Pre-Bankruptcy Credit Counseling Online Course
Approved by the U.S. Trustee Program in 48 States
(not available in Alabama or North Carolina)
(not available in Alabama or North Carolina)
If you are thinking about filing for personal bankruptcy, whether you believe the liquidation Chapter 7 fits your situation or the monthly repayment Chapter 13 might work best, the 2005 update to the United States’ bankruptcy law (BAPCPA) will require you to complete register for a Pre-Filing Counseling Session with a nonprofit credit counseling agency such as Debt Reduction Services, approved by the Executive Office of the US Trustee (EOUST).
While approval does not constitute an endorsement or ensure quality of service, we take our responsibility seriously and strive to provide you the best and most beneficial counseling services possible, particularly given the trying circumstances of your bankruptcy filing. This is why we have worked so hard to get approved in all 48 states and DC that are administered by the EOUST*.
BACPCA also will require you to submit proof that you completed this counseling session by having you provide a certificate of completion to the courts. Debt Reduction Services provides this certificate directly to you via email as well as to your attorney if requested.
To begin your counseling session, click here to read the pre-session disclosure.
The next screen will lead you through the steps to register and pay for the program.
Once your payment is processed, you will immediately receive your user ID and password via the email you enter during the registration. Check your email’s spam or trash folder if you don’t find the email in your Inbox.
You may then commence your counseling session by going through the online program. Requiring a total of anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours, your pre-bankruptcy credit counseling session will ask you to enter personal finance information for our counselor to review your situation and provide tailored recommendations to minimize financial challenges in the future.
You may log off and log back on as many times as you wish, at any time of the day or night, completing the session in one or more sitting. If you are filing with a spouse or partner, you may complete the program together or separately.
Once you have provided all the information requested by the online program, you will click the Submit button, which notifies our counselor you have completed your portion.
Our counselor then puts together an individualized action plan based on your budget for consideration. It also includes a review of your debt elimination options, from do-it-yourself to credit counseling to bankruptcy.
Next comes your interaction with our counselor. You will either speak on the phone with him or her for typically 20 minutes to review the budget and action plan recommendations, or you will have an email exchange reviewing the same information.
Finally, our counselor uploads your plan and certificate of completion to your online account for you to access 24/7 at any time going forward. Additionally, he or she emails you a PDF file containing your certificate of completion, your budget, and your action plan. If you have requested, we forward your certificate to your attorney, our counselor will do that as well.
Finally, you either submit the certificate of completion to your bankruptcy court directly or you confirm with your attorney that he or she has received the document and will submit it on your behalf.
From start to finish, the process can take as little as two hours (during normal business hours) or as long as several months. It is up to you how fast things get done.
Get started online right now or call (855) 685-7843 to get answers to your questions.
*Excluding Alabama and North Carolina