ORDER DISMISSING ADVERSARY PROCEEDING
On May 10, 2001, the debtors filed a bankruptcy petition under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. Three months later on August 2, 2001, the debtor, Cleopha Pair, filed this adversary proceeding to partially discharge $8,000.00 of a $15,281.61 student loan obligation as being an undue hardship under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8). The defendant, Educational Credit Management Corporation (“ECMC”), filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on the ground that the issue is not ripe for adjudication at this time. ECMC contends that a complaint under § 523(a)(8) should be filed at the end of a Chapter 13 case because a Chapter 13 debtor is not entitled to receive a discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 1328(a) until plan payments are completed. At the hearing on ECMC’s motion to dismiss, the debtor asked the Court for an opportunity to brief the issue and to then take the matter under advisement.
To establish undue hardship, this Court has followed the three-part test set forth in
Brunner v. New York State Higher Educ.,
(1) that the debtor cannot maintain, based on current income and expenses, a “minimal” standard of living for herself and her dependents if forced to repay the loans;
(2) that additional circumstances exist indicating that this state of affairs is likely to persist for a significant portion of the repayment period of the student loans; and
(3) that the debtor has made good faith efforts to repay the loans.
In
Raisor v. Education Loan Servicing Center (In re Raisor),
*721 A good faith effort under Chapter 13 requires, at a minimum, an effort by the Debtors to first repay at least some of the Plus loan under the Plan and then perform an examination of their financial condition near the completion of the Plan to determine whether they can either repay some or all of the outstanding balances of the Plus loans.
The court also rejected the debt- or’s argument that it could bring the complaint at the beginning of the case pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 4007(b) which provides that a § 523(a)(8) proceeding “may be filed at any time.” The fact that a complaint under § 523(a)(8) can be filed at anytime under Rule 4007(b) does not mean that such a complaint is actually ripe for adjudication. For example, a § 523(a)(8) complaint can be filed at any time in a Chapter 7 case because a Chapter 7 debtor receives a discharge much sooner than a Chapter 13 debtor. The Brunner factors can easily be determined in light of the Chapter 7 debtor’s current circumstances. Although a § 523(a)(8) complaint is ripe for adjudication and can be brought at any time in a Chapter 7 case pursuant to Rule 4007(b), the issue is not ripe for adjudication until the end of a Chapter 13 case when the debtor’s financial circumstances are clearer.
The debtor cited the case of
In re Goranson,
The Court finds the analysis in Raisor to be more persuasive and adopts sanie in full. The debtor’s complaint is not ripe for adjudication and is due to be dismissed without prejudice to file same no earlier than six months before the debtor’s discharge is due to be entered if the facts of the case warrant a complaint under § 523(a)(8) at that time.