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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 109. Who may be a debtor
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, only a
person that resides or has a domicile, a place of business, or
property in the United States, or a municipality, may be a debtor
under this title.
(b) A person may be a debtor under chapter 7 of this title only
if such person is not -
(1) a railroad;
(2) a domestic insurance company, bank, savings bank,
cooperative bank, savings and loan association, building and loan
association, homestead association, a New Markets Venture Capital
company as defined in section 351 of the Small Business
Investment Act of 1958, a small business investment company
licensed by the Small Business Administration under subsection
(c) or (d) (!1) of section 301 of the Small Business Investment
Act of 1958, credit union, or industrial bank or similar
institution which is an insured bank as defined in section 3(h)
of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, except that an uninsured
State member bank, or a corporation organized under section 25A
of the Federal Reserve Act, which operates, or operates as, a
multilateral clearing organization pursuant to section 409 of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 may
be a debtor if a petition is filed at the direction of the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; or
(3) a foreign insurance company, bank, savings bank,
cooperative bank, savings and loan association, building and loan
association, homestead association, or credit union, engaged in
such business in the United States.
(c) An entity may be a debtor under chapter 9 of this title if
and only if such entity -
(1) is a municipality;
(2) is specifically authorized, in its capacity as a
municipality or by name, to be a debtor under such chapter by
State law, or by a governmental officer or organization empowered
by State law to authorize such entity to be a debtor under such
chapter;
(3) is insolvent;
(4) desires to effect a plan to adjust such debts; and
(5)(A) has obtained the agreement of creditors holding at least
a majority in amount of the claims of each class that such entity
intends to impair under a plan in a case under such chapter;
(B) has negotiated in good faith with creditors and has failed
to obtain the agreement of creditors holding at least a majority
in amount of the claims of each class that such entity intends to
impair under a plan in a case under such chapter;
(C) is unable to negotiate with creditors because such
negotiation is impracticable; or
(D) reasonably believes that a creditor may attempt to obtain a
transfer that is avoidable under section 547 of this title.
(d) Only a railroad, a person that may be a debtor under chapter
7 of this title (except a stockbroker or a commodity broker), and
an uninsured State member bank, or a corporation organized under
section 25A of the Federal Reserve Act, which operates, or operates
as, a multilateral clearing organization pursuant to section 409 of
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991
may be a debtor under chapter 11 of this title.
(e) Only an individual with regular income that owes, on the date
of the filing of the petition, noncontingent, liquidated, unsecured
debts of less than $250,000 and noncontingent, liquidated, secured
debts of less than $750,000, or an individual with regular income
and such individual's spouse, except a stockbroker or a commodity
broker, that owe, on the date of the filing of the petition,
noncontingent, liquidated, unsecured debts that aggregate less than
$250,000 and noncontingent, liquidated, secured debts of less than
$750,000 may be a debtor under chapter 13 of this title.
(f) Only a family farmer with regular annual income may be a
debtor under chapter 12 of this title.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no
individual or family farmer may be a debtor under this title who
has been a debtor in a case pending under this title at any time in
the preceding 180 days if -
(1) the case was dismissed by the court for willful failure of
the debtor to abide by orders of the court, or to appear before
the court in proper prosecution of the case; or
(2) the debtor requested and obtained the voluntary dismissal
of the case following the filing of a request for relief from the
automatic stay provided by section 362 of this title.
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