OFFICE OF THE CLERK UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA REVISED GUIDELINES FOR PREPARATION OF MASTER ADDRESS LISTS Revised August 17, 1999 1 The following guidelines have been approved by the Court and are issued pursuant to Local Bankruptcy Rule 1007-1(b) as the instructions of the Clerk with respect to the preparation and submission of Master Address Lists. They reflect technological improvements within the Clerk's Office and supersede Eastern District of California forms EDC 2-185, Format for Preparing Creditor Matrix (Rev. 5/95), and EDC 2-580, Notice to Chapter 11 Debtor and Debtor's Attorney Concerning Submission of Computer Readable Floppy Diskette with Master Address List (Rev. 1/96). Pursuant to Local Bankruptcy Rule 1007-1(b), a Master Address List which includes the names, addresses, and zip codes of all the debtor's known creditors must be submitted concurrently with every petition presented for filing. 1. Name and Address Standards The following standards apply to all names and addresses included in a Master Address List. a. All names and addresses must be complete and accurate. The Clerk shall strike from the List any name for which a complete address is not supplied. Notices shall not be sent by the Clerk to any entity stricken from the list until a complete address is supplied. b. When listing creditors in care of an attorney, always put the creditor's name on line 1 and the attorney's name on line 2. For example: CORRECT ABC Supply Company c/o Debra Jones, Attorney NOT INCORRECT Debra Jones Attorney for ABC Supply Company c. d. 1 Do not include the debtor, joint debtor, attorney(s) for the debtor(s), case trustee, or United States Trustee on the Master Mailing List. These parties will be entered by the Clerk's Office at the time of case opening. Creditors shall be listed ONLY ONCE, even if they have more than one account with, or claim against, the debtor. Changes are denoted by a vertical line in the left margin. EDC 2-190 (Rev. 8/17/99) (Page 1 of 5) 2001 © American LegalNet, Inc. e. Each name and address must consist of at least two but not more than five lines, each forty characters, or less, in length. For example: Line 1: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Line 2: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Line 3: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Line 4: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Line 5: City, State ZIP or ZIP + 4 f. Account numbers, "care of," and "attention" designations may be included ONLY on the second line of the name and address, as long as the complete name and address "block" consists of no more than five lines. g. No personal forms of address, titles, indefinite articles, or definite articles should precede the name. Personal forms of address and titles may be used after the name, but only as necessary to specifically identify someone. h. Names of individuals must appear in the following order: first name, middle name or initial, last name. i. Creditors must be listed alphabetically, according to the first letter of the company name or first name. j. Only postal standard abbreviations, as directed by the United States Postal Service in the publication Postal Addressing Standards, shall be used in addresses. The name of the state must be abbreviated using the upper-case, two-letter state identifier prescribed by the United States Postal Service (e.g. CA not Ca, Ca., Calif, or Calif.). City names less than 15 characters in length shall not be abbreviated. k. The use of ZIP codes is MANDATORY. All domestic addresses must include, at a minimum, the correct five digit ZIP code. Domestic addresses which do not include a ZIP code will be treated as incomplete and stricken from the List (see item 1(a), above). All ZIP code extensions must follow a hyphen and shall consist of four digits (for example, 97204-0012 NOT 97204-12 or 972040012). DO NOT use the ZIP code extension "0000" unless it is valid for the creditor. l. For domestic mail, the last line of every address MUST contain EACH of the following items IN THIS ORDER: the city, the two character state abbreviation WITHOUT periods BUT in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and, AT THE END, the ZIP code. DO NOT include any information for the creditor below the city, state, and ZIP. m. All foreign addresses shall include the COMPLETE name of the country to which the mail EDC 2-190 (Rev. 8/17/99) (Page 2 of 5) 2001 © American LegalNet, Inc. n. will be sent. Country names SHALL NOT be abbreviated. Except for hyphens in nine digit zip codes, no special characters (such as $, !, ", *, -, &, and %) shall be included in names or addresses. o. p. Lists shall be prepared in Courier 10 cpi (same as 12 point on a word processor). Proportionally spaced fonts and exotic font styles, such as italics and script, may be electronically unreadable and shall not be used. q. Like correspondence, names and addresses shall be typed in both upper and lower case letters. Except to abbreviate the name of the state, all upper case, or capital, letters shall not be used. r. Lists shall be typed in a single aligned column. s. 2. Because characters are literally interpreted, the letter "l" shall not be used as a substitute for the number one (1), and slashes (/) shall not be placed through zeros. There must be at least two blank lines between one entity's name and address and another's. Do not leave blank lines within an address or between an entity’s name and address. Instructions For Submission of Master Address Lists On