The principles of liquidation of bankruptcy estate in consumer bankruptcy

In order to unificate and facilitate the course of bankruptcy proceedings, we present below the principles for procedures in liquidation of the bankruptcy estate pursuant to art 491 (11a) of the Bankruptcy Law. The principles have been formulated with emphasis put on the creditors’ right to bring an action and lay complaints.

List of principles:

  1. Pursuant to article 49111a section 2 of the Bankruptcy Law, the trustee determining if the assessed value mentioned in the inventory exceeds five times the average monthly salary in the enterprise sector excluding payments from profits, in force in the third quarter of the preceding year, published by the President of the Main Statistical Office, should refer to the average monthly salary in the enterprise sector excluding payments from profits, in force in the third quarter of the preceding year in relation to the year in which the bankruptcy was declared.
  2. If any real property or assets are included in the bankruptcy estate which, pursuant to art. 320 section 3 in connection with art. 319 of the Bankruptcy Law, is subject to description and appraisal, the trustee should describe and appraise any of such real property or assets and next make it public by an announcement in the Court and Business Gazette - Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy (art. 455 section. 1 sentence 3 of the Reconstruction Law) in which the trustee shall instruct the parties to the proceedings about their right to file objections to the designated judge against the description and appraisal.
  3. Before the notification about the method of liquidation of the bankruptcy estate is given, the trustee should make sure that no objections as to the description and appraisal have been filed.
  4. In the first instance the trustee should notify the creditors about the method of liquidation of the bankruptcy estate (the trustee should not notify the creditors and the court at the same time).
  5. No subsequent procedures should be taken unless a 14-day period elapses from the date the creditor is served with the last notification (obligatory expiration of the 14-day period arises from the creditors’ right to bring an action against actions of the trustee (art. 49111a section 3 of the Bankruptcy Law). A complaint against the actions of the trustee shall be made within 7 days. Additional 7 days is necessary for the correspondence circulation).
  6. In the case of bringing an action by creditors, the trustee should analyse any complaint. The trustee may accept the complaint. The trustee shall notify the complainant and the concerned parties whom the complaint concerns about the acceptance of the complaint. Together with the acceptance of the complaint,  the trustee should again notify the creditors about the method of liquidation of the bankruptcy estate. Then the trustee should renew the procedure mentioned in points (3) and (4).
  7. In the case when the creditors brought an action and the complaints were not accepted by the trustee, the trustee should justify the complaned action, that is the justification of the decided method of liquidation of the bankruptcy estate and refer to the court the following: notification of the selected method of the liquidation of the bankrupt estate with justification, description and appraisal of bankrupt’s assets if such description and appraisal were made and the proof of notification concerning the description and appraisal presented in the Court and Business Gazette - Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy, all the actions brought by the creditors, copies of the return receipts concerning the notifications of the creditors of the selected method of liquidation of the bankrupt estate (the copies of return receipts are required by court to verify appeal deadlines and whether the notification has been convened correctly).
  8. In the case when no action is brought by the creditors, the trustee shall refer to the court the following documents: notification of the selected method of liquidation of the bankrupt estate, description and appraisal of bankrupt’s assets if such description and appraisal were made and the proof of notification concerning the description and appraisal presented in the Court and Business Gazette - Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy, copies of the return receipts concerning the notifications of the creditors of the selected method of liquidation of the bankrupt estate (the copies of return receipts are required by court to verify appeal deadlines and whether the notification has been convened correctly).
  9. The notification of the selected method of liquidation of the bankrupt estate should be attached to a separate submission, titled: “The notification of selected method of liquidation of the bankrupt estate”. The trustee shall attach a copy of such submission to the files.