Bankruptcy Venue Reform Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8111 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8111 To amend title 28, United States Code, to modify venue requirements relating to bankruptcy proceedings. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 26, 2026 Ms. Lofgren (for herself and Mr. Cline) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend title 28, United States Code, to modify venue requirements relating to bankruptcy proceedings. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Bankruptcy Venue Reform Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) Findings.--Congress finds that-- (1) bankruptcy law provides a number of venue options for filing bankruptcy under chapter 11 of title 11, United States Code, including, with respect to the entity filing bankruptcy-- (A) any district in which the place of incorporation of the entity is located; (B) any district in which the principal place of business or principal assets of the entity are located; and (C) any district in which an affiliate of the entity has filed a pending case under title 11, United States Code; (2) the wide range of permissible bankruptcy venue options has led to an increase in companies filing for bankruptcy outside of their home States--the district in which the principal place of business or principal assets of the company is located; (3) the practice described in paragraph (2) is known as ``forum shopping''; (4) forum shopping has resulted in a concentration of bankruptcy cases in a limited number of districts; (5) forum shopping-- (A) prevents small businesses, employees, retirees, creditors, and other important stakeholders from fully