Diskette a. Debtors whose petitions are prepared by an attorney or by a bankruptcy petition preparer as defined in 11 U.S.C. §110(a)(1) shall file an electronic Master Address List, prepared in strict compliance with the requirements set forth in form EDC 2-195, Revised Diskette Master Mailing List Specifications. In all other cases, debtors shall file EITHER an electronic Master Address List, prepared in strict compliance with the requirements set forth in form EDC 2-195, Revised Diskette Master Mailing List Specifications, OR a Master Address List on hard copy, prepared in strict compliance with the requirements set forth below in section 3, Instructions For Submission of Master Address Lists on Hard Copy. b. To help attorneys and petition preparers comply with this requirement, the court's automation staff has written a program to create an electronic Master Address List on diskette. A copy of the program will be provided free to users supplying a blank, formatted, high density 3½ inch diskette. c. Attorneys and petition preparers who do not currently possess the office automation equipment necessary to comply with this requirement may request a waiver. Such requests shall be made in writing at the time the paper list is submitted for filing with the court. A separate request for waiver must be made for each case presented without a list on diskette. Blanket waivers will NOT be granted. Those who regularly file bankruptcy EDC 2-190 (Rev. 8/17/99) (Page 3 of 5) 2001 © American LegalNet, Inc. petitions in this district will be expected to obtain the necessary equipment, or find alternate means of producing the list on diskette, within a reasonable period of time. 3. Instructions For Submission of Master Address Lists On Hard Copy A Master Address List on hard copy, prepared for electronic character recognition and in strict compliance with the following guidelines and format requirements, shall accompany every petition submitted for filing without a Master Address List on diskette. a. b. The type must be of high quality. Poor quality type from a dot matrix printer, photocopy or carbon, exhausted typewriter ribbon, or fabric typewriter ribbon are electronically unreadable and must not be used. c. The hard-copy list shall contain no handwriting, stray marks, correction fluid or tape. d. Names and addresses on hard-copy lists must appear on one side of each page only. e. The debtor's name, the particular page number, and the total number pages (for example, Smith Pg. 1 of 2), must be typed within the top one-half inch on the front, or anywhere on the back, of each page of the hard-copy list. f. The first name and address on a hard-copy list may not be closer than one and one-half inches from top of the page and none of the names and addresses on the hard-copy list shall contain letters that are closer than one-half inch from the left side, right side, or bottom of the page. g. The hard-copy Master Address List must be submitted as a CLEAN, TOTALLY SEPARATE document. Any marks (including letterhead, dates, names, page numbers, coffee stains, handwriting or multiple columns) below the top one-half inch of a page must be avoided as they may cause the entry of incorrect data. h. 4. The hard-copy list shall be printed in black, on white 8½ inch x 11 inch bond or copypaper. DO NOT STAPLE TOGETHER OR TWO-HOLE PUNCH PAGES OF THE ORIGINAL HARD-COPY MASTER ADDRESS LIST. Pages of copies should be stapled together and may be two-hole punched. Accuracy and Verification of Master Address Lists a. The accuracy and completeness of the Master Address List is the shared responsibility of the debtor(s) and the debtor’s(s’) attorney or bankruptcy petition preparer, if any. The Clerk’s Office shall not be required to compare the names and addresses shown on the EDC 2-190 (Rev. 8/17/99) (Page 4 of 5) 2001 © American LegalNet, Inc. b. 5. Master Address List with those on the schedules or amendments thereto provided, however, that the Clerk shall add to the list any unlisted creditors or parties-in-interest who have filed proofs or claim, or written requests for notice. The debtor(s) shall notify the Clerk’s Office promptly of any corrections or changes to the Master Address List. Every Master Address List shall be accompanied by a verification by the debtor(s), stating that the Master Address List is a true, correct, and complete listing to the best of the debtor’s(s’) knowledge and belief. Addition of Creditors to Master Address Lists A supplemental Master Address List on hard copy shall be filed with any schedule or amendment that adds creditors or interested parties. When adding 50 or more creditors and/or parties, debtors whose schedules or amendments are prepared by an attorney or a bankruptcy petition preparer as defined in 11 U.S.C. § 110(a)(1), shall additionally file a supplemental Master Address List on diskette that is identical to the supplemental hard copy or paper list. Supplemental hard copy and electronic lists shall contain only the names and addresses of the creditors and/or parties added, and must be prepared in strict compliance with these guidelines. 6. Compliance Any Master Address List that fails to strictly comply with these guidelines shall be amended. Additionally, failure to submit a Master Address List concurrently with a petition may result in dismissal or conversion of the debtor’s(s’) case, or the imposing of sanctions against the debtor(s), debtor's)(s’) attorney, and/or bankruptcy petition preparer. EDC 2-190 (Rev. 8/17/99) (Page 5 of 5) 2001 © American LegalNet, Inc.