Unknown Creditors In A New Century

There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.  There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we know we don't know.  But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we don't know we don't know.

-United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, February 12, 2002

Though perhaps not on Secretary Rumsfeld's mind at the time, in bankruptcy too there can be known creditors and unknown creditors.  Unknown creditors are creditors whose identity or claim is not reasonably known or ascertainable, and to whom the debtor cannot directly provide key information such as the claims bar date.

In a bankruptcy, in order to effectively reorganize or liquidate, a debtor must be able to prevent creditors from asserting prepetition claims after a specified bar date (save excusable neglect).  To do so in a manner that protects creditors' due process rights, a debtor must provide notice of the claims bar date.  If the creditor is known,