United States Code

11 U.S.C. § 527 — Disclosures

Section 527 requires a debt relief agency — the term this section uses for someone providing bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person — to hand over specific written notices. Subsection (a) covers warnings that the information you provide must be complete, accurate, and truthful, due within 3 business days of the first offer of services. Subsection (b) sets out a separate plain-language statement. Subsection (c) requires practical instructions on gathering your information, and subsection (d) requires copies kept 2 years.

If you are paying someone to help you file — an attorney or a bankruptcy petition preparer — this section is the paperwork they owe you before the work starts. It exists so that nobody helping you can stay quiet about how much of the accuracy burden falls on you, or about what a routine case actually involves. If you did not receive these notices, that is a fact worth raising.

What written notices must a debt relief agency give me?

Subsection (a) requires two things. First, the written notice required under section 342(b)(1). Second, to the extent that notice does not already cover it, a clear and conspicuous written notice — due no later than 3 business days after the agency first offers to provide any bankruptcy assistance — advising you of four points. That all information you are required to provide with a petition, and afterward during the case, is required to be complete, accurate, and truthful. That all assets and all liabilities are required to be completely and accurately disclosed in the documents that commence the case, with the replacement value of each asset as defined in section 506 stated where requested, after reasonable inquiry to establish that value. That current monthly income, the amounts specified in section 707(b)(2), and in a chapter 13 case disposable income determined in accordance with section 707(b)(2), are required to be stated after reasonable inquiry. And that the information you provide during the case may be audited.

What does the separate statement in subsection (b) tell me?

Subsection (b) requires a statement — this exact wording or one substantially similar — that is clear and conspicuous and sits in a single document separate from every other document or notice you are given. It must arrive at the same time as the notice required under subsection (a)(1). The statement opens by describing three ways to proceed: you can represent yourself, you can hire an attorney, or in some localities you can get help from a bankruptcy petition preparer who is not an attorney. It then states, in capitals, that the law requires an attorney or bankruptcy petition preparer to give you a written contract specifying what they will do for you and how much it will cost, and it tells you to ask to see that contract before you hire anyone. The statement also says that before filing, either you or your attorney should analyze your eligibility for the different forms of debt relief available and which form is most likely to be beneficial, and that you should be sure you understand the relief and its limitations.

What does subsection (b) say a routine case involves?

The required statement walks through the mechanics. Documents called a Petition, Schedules, and Statement of Financial Affairs — and in some cases a Statement of Intention — need to be prepared correctly and filed with the bankruptcy court, and you will have to pay a filing fee. Once the case starts, you will have to attend the required first meeting of creditors, where you may be questioned by a court official called a trustee and by creditors. In a chapter 7 case, the statement says a creditor may ask you to reaffirm a debt, that you may want help deciding whether to do so, and that a creditor is not permitted to coerce you into reaffirming your debts. In a chapter 13 case, described as repaying creditors what you can afford over 3 to 5 years, it says you may want help preparing the plan and with the confirmation hearing before a bankruptcy judge. It closes by noting that a case may involve litigation, and that only attorneys, not petition preparers, can give legal advice.

What help with my paperwork does subsection (c) require?

Subsection (c) addresses the practical problem behind the accuracy warnings in subsection (a): you are told the numbers must be right, but not how to arrive at them. Unless the agency gathers the information itself, after reasonably diligent inquiry of you or others, so as to obtain it reasonably accurately for the petition, schedules, or statement of financial affairs, it must instead give you reasonably sufficient information — in a clear and conspicuous writing, and to the extent permitted by nonbankruptcy law — on how to provide everything section 521 requires of you. The subsection names three areas specifically: how to value assets at replacement value, determine current monthly income, determine the amounts specified in section 707(b)(2) and, in a chapter 13 case, disposable income in accordance with section 707(b)(2) and related calculations; how to complete the list of creditors, including how to determine what amount is owed and what creditor address should be shown; and how to determine what property is exempt and how to value exempt property at replacement value as defined in section 506.

What does the section say can happen if information is missing or wrong?

One of the four points subsection (a)(2) requires the notice to make is about consequences. The notice must advise you that information you provide during the case may be audited pursuant to title 11, and that failure to provide such information may result in dismissal of the case or other sanction, including a criminal sanction. The section states this as a required warning; it does not itself decide what happens in any particular case. Read together with subsections (a)(2)(A) through (C), the point of the notice is that reasonable inquiry and complete disclosure are treated as your obligations, not optional detail — the text repeatedly ties the required figures to what is stated after reasonable inquiry. If you are unsure how to establish a value or an income figure honestly, that is the gap subsection (c) is written to fill, and it is a reasonable thing to ask the person helping you to put in writing.

When are these notices due, and how long are they kept?

The section carries three separate timing rules, and they are easy to confuse. The notice required under section 342(b)(1) is due under subsection (a)(1). The further notice in subsection (a)(2) is due not later than 3 business days after the first date on which the agency first offers to provide any bankruptcy assistance — so the clock starts at the offer of services, not at filing. The separate statement in subsection (b) and the information required by subsection (c) are both due at the same time as the notice required under subsection (a)(1). Subsection (d) then addresses records rather than delivery: the agency must maintain a copy of the notices required under subsection (a) for 2 years after the date on which the notice is given to the assisted person. Note the asymmetry in the text — the 2-year retention duty is written against the subsection (a) notices.

This summary is our plain-English explanation, written to help you find the right part of the text below. The section itself is the authority — where the two differ, the text controls.

Text of 11 U.S.C. § 527

Reproduced in full from the official source, verified as of July 2026. View it at the source.

