No. 21-6002 ___________________________

In re: Anthony Ray Lincoln

Debtor ------------------------------

Anthony Ray Lincoln

Debtor - Appellant

v.

James L. Snyder

Acting U.S. Trustee - Appellee ____________

Appeal from United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Council Bluffs ____________

Submitted: July 21, 2021 Filed: July 28, 2021 ____________ Before SALADINO, DOW and RIDGWAY, Bankruptcy Judges. ____________ SALADINO, Bankruptcy Judge The Appellant, Anthony Ray Lincoln, timely appeals the bankruptcy court’s 1 order denying his motion for relief from a previous order denying his request for a waiver of the Bankruptcy Code’s credit counseling requirement.

We have jurisdiction over this appeal from the final order of the bankruptcy court. See 28 U.S.C. §158(b). For the reasons that follow, we dismiss the appeal as moot.

BACKGROUND & DISCUSSION

Mr. Lincoln initiated his bankruptcy case without the assistance of an attorney by filing his voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, schedules, and Statement of Financial Affairs on December 23, 2020. He also filed an application to waive the filing fee, which was granted, and a motion to waive the credit-counseling requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 109(h).

The motion to waive credit counseling explained that Mr. Lincoln 2 is an indigent prisoner with no income and no assets and is unable to attend any credit counseling sessions. He further asserted that because he is in prison, “no credit counselor is ‘reasonably able to provide adequate services’” under 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(2)(A). Finally, he explained that as a prisoner, he is unable to participate in credit counseling services, despite efforts to do so, “due to ‘incapacity’ and has ‘describe[d] exigent circumstances that merit a waiver’” under 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3).

1 Hon. Anita L. Shodeen, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. 2 The motion is captioned in Mr. Lincoln’s name and was signed by him, but the body of the motion refers to another individual. The court will attribute this to the debtor’s use of an old form without carefully proofreading it. -2- The United States Trustee (hereafter, “UST”) objected to this motion on the basis that the Bankruptcy Code requires debtors to certify that they have received credit counseling within 180 days prior to filing the bankruptcy petition. 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(1). If exigent circumstances exist which prevent a debtor from obtaining such counseling before filing the petition, the court may grant a temporary exemption from the requirement, for no more than 45 days. 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(3). The UST pointed out that the only way for a debtor to avoid the credit counseling requirement is to demonstrate mental incapacity, physical disability, or active military duty in a combat zone, 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(4), and Mr. Lincoln had not presented any evidence of incapacity, disability, or active military service.

The bankruptcy court denied the waiver motion on January 8, 2021, finding that the debtor had provided “no evidence or support for his allegation that incarceration would make him unable to comply with the requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(1) to obtain credit counseling[,]” nor did the debtor “include a certification that satisfies the court that any exigent circumstances exist which would merit a waiver of the counseling requiremen