PRELIMINARY ADMINISTRATION OF DEBT REPAYMENT SCHEME
Submission of documents by debtor
8.—(1) In addition to the statement of affairs and debt repayment plan required to be submitted by a debtor under section 290 of the Act, the debtor must submit to the Official Assignee, in the form and manner and within the time as the Official Assignee may specify —
(a)
a statement of the debtor’s income and expenditure, duly signed and dated by the debtor; and
(b)
any documents in support of the information stated by the debtor in the statement of affairs, debt repayment plan and statement of income and expenditure.
(2) The debtor must, upon the request of the Official Assignee, submit any further document or other evidence that the Official Assignee may require in support of the debtor’s income, expenses, assets and liabilities as stated in the statement of affairs and statement of income and expenditure submitted by the debtor under paragraph (1).
(3) The further documents or other evidence which the Official Assignee may require a debtor to submit under paragraph (2) include —
(a)
the debtor’s income tax statement and returns; and
(b)
documents relating to the debtor’s remuneration.
(4) Where, upon the expiry of the time given to the debtor to submit the documents mentioned in paragraph (1), the Official Assignee finds that any document submitted by the debtor in compliance or purported compliance with that paragraph has not been duly completed or signed by the debtor, then —
(a)
the debtor is considered to have failed to submit that document within the time given to the debtor to do so; and
(b)
the Official Assignee must, within 14 days after the date by which the debtor should have submitted such document —
(i)
report such failure to the Court; and
(ii)
inform the debtor and every applicant creditor of the debtor, of the debtor’s unsuitability for a debt repayment scheme on that ground.
Preliminary assessment of aggregate debt owed
9.—(1) Upon receiving the duly completed statement of affairs from the debtor under section 290(1) of the Act, the Official Assignee must determine the aggregate amount of the debtor’s debts as stated in the statement of affairs.
(2) If the aggregate amount of the debtor’s debts exceeds the amount mentioned in regulation 4(1), the Official Assignee must inform the debtor and every applicant creditor of the debtor, of the debtor’s unsuitability for a debt repayment scheme on that ground.
Filing of proofs of debt
10.—(1) This regulation and regulation 11 apply where the Official Assignee has assessed that the aggregate amount of a debtor’s debts as stated in the debtor’s statement of affairs does not exceed the amount mentioned in regulation 4(1).
(2) The Official Assignee must, within 7 days after receiving from the debtor all the duly completed documents mentioned in regulation 8 and section 290 of the Act, send the notice mentioned in section 290(2) of the Act.
(3) For the purposes of section 294(2) of the Act as applied by section 290(3) of the Act, a creditor must file the creditor’s proof of debt with the Official Assignee —
(a)
in Form DRS-1;
(b)
in accordance with the Filing of Documents Regulations; and
(c)
together with the appropriate fee.
(4) If the proof of debt is filed by a creditor in accordance with regulation 12(1) of the Filing of Documents Regulations, a copy of each document substantiating the claim specified in the proof of debt —
(a)
must be filed together with the proof of debt; or
(b)
where the Official Assignee is of the opinion that the creditor will incur unreasonable expense or suffer unreasonable inconvenience in complying with sub‑paragraph (a) — must be sent to the Official Assignee within 14 days after the date of filing of the proof of debt, in the manner specified in any practice directions issued by the Official Assignee.
(5) If the proof of debt is filed by a creditor in accordance with regulation 12(2) of the Filing of Documents Regulations, a copy of each document substantiating the claim specified in the proof of debt must be filed together with the proof of debt.
(6) A creditor must bear the cost of proving the creditor’s debt.
(7) The Official Assignee may, on the application of any creditor, extend the time specified in the notice mentioned in section 290(2) of the Act within which the creditor is required to file a proof of debt, regardless of whether the application for extension is made before or after the expiration of that time.
(8) The Official Assignee must, upon receiving the proofs of debt by the creditors, determine the aggregate amount of the debts owed by the debtor to the creditors.
(9) Before the Official Assignee admits or rejects in whole or in part a proof of debt, the Official Assignee must examine the proof and the grounds of the debt, and may require further evidence in support of the proof of debt from the creditor who filed the proof of debt.
(10) Where the Official Assignee admits or rejects in whole or in part a proof of debt filed by a creditor, the Official Assignee must inform the debtor and the creditor of the Official Assignee’s decision in writing within 7 days after the date of the decision.
(11) If the Official Assignee’s determination under paragraph (8) reveals that the aggregate amount of the debtor’s debts exceeds the prescribed amount mentioned in regulation 4(1), the Official Assignee must report to the Court, and inform the debtor and all creditors who have filed proofs of debt against the debtor under paragraph (3), of the debtor’s unsuitability for a debt repayment scheme on that ground.
Inspection of proofs of debt
11. The Official Assignee must, upon the payment of the appropriate fee, allow a debtor or any creditor whose proof of debt has been admitted to inspect, or provide the debtor or such creditor with details of —
(a)
the statement of affairs as submitted by the debtor under section 290(1) of the Act;
(b)
the statement of income and expenditure as submitted by the debtor under regulation 8; or
(c)
the proofs of debt as submitted by the debtor’s creditors under regulation 10.
Information to Court, etc.
12.—(1) Where the Official Assignee has determined that a debtor is not suitable for a debt repayment scheme under section 289(2) of the Act, the Official Assignee must, within 7 days after the date of the determination, report to the Court and inform the debtor and every applicant creditor of the determination.
(2) Where the Official Assignee has approved a debt repayment plan, the Official Assignee must, within 7 days after the date of the approval, report to the Court the date on which the debt repayment scheme is to commence.