(a) A debt relief agency providing bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person shall provide—

(1) the written notice required under section 342(b)(1); and

(2) to the extent not covered in the written notice described in paragraph (1), and not later than 3 business days after the first date on which a debt relief agency first offers to provide any bankruptcy assistance services to an assisted person, a clear and conspicuous written notice advising assisted persons that—

(A) all information that the assisted person is required to provide with a petition and thereafter during a case under this title is required to be complete, accurate, and truthful;

(B) all assets and all liabilities are required to be completely and accurately disclosed in the documents filed to commence the case, and the replacement value of each asset as defined in section 506 must be stated in those documents where requested after reasonable inquiry to establish such value;

(C) current monthly income, the amounts specified in section 707(b)(2), and, in a case under chapter 13 of this title, disposable income (determined in accordance with section 707(b)(2)), are required to be stated after reasonable inquiry; and

(D) information that an assisted person provides during their case may be audited pursuant to this title, and that failure to provide such information may result in dismissal of the case under this title or other sanction, including a criminal sanction.

(b) A debt relief agency providing bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person shall provide each assisted person at the same time as the notices required under subsection (a)(1) the following statement, to the extent applicable, or one substantially similar. The statement shall be clear and conspicuous and shall be in a single document separate from other documents or notices provided to the assisted person:

"IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BANKRUPTCY ASSISTANCE SERVICES FROM AN ATTORNEY OR BANKRUPTCY PETITION PREPARER.

"If you decide to seek bankruptcy relief, you can represent yourself, you can hire an attorney to represent you, or you can get help in some localities from a bankruptcy petition preparer who is not an attorney. THE LAW REQUIRES AN ATTORNEY OR BANKRUPTCY PETITION PREPARER TO GIVE YOU A WRITTEN CONTRACT SPECIFYING WHAT THE ATTORNEY OR BANKRUPTCY PETITION PREPARER WILL DO FOR YOU AND HOW MUCH IT WILL COST. Ask to see the contract before you hire anyone.

"The following information helps you understand what must be done in a routine bankruptcy case to help you evaluate how much service you need. Although bankruptcy can be complex, many cases are routine.

"Before filing a bankruptcy case, either you or your attorney should analyze your eligibility for different forms of debt relief available under the Bankruptcy Code and which form of relief is most likely to be beneficial for you. Be sure you understand the relief you can obtain and its limitations. To file a bankruptcy case, documents called a Petition, Schedules, and Statement of Financial Affairs, and in some cases a Statement of Intention, need to be prepared correctly and filed with the bankruptcy court. You will have to pay a filing fee to the bankruptcy court. Once your case starts, you will have to attend the required first meeting of creditors where you may be questioned by a court official called a 'trustee' and by creditors.

"If you choose to file a chapter 7 case, you may be asked by a creditor to reaffirm a debt. You may want help deciding whether to do so. A creditor is not permitted to coerce you into reaffirming your debts.

"If you choose to file a chapter 13 case in which you repay your creditors what you can afford over 3 to 5 years, you may also want help with preparing your chapter 13 plan and with the confirmation hearing on your plan which will be before a bankruptcy judge.

"If you select another type of relief under the Bankruptcy Code other than chapter 7 or chapter 13, you will want to find out what should be done from someone familiar with that type of relief.

"Your bankruptcy case may also involve litigation. You are generally permitted to represent yourself in litigation in bankruptcy court, but only attorneys, not bankruptcy petition preparers, can give you legal advice.".

(c) Except to the extent the debt relief agency provides the required information itself after reasonably diligent inquiry of the assisted person or others so as to obtain such information reasonably accurately for inclusion on the petition, schedules or statement of financial affairs, a debt relief agency providing bankruptcy assistance to an assisted person, to the extent permitted by nonbankruptcy law, shall provide each assisted person at the time required for the notice required under subsection (a)(1) reasonably sufficient information (which shall be provided in a clear and conspicuous writing) to the assisted person on how to provide all the information the assisted person is required to provide under this title pursuant to section 521, including—

(1) how to value assets at replacement value, determine current monthly income, the amounts specified in section 707(b)(2) and, in a chapter 13 case, how to determine disposable income in accordance with section 707(b)(2) and related calculations;

(2) how to complete the list of creditors, including how to determine what amount is owed and what address for the creditor should be shown; and

(3) how to determine what property is exempt and how to value exempt property at replacement value as defined in section 506.

(d) A debt relief agency shall maintain a copy of the notices required under subsection (a) of this section for 2 years after the date on which the notice is given the assisted person.

(Added Pub. L. 109–8, title II, §228(a), Apr. 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 69; amended Pub. L. 111–327, §2(a)(21), Dec. 22, 2010, 124 Stat. 3560.)

Notes and amendment history

Published by the official source alongside the section above. These notes record how the text has changed over time and the reasoning behind those changes. They are not the operative rule — the enacted text is the section itself.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

**2010**—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–327 substituted "Schedules, and Statement of Financial Affairs, and in some cases a Statement of Intention," for "Schedules and Statement of Financial Affairs, as well as in some cases a Statement of Intention" in third sentence of fourth undesignated par.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective 180 days after Apr. 20, 2005, and not applicable with respect to cases commenced under this title before such effective date, except as otherwise provided, see section 1501 of Pub. L. 109–8, set out as an Effective Date of 2005 Amendment note under section 101 of this title.

Guides that rely on 11 U.S.C. § 527

Plain-language explanations on this site that cite this section.

By Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 21022

Last reviewed July 26, 2026 · Sources verified July 26, 2026 · How we verify

Every figure on this page is drawn from a primary legal source and checked against our canonical legal database before publication. Bankruptcy.law is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

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