11 U.S.C. § 706 Conversion

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-34 (published on www.congress.gov on 12/26/2023), except for [P. L. 118-31]
• Citation: 11 U.S.C. § 706
• Year: 2023

(a) The debtor may convert a case under this chapter to a case under chapter 11, 12, or 13 of this title at any time, if the case has not been converted under section 1112, 1208, or 1307 of this title. Any waiver of the right to convert a case under this subsection is unenforceable.

(b) On request of a party in interest and after notice and a hearing, the court may convert a case under this chapter to a case under chapter 11 of this title at any time.

(c) The court may not convert a case under this chapter to a case under chapter 12 or 13 of this title unless the debtor requests or consents to such conversion.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a case may not be converted to a case under another chapter of this title unless the debtor may be a debtor under such chapter.

Cite as 11 U.S.C. § 706

Source: Pub. L. 95-598, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2606; Pub. L. 99-554, title II, §257(q), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3115; Pub. L. 103-394, title V, §501(d)(22), Oct. 22, 1994, 108 Stat. 4146; Pub. L. 109-8, title I, §101, Apr. 20, 2005, 119 Stat. 27.

Notes from the Office of Law Revision Counsel

current through 3/17/2023

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

LEGISLATIVE STATEMENTS

Section 706(a) of the House amendment adopts a provision contained in the Senate amendment indicating that a waiver of the right to convert a case under section 706(a) is unenforceable. The explicit reference in title 11 forbidding the waiver of certain rights is not intended to imply that other rights, such as the right to file a voluntary bankruptcy case under section 301, may be waived.

Section 706 of the House amendment adopts a similar provision contained in H.R. 8200 as passed by the House. Competing proposals contained in section 706(c) and section 706(d) of the Senate amendment are rejected.

SENATE REPORT NO. 95-989

Subsection (a) of this section gives the debtor the one-time absolute right of conversion of a liquidation case to a reorganization or individual repayment plan case. If the case has already once been converted from chapter 11 or 13 to chapter 7, then the debtor does not have that right. The policy of the provision is that the debtor should always be given the opportunity to repay his debts, and a waiver of the right to convert a case is unenforceable.