other than by mail and outside the U.S. Those other ways are described in Rule 7004(c) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 4(e)-(j).

If you decide to have documents personally served (delivered), rather than mailed, to the persons required to be served, neither you nor any other party can be the server. The server must be a nonparty at least 18 years old. In an adversary proceeding, the parties are the plaintiff (you) and the defendants. In a contested matter, the parties are the movant and the targets of the motion.

If you need to serve someone outside the U.S., see FRCP 4(f).

VII. When must I complete service?

Two deadlines apply to service in an adversary proceeding. One runs from the date the summons is issued, and the other runs from the date the complaint was filed. You have seven days after the summons was issued to complete service in the U.S. If you don’t meet that deadline, ask the clerk to issue a replacement summons (sometimes called an alias summons). You must serve the replacement summons within seven days after it is issued.

The second deadline runs from the date the complaint was filed. If you don’t complete service in the U.S. within 90 days after the complaint was filed, the court can dismiss the adversary proceeding unless you show good cause for the failure to meet the deadline.

You must serve a motion or other document that starts a contested matter when you file it.

VIII. How must I prove service?

A. Who must sign the certificate of service?

A certificate of service must be completed and signed by the person who did the service. If you served by mail, you are the server and you must sign the certificate. If you had someone else do the service, whether by mail or otherwise, that person must sign the certificate. The balance of this FAQ assumes that you were the server.

B. Adversary proceeding

In an adversary proceeding, the summons includes a blank certificate of service. After you have served the summons and complaint, you must complete the certificate and file the summons with the completed certificate.  Alternately, you may use LBF 305 for the certificate of service, to be filed with the completed summons.

C. Contested matter

In a motion that is not prepared on an LBF, a certificate of service must be incorporated in, attached to, or accompany the document. The certificate must include a clearly identified list of the names, addresses, and methods for service on all parties served using paper, including by mail.

1. Chapter 12 plan

Several provisions of the chapter 12 and 13 plan forms permit the debtor to propose treatment of a creditor or other party that, if sought outside a plan, would require service under Rule 7004. For that reason, creditors treated in those plan paragraphs must be served under Rule 7004.

In a chapter 12 case, creditors or parties treated in the following plan paragraphs must be served under Rule 7004: paragraphs 2(b)(1) or 2(b)(2), in either case if the creditor or party is listed under “Collateral Value if Not Paying in Full,” and paragraph 3. The debtor must file a certificate of service listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities served by mail or any other method other than via notice of electronic filing, including all served by certified mail or by first-class mail, postage prepaid, and the date and manner of service for each person or entity.

2. Chapter 13 plan

In a chapter 13 case, a certificate of service appears on page 7 of the plan form. Creditors or parties treated in the following plan paragraphs must be served under Rule 7004: paragraphs 4(b)(1) (if the creditor is listed under “Collateral Value if Not Paying in Full),” 4(b)(2) (if the creditor is listed under “Amount of Claim as Modified),” and 6. The names and addresses to which the debtor served the plan by first-class mail on creditors or parties who aren’t insured depository institutions must be added to the part "a)" blank in the certificate. The names and addresses to which the debtor served the plan by certified mail on creditors or other parties who are insured depository institutions (if certified mail was proper; see part VI.A.11 above) must be added to the part "b)" blank.

The "automatic stay" provided by 11 U.S.C. §362 in most circumstances stops the commencement or continuation of most actions or proceedings that a creditor might take or be in the process of taking to collect money or property from the debtor. In some circumstances, however, if a debtor has had a prior case or cases dismissed within one year prior to the filing of the new case, the stay may not go into effect, or may be effective for only a short period of time, such as 30 days, unless the debtor takes action to reimpose or continue the stay. A creditor wishing to proceed with action against the debtor or the debtor's property in a case in which the stay is in effect must get permission from the court by obtaining relief from the automatic stay or face a potential claim for damages, including costs and attorney's fees, and, in appropriate circumstances, punitive damages. Creditors who are uncertain of their rights, or unsure if the automatic stay applies to them, should seek legal advice.

While the information presented above is as accurate as possible as of the date of publication, it should not be cited or relied upon as legal authority. It is highly recommended that legal advice be obtained from a bankruptcy attorney or legal association. For filing requirements, please refer to the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11, United States Code), and the Local Rules for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon.

In order for a party to continue a proceeding against the debtor or a co-debtor that has been stayed because of the filing of a bankruptcy, the party must file with the court a Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay, or a Motion for Relief from the Co-Debtor Stay . If the parties are in agreement, a Stipulated Order concerning the automatic stay using LBF 720.90 may be filed.

A Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay or a Motion for Relief from the Co-Debtor Stay is commenced by the filing of a motion. This motion cannot be combined with any other motion or request for alternative relief. Procedures and general requirements for filing one of these motions are found in the Local Bankruptcy Rules (LBR 4001-1) and LBF 720.50 (General Relief From Stay Procedures).

For Chapter 7 and 13 motions for relief from stay, and/or for Chapter 13 motions for relief from co-debtor stay, draft a Motion For Relief From Debtor/Co-Debtor Stay using LBF 720.80 and attach Notice of Motion using LBF 720.

For Chapter 11 or 12 motions for relief from stay, draft a custom motion and attach the Notice of Motion using LBF 1124.

For Chapter 12 motions for relief from co-debtor stay, draft a custom motion, and attach the Notice of Motion using LBF 1220 and the Notice of Hearing using LBF 1220.5. Orders pertaining to relief from stay are filed with the Court using LBF 720.90.

The filing fee for a Motion for Relief from the Automatic Stay is found on the Court Fees List.

For various reasons a meeting of creditors may occasionally be rescheduled. If so, it may be rescheduled in the hearing room with notice only to those present, or another notice may go out to some or all the creditors notifying them of the new date. The notice will usually say the meeting is being reset or rescheduled. Creditors may, but do not need to, attend the meeting. Debtors must attend a meeting of creditors and under oath respond to the questions put to them by the trustee or creditors. The debtor must attend any reset or rescheduled meeting unless the trustee clearly states that the debtor’s presence is no longer needed.

A meeting of creditors will usually be held within 20 to 40 days of filing, unless the debtor lives in an outlying area, in which case it may be a little longer. The meetings set for Portland and Eugene will be held at the office of the U.S. Trustee. At the meeting the debtor is required to respond, under oath, to questions from the case trustee and to any questions that creditors may have relating to the financial condition of the debtor and the debtor’s assets. Attending this meeting is mandatory for the debtor but creditors need not attend.