28 U.S.C. § 3012
Section 3012 · Joinder of additional defendant
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Federal Trade Commission v. National Business Consultants, Inc. (2004)
Most recently applied in United States Ex Rel. Anthony v. Burke Engineering Co. (February 2005)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The United States or the debtor may join as an additional defendant in an action or proceeding under this chapter any person reasonably believed to owe money (including money owed on account of a requirement to provide goods or services pursuant to a loan or loan guarantee extended under Federal law) to the debtor arising out of the transaction or occurrence giving rise to a debt.