Sarah No v. Thomas Gorman, 891 F.3d 138

Debtor Sarah H. No filed a voluntary Chapter 13 petition and an amended Chapter 13 plan in late 2016.
Section 1326 requires debtors to commence plan payments within 30 days after filing the plan or the order for relief; No did not commence payments and missed the creditors’ meeting.
The Chapter 13 Trustee filed a Local Bankruptcy Rule 3070-1(C) certification that payments were not received; that Rule directs the clerk to enter an order dismissing the case upon receipt of such a certification.
The Trustee also filed a separate motion to dismiss and the court scheduled a hearing for February 9, 2017; the court nonetheless dismissed the case on January 17, 2017 based solely on the Rule 3070-1(C) certification and without a hearing.
The district court affirmed; No appealed to the Fourth Circuit arguing the dismissal violated 11 U.S.C. § 1307’s requirement of notice and a hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Local Bankruptcy Rule 3070-1(C) permits dismissal without the § 1307-required notice and hearing for failure to commence § 1326 payments	No: dismissal under the Rule deprived her of the § 1307 notice-and-hearing requirement	Trustee/Gorman: certification is not a "request by a party in interest" and dismissal was effectively by the court’s own authority; other grounds justified dismissal	Rule 3070-1(C) conflicts with § 1307; dismissal without an opportunity for a hearing was improper; reversed and remanded

In re Frushour, 433 F.3d 393 (4th Cir. 2005) (standard of review for legal questions in bankruptcy appeals)