Here are some commonly asked questions (and answers!) about our pre-bankruptcy credit counseling: How long does the counseling take? The counseling takes about 60 minutes, but remember that you can work at your own pace and start and stop as needed. How much does this cost?
Bankruptcy is an unusual area of law because it's essentially a qualification process. The laws provide instructions for completing a 50- to 60-page bankruptcy petition, and because all rules apply in every case, you can't skip a step. The forms and resources below will help you find more information.
Course costs vary, but the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (EOUST) says that courses costing less than $50 are reasonable. Any bankruptcy education provider that wants to charge more than that needs approval from EOUST. You can take the course in person, by phone or on the internet and the instructor will provide all required materials.
The Courses. Before you file for bankruptcy, most people must take a credit counseling course that helps you explore alternatives to bankruptcy. If filing for bankruptcy still makes sense to you after completing the course, you’ll include the certificate of completion with your filing paperwork.
About Pre-Discharge Education It prevents creditors or collection agencies from collecting debts through legal action or communication, such as phone calls, letters or personal contact.
Required Bankruptcy Course 001 Debtorcc, Inc. is approved to issue certificates evidencing completion of a pre-filing bankruptcy credit counseling session in compliance with the Bankruptcy Code.
The bankruptcy counseling and debtor education requirements were enacted to ensure that consumers have exhausted all other options and reduce the likelihood of a second visit to the bankruptcy court. The U.S. government must approve counseling organizations to qualify.
If you're a debtor, you are indebted to someone else. Sometimes, a debtor refers to someone who files for bankruptcy. A borrower and debtor are nearly interchangeable terms. A borrower is in debt to a lender or financial institution when they borrow money.
After you file for bankruptcy protection, your creditors can't call you, or try to collect payment from you for medical bills, credit card debts, personal loans, unsecured debts, or other types of debt.
Filing for bankruptcy can negatively impact your immediate financial future. Obtaining credit after filing for bankruptcy could mean increased interest rates. Obtaining credit after filing for bankruptcy might require security deposits.
If you kept your house throughout the bankruptcy process, you are free to keep your home after the bankruptcy – as long as you continue to pay the mortgage. It may be that after you are free of all the rest of your debt you will be able to afford the mortgage payments easily. If so, you'll be able to keep your house.
When you file for bankruptcy, you must fulfill several requirements. For instance, you must: 1. disclose all aspects of your financial situation by...
Credit counseling gives you an idea of whether you really need to file for bankruptcy or whether an informal repayment plan would get you back on y...
Your bankruptcy jurisdiction must approve the particular course that you take. You can find an approved provider by visiting the U.S. Trustee’s web...
Bankruptcy filers must take a second course—called debtor education—after filing for bankruptcy. The debtor education course provides the filer wit...
If you filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you’ll have 45 days to file the completion certificate after you finish the course.
Pre-file bankruptcy credit counseling must take place 180 days before you file for bankruptcy. Pre-discharge debtor education must be completed within 60 days after your first meeting with creditors for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. For Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must complete the course before making your final payment.
That is when the court orders that the consumer is no longer legally required to pay his debts. The court must grant the discharge and it is permanent, meaning creditors can’t take any action against the debtor to collect.
It prevents creditors or collection agencies from collecting debts through legal action or communication, such as phone calls, letters or personal contact. Though the goal is clear, the path to a discharge is often complex and it behooves petitioners to understand the bankruptcy process and its potential pitfalls.
Teachers give a minimum of two hours of instruction on how to manage money, repair credit and plan successful financial strategies after bankruptcy.
When you complete the first course – pre-filing bankruptcy credit counseling – you receive a certificate that you, or your attorney, must include when filing for bankruptcy. The same situation exists after completing the second course – pre-discharge debtor education, which is sometimes referred to as Financial Management.
Though bankruptcy discharges clear away debt, their terms are strict and require that petitioners follow court orders.
Bankruptcy Education Deadlines. Those who file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection have 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors to complete the debtor education course and file the certification of completion with the court.
What Is Bankruptcy Debtor Education? In order to be discharged from Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must complete a Pre-Discharge Debtor Education course. The purpose of this bankruptcy course is to help you remain financially secure and use credit wisely so you don’t end up in bankruptcy again.
It includes the requirement that all Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy petitioners complete approved credit counseling and provide to the court a certificate of completion from a U.S. Trustee-approved, nonprofit credit counseling agency. The law also requires all consumers who file for bankruptcy to successfully complete two bankruptcy courses prior to having debts discharged.
When you complete the debtor education course, you must file a form called Debtor’s Certification of Completion of Postpetition Instructional Course Concerning Personal Financial Management (Official Form 23) with the court.
With Pre-file Credit Counseling, you’ll start online, then receive a personal counseling session by telephone to discuss the details of your current financial situation with a Certified Financial Counselor. Your counselor will help you build an accurate picture of your current finances, then give specific advice on actions you can take to improve it. You’ll also discuss short- and long-term financial goals and determine if there are any alternatives to bankruptcy. The counselor will explain consequences of bankruptcy and actions you can take to get back on sound footing after a bankruptcy.
Those who file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy must complete the class and file the certification of completion before your last repayment plan payment or before you file a motion for discharge. If you miss these deadlines , the court will dismiss your case. To reopen it, you must repay the bankruptcy filing fee.
Exceptions include: being on active duty in a military combat zone. a disability that prevents you from taking the course. no court-approved course providers are available in your area. a course isn’t available in a language you understand.
A person who files for bankruptcy must take two educational courses before receiving a bankruptcy discharge wiping out qualifying debt. Before you can file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must consult with a nonprofit credit-counseling agency to see whether you can feasibly handle your debt load outside of bankruptcy, ...
