The 2005 Bankruptcy Laws require debtors to take 2 courses called “credit counseling” and “debtor education”. These courses are mandatory for all individual debtors.

The first course is called credit counseling and its purpose is to go over your income and expenses budget. It is mandatory that you complete this course PRIOR to filing your bankruptcy petition. There are many non profit organization that provide these service however they must be approved by the court that you will be filing your bankruptcy in.

Usually the attorney who will help you file your bankruptcy can guide you to such an agency. At our office, we provide our clients with a 30 minutes video to watch prior to taking the course and we also electronically register the client to take this course online. It has been our experience that this helps our clients in expediting the completion of the courses. Once the course is completed, our office will receive the certificate automatically and we will proceed in filing the petition.

The second course is required to be completed within 45 days from the creditors meeting. This course is called debtor education and its purpose is to educate the debtor of different financing and credit information to better prepare them for their future credit needs.

The court will not grant the debtor the bankruptcy discharge until this second course is completed and the certificate of completion filed with the court.  Again, your attorney can help guide you to agencies that provide this course as well.  Most agencies provide both courses to the debtor thereby streamlining the process.

Our office will also register you automaticaly upon retaining our services and provide you with the ability to complete this course over the internet or by phone and help you get the discharge.

I should be noted that the agencies that provide these two courses are called “credit counseling” and should not be confused with “credit consolidation” companies.