By: Robert Ryan
St. John's Law Student
American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review Staff
Firmly adopting the “exclusive” view of claim objections, the Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in B-Line, LLC v. Kirkland
held that a claim could not be disallowed under 11 U.S.C. § 502
for failure to submit supporting documentation with a proof of claim since that is not one of the grounds expressly stated in the statute.
Although Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3001 requires that supporting documentation be provided with a proof of claim,
neither the Rule nor the statute clearly states what to do if a creditor fails to submit supporting documentation.
The court held that section 502(b) provided an exclusive list of reasons why a claim should be dismissed, reasoning that the “shall allow … except” command in section 502(b) and the absence of an expansive term like “including” indicated that the list was exclusive.
Since the Rules cannot modify substantive rights, technical defects in the proof of claim are not grounds for objection.