In re: Bankruptcy Noticing Center Service Interruption. _____________________________________/ Administrative Order 26-004 SECOND1 ORDER REGARDING BANKRUPTCY NOTICING CENTER SERVICE INTERRUPTION The Court is advised that the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (“BNC”) continues to experience a nationwide service disruption that prevents it from transmitting notices and orders to parties in the ordinary course. While the BNC outage does not prevent the Court's Case Management/Electronic Case Files (“CM/ECF”) system from displaying creditor and party names and addresses entered in a case, the BNC outage prevents access to creditor preferred mailing addresses maintained in the National Creditor Registration Service (NCRS) and is preventing notice to creditors by mail, electronically, or otherwise. Importantly, the service interruption does not affect Notices of Electronic Filing (“NEFs”) transmitted through the CM/ECF system, which continues to function normally. At this time, it is unknown how long the outage may last. Accordingly, the Court has determined that emergency temporary procedures are necessary to ensure the continued administration of bankruptcy cases, adversary proceedings, and miscellaneous proceedings and that legally sufficient notices are provided to the parties. Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 105(a), Rules 2002,9006 and 9036 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and the Court’s authority to administer its docket, and subject in all respects to all applicable statutes, rules, and other applicable law, it is ORDERED: 1. Applicability. This Order applies to bankruptcy cases, adversary proceedings, and miscellaneous proceedings pending in or commenced in this District and applies retroactively to October 6, 2026, regarding notices and orders ordinarily served by the Court through the BNC for which required notice has not been given because of the service interruption. 1This Order supplements Administrative Order 26-003 entered October 14, 2026, which remains in effect except to the extent inconsistent with this Order. 2. Creditors Required to File Request for Notice. Effective immediately, any creditor seeking to receive notice of any matter before this Court must electronically file a Request for Notice with the Court through CM/ECF. The Request for Notice will allow a creditor to receive Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) emails from CM/ECF. (See administrative procedures available online at www.flnb.uscourts.gov.) Local Rule 2090-1(E)(5) is temporarily waived for the limited purpose of allowing an entity other than a natural person to file a Request for Notice pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 2002 without counsel. This limited waiver does not authorize an entity otherwise required to appear through counsel to proceed without counsel for any other purpose unless allowed by local rule. Until further order of this Court, Local Rule 2002-3 is suspended. Registration with the BNC, whether completed before or after entry of this Order, shall not constitute an effective request for notice pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 2002. Additional information about filing a request for is available on the Court’s website. Debtor’s should include the above paragraph with any Notice of Bankruptcy Case and Meeting of Creditors under 11 U.S.C. § 341 they provide to creditors. 3. 4. Action Needed by Unrepresented Debtors. Unrepresented debtors should clearly and legibly complete the email address and telephone number fields on the petition form. Using debtor’s email address, the Clerk will send to debtor a Declaration and Consent to Electronic Notice and Service By CM/ECF form allowing debtor to elect to receive NEF emails. NEF emails may contain links to orders, notices and other papers filed in debtor’s case and are sent to the email address included on the petition. Debtor must possess a PACER account linked to this Court and must electronically sign and file the form in the case through CM/ECF. Additional instructions are available online. Supplemental Notice and Service Requirements During Outage. No duplicate notice is required for a recipient who has already been properly served through CM/ECF or another authorized method. Transmission of a document to the BNC for processing does not establish that notice has been given. The Clerk may identify affected docket entries and issue instructions for corrective service consistent with this Order. The person responsible for providing notice under this Order must provide the notice and file a certificate of service within three (3) days of service. Failure to comply with noticing 2 requirements may result in an Order to Show Cause or cancelation of any hearing. For any affected notice or order for which this Order does not assign responsibility, the Clerk must promptly refer the matter to the Court for designation of the person responsible for providing notice. Existing obligations to serve documents for which service is ordinarily the responsibility of a party remain in effect. 