Form, content, attachments, evidentiary effect, and supplemental disclosures for claims filed in a bankruptcy case.
(a) Form and content. A proof of claim is a written statement setting forth a creditor's claim. A proof of claim shall conform substantially to the appropriate Official Form.
(f) Evidentiary effect. A proof of claim executed and filed in accordance with these rules shall constitute prima facie evidence of the validity and amount of the claim. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 3001(a) and (f).
Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3001 governs the form, content, and evidentiary effect of a proof of claim. A "claim" is defined in 11 U.S.C. Section 101(5) as a right to payment, whether or not the right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured. Rule 3001 specifies how a creditor asserts and documents that right in the bankruptcy case.
The rule operates in coordination with Rule 3002 (filing deadlines for proofs of claim in Chapter 7, 12, and 13 cases) and Rule 3003 (Chapter 9 and 11 cases). Rule 3001 addresses how a claim is presented; Rules 3002 and 3003 address when it must be filed.
A proof of claim must conform substantially to Official Form 410 (the unified Proof of Claim form). The form must be signed by the creditor or by the creditor's authorized agent. The Advisory Committee Notes establish that the signature serves the same gatekeeping function as a signature under Rule 9011: it certifies that the information provided has a reasonable factual basis after inquiry reasonable under the circumstances.
If a claim is based on a writing - a promissory note, a contract, a lease, an account agreement - the original or a duplicate of the writing must be filed with the proof of claim. If the writing has been lost or destroyed, a statement of the circumstances of the loss or destruction must be filed with the proof of claim.
For claims based on an open-end or revolving consumer credit agreement, Rule 3001(c)(3) requires a statement that includes:
The 3001(c)(3) statement is the procedural mechanism by which Congress addressed the proliferation of stale and inadequately documented consumer credit claims in Chapter 13 cases. The information required is the documentary backbone of a consumer credit claim and is the threshold for prima facie validity under Rule 3001(f).
For claims that include charges in addition to principal, the proof of claim must include an itemized statement of the interest, fees, expenses, or other charges incurred before the petition was filed. Aggregate amounts unsupported by itemization do not satisfy Rule 3001(c)(2) and are not entitled to prima facie effect.
If a claim is secured by a security interest in property of the debtor, evidence that the security interest has been perfected must accompany the proof of claim. The evidence depends on the collateral: a UCC-1 financing statement for personal property, a recorded mortgage or deed of trust for real property, a certificate of title for a motor vehicle. A secured claim filed without evidence of perfection is not entitled to be treated as secured for purposes of Rule 3001(f) prima facie validity.
Rule 3001(e) governs the procedure for transferring a claim after a proof of claim has been filed. The transferee files a statement of the transfer; the clerk gives notice to the alleged transferor, who has twenty-one days to object. If no objection is filed, the transferee is substituted as the holder of the claim. The procedure exists to ensure that the docket accurately reflects the current holder of each claim, particularly relevant in cases with active secondary trading.
A proof of claim that complies with the form, signature, and attachment requirements of Rule 3001 constitutes prima facie evidence of the validity and amount of the claim. Prima facie validity does not mean the claim is conclusively allowed; it means the claim is allowed unless an objecting party comes forward with evidence sufficient to overcome the presumption.
If the proof of claim is not compliant - if a required attachment is missing, if the 3001(c)(3) consumer statement is incomplete, if itemization is absent - the claim does not enjoy prima facie validity. The objecting party still must overcome the underlying claim, but the burden of going forward shifts.
Rule 3001(c)(2)(D) authorizes the court, after notice and a hearing, to preclude a creditor that fails to provide the information required by Rule 3001(c) from presenting the omitted information in any contested matter or adversary proceeding in the case, and to award other appropriate relief including reasonable expenses and attorney's fees caused by the failure. This provision gives Rule 3001(c) operational teeth beyond mere loss of prima facie validity.
A vendor files a proof of claim for the unpaid balance on an open trade account. The proof of claim attaches the most recent invoice, the account statement, and a summary of payment history. The debtor in possession reviews the claim against its books and either accepts the claim or files an objection under Rule 3007 setting forth the basis for the objection.
A debt buyer files a proof of claim on a purchased consumer credit account. The proof must include the Rule 3001(c)(3) statement: the original creditor, the entity holding the debt at the last transaction, the date of last transaction, the date of last payment, and the charge-off date. If the statement is incomplete or the chain of assignment is not documented, the claim is subject to objection under Rule 3007.
Rule 3001 is the gatekeeping rule for participation in any distribution from the estate. A claim that is not properly filed under Rule 3001 (and timely filed under Rule 3002 or 3003) is at risk of disallowance for non-compliance. The prima facie validity provision in Rule 3001(f) creates a meaningful procedural advantage for compliant claims: the objecting party bears the burden of going forward with evidence to overcome the presumption.
The 2011 and 2017 amendments to Rule 3001 - particularly the 3001(c)(2) itemization requirement and the 3001(c)(3) consumer-credit disclosure requirement - reflected Advisory Committee findings that proofs of claim filed by high-volume creditors and debt buyers often lacked the documentary foundation necessary for meaningful objection practice. The amendments shifted the burden of documentary precision onto the claim filer.
Prima facie validity is rebuttable, not conclusive. A compliant proof of claim shifts the burden of going forward to the objecting party, but the burden of persuasion on the underlying claim remains with the creditor. An objection that comes forward with sufficient evidence to neutralize the presumption returns the burden to the creditor to prove the claim by a preponderance.
This page provides general information about Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3001. It does not constitute legal advice. Claim preparation, objection practice, and the documentary sufficiency of any particular proof of claim should be evaluated by qualified counsel.