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Proofs of Claim

 Official Procedure Last Change March 15, 2018

Proofs of Claim

How to file:

Location of event: Bankruptcy > Claims > File Claims

Things to be aware of when filing: When choosing the creditor from the drop-down list, be sure to choose the correct creditor, and to update the address if necessary. The court will not make corrections if the necessary changes are not made.

FRBP 2002(g), 3001, 5003(b)

General Information

  • Outside filers are responsible for ensuring that the correct creditor address is used to docket the claim. An invalid address will likely result in no notices being sent to the creditor. If the address is incorrect, the court will take no corrective action.
  • If a case has more than 300 creditors, a claims agent will be appointed who is responsible for receiving and maintaining all claims filed in the case. If a claims agent has been appointed, you will be advised during the filing of the claim, and you will need to mail the claim to that agent instead of attempting to file via CM/ECF.
  • Creditors can only file an administrative claim if (1) an Application for Payment of Administrative Expense or Administrative Claim has been filed and granted by the Court; or (2) professional fees are permitted by General Order/Local Rule; or (3) the case is or began as an involuntary case and the claim arises under 11 U.S.C. Section 502.
  • There is a special batch upload program available for creditors who regularly file very large volumes of claims (for instance, several hundred), and who are willing to arrange for the necessary programming and testing. Contact the court's Data Quality Analyst for further information. 

Filing requirements

  • Proofs of Claims must be filed using Official Form B410. (Not required if using the court's ePOC system, since that system generates the form in response to information entered by the filer.)
  • If the claim is secured by a security interest in a debtor’s principal residence, Form B410A must be filed along with the Proof of Claim form.

Note: After filling in the form, you will need to convert it to a PDF file by utilizing either Adobe Acrobat Professional, Adobe Writer, or some other software for making PDF files. Do not use the red Save As... button on the bottom of the form to convert to PDF. Instead, use the Print button and choose your PDF writing software as the printer. You will then be given the option to name and save the PDF file to disk, which you will attach in Step 9 below.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Log into CM/ECF.

If you do not have a login for CM/ECF, the easiest way to file a Proof of Claim or amend an existing claim is to use the court's ePOC system, which allows any creditor to prepare and file a claim online. View instructions on filing a claim using ePOC

If you have a CM/ECF login, the following instructions may be used instead.

2. Select Bankruptcy > Claims > File Claims.

3. Enter case number (in the format xx-xxxxx). If filing an amended claim, check the Filing an amended claim box.

4. Click Next.

Note: If the case number you entered refers to a case that is either closed or has been transferred to another court (or office within this court), a warning message is displayed. Make sure that you entered the correct case number before proceeding.

5. If you are filing a claim for an administrative expense, click Add Creditor, enter the creditor name and address in the large text box, select the Yes radio button, then click Next then Submit. Now skip to step 7.

Notes:

  • Before choosing this option, review information in General Information above to make sure that the qualifications are met for filing your claim as an Administrative Claim.
  • If the creditor name is already listed on the case, you will still need to add it again in order to file an administrative claim. However, CM/ECF will not allow you to add an exact duplicate of a creditor already on the case. Therefore, you will need to ensure that the creditor name and address that you adding differs by at least one character from the record already on the case (e.g. enter Drive instead of Dr).

6. Click the drop down list to display all creditors in the case, or if filing an amended claim, all the creditors in the case that have previously filed claims.

  • If the correct creditor is shown with the correct address, click on the creditor to select it. Confirm that the creditor displayed in the pop-up window is the correct one. If so click Yes. If not correct, click No and re-select.
  • NON-AMENDED CLAIMS (if you did not check the Amended Claim box in step 3 above): If the creditor is not listed in the drop down list, or if the creditor is listed but not with the correct address, click on (select a creditor) to close the drop-down list, then click Add Creditor, enter creditor information, click Next then Submit.
  • AMENDED CLAIMS (if you checked the Amended Claim box in step 3 above):
    • If the creditor is not listed in the drop down list, click the Back button on your browser to return to the previous screen, uncheck the Filing an amended claim box, then click Next. (You will be able to add the amendment information in a later step.) Click Add Creditor, enter creditor information, click Next then Submit.
    • If the creditor is listed but not with the correct address, select the creditor from the list, then click the X in the top right-hand corner of the Claims filed on behalf of creditor window, which will close the window. Click Edit Creditor, make any alterations needed, then click Submit

7. Select correct filing party from the Filed By: drop-down box.

8. If this is an Amended Claim:

a. Click the Find button to show all claims filed in the case, and click on the claim number of the claim that is being amended.

Note: You must click the Find button even if you already know the number of the claim you are amending. You cannot just type the number into the box.

b. All the information from the original claim will be shown. To remove the information that is being amended, click on the appropriate radio button at the bottom of the screen

9.  In the Amount Claimed box, enter the total amount of the claim (as shown in question 7 of the claim form).

10. If any part of the claim total is secured, enter the secured amount in the Secured box (as shown in Amount of the claim that is secured in question 9 of the claim form). Any amount entered in this box should not be more than the amount entered in the previous step.

11. If any part of the claim total is priority, enter the amount entitled to priority in the Priority box (as shown in question 12 of the claim form). Any amount entered in this box should not be more than the amount entered in step 9.

12. Browse to attach the document to be filed (pdf file). Click Next.

Note: The Notice of Electronic Filing displays giving you the document number. Copies of this notice are immediately e-mailed to all participants who receive electronic notification in the case.