5. Designation of Parties Responsible for Service. Effective retroactively as of October 6, 2026 and until further order of this Court, the following parties are designated by the Court as those responsible for service of notices, order, and other papers as follows: A. B. C. D. The United States trustee must serve any notice under Bankruptcy Rule 2002 that the Clerk would otherwise serve on the United States trustee’s behalf. In a chapter 7 case in which a notice of insufficient assets to pay a dividend was given to creditors, the chapter 7 trustee must serve any notice under Bankruptcy Rule 2002 that the Clerk would otherwise serve on the chapter 7 trustee’s behalf. Commencement and §341 Meeting of Creditors Notices. In each bankruptcy case filed on or after October 6, 2026, the debtor’s attorney, or if the debtor is unrepresented, the debtor, must serve the official Notice of Bankruptcy Case (Form 309I hereinafter “Notice”), including any accompanying attachments upon all entities entitled to receive it. The Clerk is directed to email the Notice to unrepresented debtors at the email address listed on the petition. Debtors must mail the Notice to all creditors and parties within 3 days after of receipt or within three (3) days of entry of this Order, whichever is later. The debtor must not alter the meeting date or any deadline. Notwithstanding Rule 2002(a)(1), the debtor’s social-security number and any other federal taxpayer identification number may be limited on the notice to the last four digits. If the person responsible for providing notice is unable to ensure that service is completed within the time required, that person must promptly seek appropriate relief from the Court. Discharge, Dismissal, and Closing. Upon docketing of a discharge order or an order dismissing or closing a case, the debtor’s attorney, or if the debtor is unrepresented, the debtor, must promptly mail a copy of the order or official notice to all entities entitled to notice, except recipients to whom notice has already been properly given. 3 E. Notice of Assets. The chapter 7 trustee must serve Notices of Assets on all parties and creditors entitled to such notice. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Certificate of Service. Any entity required by this Order to serve a document must file a certificate of service with the Court within three (3) days of service. Failure to comply with noticing requirements may result in an Order to Show Cause or cancelation of any hearing. Form available online. Access to List of Creditors. Access to the list of creditors is required to determine the identity of individuals and entities requiring service. During the outage, access to the creditors matrix on CM/ECF may be impaired and may not include addresses registered with the BNC’s Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing (EBN) program or the NCRS. Until this problem is resolved, parties may access lists of creditors and parties in a case through CM/ECF using the procedure found online. Parties must review party and creditor lists to ensure that notice is provided to all appropriate parties. Unrepresented parties may view bankruptcy court records and obtain a list of parties to be served with a valid fee-based PACER account. To register for a PACER account, visit https://www.pacer.uscourts.gov. PACER will waive fees if a user accrues less than $30.00 in a particular quarter. Deadlines and Hearing Dates. This Order does not extend, shorten, or alter any statutory or rule-based deadlines or dispense with any required notice or service. All existing or scheduled hearings remain in effect unless otherwise ordered by the Court. No adverse action may be based on an entity’s failure to respond to, or act with respect to a deadline set forth in, an affected notice, unless the Court determines that the notice was given in accordance with applicable law. Parties Seeking Additional Relief Due to the Outage. Any party affected by delayed or unsuccessful noticing may seek a continuance, additional notice, an extension where legally permitted, or other appropriate relief. Any such request must be made through an appropriate motion in the applicable bankruptcy case or proceeding. The motion must identify the affected notice, explain how the failure to receive notice affected the party, and specify the relief requested. All such motions will be considered by the Court on a case-by case basis in accordance with applicable law. Unrepresented Parties. An unrepresented party who cannot reasonably comply with this Order must promptly contact the Clerk for procedural instructions or request relief from the Court through a written motion. The submission of a motion does not automatically extend any deadline or continue any hearing. On motion or sua sponte, the Court may direct the Clerk, a trustee, or another entity to provide notice or establish alternative procedures 4 consistent with applicable law. Nothing in this Order authorizes the Clerk to provide legal advice. 11. Implementation and Termination. The Clerk will publish ministerial implementation instructions consistent with this Order online.. This Order takes effect immediately and remains in effect until further order. Upon restoration of BNC service, the Clerk and affected parties must coordinate to avoid duplicate or inconsistent notices and address any outstanding backlog. DONE AND ORDERED ON October 20, 2026.