The Second Course: Post-Bankruptcy Debtor Education. Bankruptcy filers must take a second course—called debtor education —after filing for bankruptcy. The debtor education course provides the filer with financial management tools, such as tips for creating a budget and rebuilding credit after bankruptcy.
You'll prove that you've taken the credit counseling course by filing the certificate of completion along with your bankruptcy paperwork (no later than 15 days after your bankruptcy filing date). You'll also receive a copy of any repayment plan you may have worked out with the agency.
The debtor education course provides the filer with financial management tools, such as tips for creating a budget and rebuilding credit after bankruptcy.
Even if a repayment plan is feasible, you aren't required to agree to it. However, if the agency does come up with a plan, you must file it along with your other bankruptcy documents.
Regardless of the method of instruction, the course will typically last at least two hours. If you attend the course in person, an instructor will provide you with course materials and teach you in a class setting.
But the new rules published by the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (EOUST) state that $50 or less is a reasonable fee. If a debtor education provider wants to charge more than $50, it has to get approval from the EOUST. (Learn more about the new debtor education rules .) Fee waivers.
If you don't complete the debtor education course within the specified deadlines, the court will typically close your bankruptcy case without a discharge. This means that if you want to wipe out your debts, you will need to file a motion, pay the necessary fees, and ask the court to reopen your case so that you can file ...
To receive a discharge in Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you are required to take a debtor education course after you file your case. The goal of the debtor education requirement is to educate you on making smart financial choices so that you won't have to seek bankruptcy relief in the future. When you take the debtor education course, you ...
The purpose of the debtor education course is to teach you how to manage money and use credit wisely after bankruptcy. If you don't complete the debtor education requirement, the court won't issue a discharge in your bankruptcy. Read on to learn more about the debtor education course requirement in bankruptcy.
With a few exceptions, all Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy debtors must complete a course in debtor education before they can receive a discharge. (Learn more about the exceptions to the debtor education requirement .) you don't have an adequate debtor education course available in your district (this is a very rare occurrence).
The first course is called the pre-filing credit counseling course which must be taken through a provider that is approved to offer the course in the district you file.
What Happens After I Complete the Course? When to complete the Debtor Education Course after filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Everyone seeking Chapter 13 bankruptcy relief has to complete a mandatory credit counseling class before their case can be filed with the bankruptcy court. This has to be done in the 6 months before the case is filed.
The bankruptcy credit counseling course must be completed 180 days before you file your bankruptcy petition . The second course is called the debtor education course or the financial management course.
The second course is called the debtor education course or the financial management course. The post-filing debtor education course was added by BAPCA to educate individuals about their finances and give them all the tools they need so they don’t end up having to file bankruptcy again.
The Debtor Education Course usually costs between $15 - $50 depending on the provider you choose to complete it with. The Executive Office for the U.S. Trustees (EOUST) has set a figure limiting the fee to the course to be under $50.
A Chapter 13 bankruptcy can last anywhere between 3-5 years and although you don’t need to complete it until sometime before your last plan payment, it's best to do it sooner rather than later so you don’t forget.
After the course is completed, you will get a certificate of completion. The certificate of completion can be faxed, emailed, or mailed to you. Once you receive the certificate, you will need to file it with the court. You can either do this electronically or go to the Clerk’s office to give it to them personally/mail it to the court.
In both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you (and your spouse if you file jointly) must take two courses before you receive a bankruptcy discharge (the order that wipes out qualifying debt)—one before you file your paperwork, and another afterward. Read on to learn about the second class, a personal financial management course known by several ...
Don't miss the deadline. If you do, the court might close your case. If that happens, you'll have to reopen your case and repay the entire filing fee. In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must file Form 423 and the certificate no later than the date on which you make your last plan payment.
It's a financial management course that you take after you've filed for bankruptcy but before you get a discharge. The debtor education course teach es you strategies that will help you stay financially healthy after your bankruptcy.
Filing Deadlines. In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you must file Form 423 and the certificate no later than 45 days after the date on which your meeting of creditors was first scheduled. Don't miss the deadline. If you do, the court might close your case.
In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must file Form 423 and the certificate no later than the date on which you make your last plan payment. You can take the course early on in your case, however, and some attorneys recommend this because the course provides information that may help you budget and complete your plan.
However, you must be allowed to pay on a sliding scale if you can't afford to pay the full price. You can take the course in a variety of ways, depending on the provider. You can find approved agencies in your area by visiting the U.S. Trustee's website. Select "Credit Counseling & Debtor Education" in the left navbar.
Unlike the agencies approved to provide pre-bankruptcy credit counseling, the agencies providing debtor education courses don't have to be a nonprofit organization.
A person who files for bankruptcy must take two educational courses before receiving a bankruptcy discharge wiping out qualifying debt. Before you can file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must consult with a nonprofit credit-counseling agency to see whether you can feasibly handle your debt load outside of bankruptcy, ...
The Second Course: Post-Bankruptcy Debtor Education. Bankruptcy filers must take a second course—called debtor education —after filing for bankruptcy. The debtor education course provides the filer with financial management tools, such as tips for creating a budget and rebuilding credit after bankruptcy.
You'll prove that you've taken the credit counseling course by filing the certificate of completion along with your bankruptcy paperwork (no later than 15 days after your bankruptcy filing date). You'll also receive a copy of any repayment plan you may have worked out with the agency.
The debtor education course provides the filer with financial management tools, such as tips for creating a budget and rebuilding credit after bankruptcy.
Even if a repayment plan is feasible, you aren't required to agree to it. However, if the agency does come up with a plan, you must file it along with your other bankruptcy documents.