If I am con­sid­er­ing bank­ruptcy, do I need to take the pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course or the pre-discharge debtor edu­ca­tion course?

Is National Finan­cial Lit­er­acy Foun­da­tion (NFLF) an approved provider of the required bank­ruptcy credit counseling?

Is National Finan­cial Lit­er­acy Foun­da­tion (NFLF) autho­rized by the Exec­u­tive Office for the United States Trustees (EOUST) to issue cer­tifi­cates that sat­isfy the court require­ments for per­sonal bankruptcy?

In what states is National Finan­cial Lit­er­acy Foun­da­tion (NFLF) autho­rized by the Exec­u­tive Office for the United States Trustees (EOUST) to issue cer­tifi­cates that sat­isfy the court require­ments for per­sonal bankruptcy?

How is the bank­ruptcy coun­sel­ing  course offered?

Is there a charge for the bank­ruptcy class? How much does the course cost?

What forms of pay­ment do you accept?

Is the infor­ma­tion I sub­mit through this web site secure?

How long is the course?

Do I need an attor­ney to file for bankruptcy?

Can joint bank­ruptcy fil­ers take the pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course together?

How do I get started?

When and how do I receive my cer­tifi­cate of completion?

Who will receive the cer­tifi­cate of completion?

Why do I have to take a debtor edu­ca­tion course after I have already filed for bankruptcy?

Can another per­son take the bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course for me?

Are there any tests?

Does my cer­tifi­cate of com­ple­tion for bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing expire?

How long will I have to wait for a coun­sel­ing appointment?

Should I fol­low up with my bank­ruptcy attor­ney once my cer­tifi­cate of com­ple­tion has been issued?

Do I need to meet with a bank­ruptcy attor­ney before I can speak to one of your counselors?

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If I am con­sid­er­ing bank­ruptcy, do I need to take the pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course or the pre-discharge debtor edu­ca­tion course?
Yes, these courses are required accord­ing to the Bank­ruptcy Abuse Pre­ven­tion and Con­sumer Pro­tec­tion Act of 2005 (BAPCPA).

You should first take the pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course. The pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course is also known as a pre-petition coun­sel­ing ses­sion or a bud­get brief­ing. You will be required to pro­vide a cer­tifi­cate of com­ple­tion show­ing you have com­pleted the bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course prior to fil­ing for bankruptcy.

After fil­ing bank­ruptcy, and after receiv­ing your bank­ruptcy iden­ti­fi­ca­tion num­ber, you will then be required to take the pre-discharge debtor edu­ca­tion course. The debtor edu­ca­tion course is also known as the per­sonal finan­cial man­age­ment course or the post-filing debtor edu­ca­tion course, and com­ple­tion of this course is required before your debts can be legally dis­charged through bankruptcy.

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Is National Finan­cial Lit­er­acy Foun­da­tion (NFLF) an approved provider of the required bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course?
Yes, NFLF hase been approved to issue cer­tifi­cates evi­denc­ing com­ple­tion of the pre-filing Credit Coun­sel­ing course in com­pli­ance with the Bank­ruptcy Code. Approval does not endorse or assure the qual­ity of a Provider’s services.

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Is National Finan­cial Lit­er­acy Foun­da­tion (NFLF) autho­rized by the Exec­u­tive Office for the United States Trustees (EOUST) to issue cer­tifi­cates that sat­isfy the court require­ments for per­sonal bank­ruptcy?
Yes. NFLF has been approved by the Exec­u­tive Office for the United States Trustees (EOUST).

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In what states is National Finan­cial Lit­er­acy Foun­da­tion (NFLF) autho­rized by the Exec­u­tive Office for the United States Trustees (EOUST) to issue cer­tifi­cates that sat­isfy the court require­ments for per­sonal bank­ruptcy?
National Finan­cial Lit­er­acy Foun­da­tion is autho­rized to offer pre-​​filing bank­ruptcy classes and cer­tifi­cates in Alaska, Ari­zona, Arkansas, Cal­i­for­nia, Col­orado, Con­necti­cut, Delaware, Dis­trict of Colum­bia, Florida, Geor­gia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illi­nois, Indi­ana, Iowa, Kansas, Ken­tucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mary­land, Mass­a­chu­setts, Michi­gan, Min­nesota, Mis­sis­sippi, Mis­souri, Mon­tana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hamp­shire, New Jer­sey, New Mex­ico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Okla­homa, Ore­gon, Penn­syl­va­nia, Rhode Island, South Car­olina, South Dakota, Ten­nessee, Texas, Utah, Ver­mont, Vir­ginia, Wash­ing­ton, West Vir­ginia, Wis­con­sin and Wyoming.

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How is the bank­ruptcy coun­sel­ing course offered?
The bank­ruptcy coun­sel­ing course is avail­able by inter­net or by tele­phone. The bank­ruptcy coun­sel­ing course is also avail­able in per­son in Mait­land, Florida.

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Is there a charge for the bank­ruptcy class? How much does the course cost?
The pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course is avail­able online for only $25 and by tele­phone for only $50. If you are fil­ing a joint bank­ruptcy, you will only be required to pay one fee to take the courses. NFLF may waive the bank­ruptcy pre-filing coun­sel­ing fee for con­sumers in those cases whose house­hold income is equal to or less than 150 per­cent of the esti­mated poverty thresh­old for their applic­a­ble fam­ily size as pub­lished in the cur­rent Fed­eral Poverty Lev­els Guide­lines. Click here to read our full fee waiver pol­icy.

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What forms of pay­ment do you accept?
Pay­ments are accepted online or over the phone. We accept debit cards, elec­tronic with­drawals from check­ing accounts, and money orders.

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Is the infor­ma­tion I sub­mit through this web site secure?
Yes, NFLF is com­mit­ted to main­tain­ing your pri­vacy and online con­fi­den­tial­ity, includ­ing the use of spe­cial encryp­tion to pro­tect your per­sonal infor­ma­tion. Please see our Pri­vacy Pol­icy for more information.

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How long is each course?
The pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course takes a min­i­mum of 60 min­utes to com­plete. This time require­ment con­forms to the EOUST min­i­mum pro­gram guidelines.

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Do I need an attor­ney to file for bank­ruptcy?
Over 93% of con­sumers choose to work with a bank­ruptcy attor­ney to file a per­sonal bank­ruptcy. You can choose to file your­self with the assis­tance of a para­le­gal or legal doc­u­ment assis­tant or legal doc­u­ment pre­parer, also known as fil­ing pro se. Fil­ing pro se requires that you pre­pare your own bank­ruptcy doc­u­ments, under­stand the US Bank­ruptcy Code, and present your case in court. If you choose to work with a bank­ruptcy attor­ney, he or she will usu­ally attend the 341 (a) Meet­ing of the Cred­i­tors, nego­ti­ate with your cred­i­tors, advise you about offers to accept or reject, and give legal advice in gen­eral. A para­le­gal can fill out the nec­es­sary forms, but can­not rep­re­sent you legally or give legal advice about how to fill out the forms, or what the law says about your par­tic­u­lar situation.

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Can joint bank­ruptcy fil­ers take the pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing courses together?
Yes, and there are no addi­tional fees charged for tak­ing the course together!

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How do I get started?
You can begin the course online by click­ing here or by call­ing 1–877-380‑6353.

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When and how do I receive my cer­tifi­cate of com­ple­tion?
After com­plet­ing the online pre-petition credit coun­sel­ing course you will be required to con­tact us to ver­ify your iden­tity and com­plete the cer­ti­fi­ca­tion process. The cer­tifi­cate will be sent imme­di­ately fol­low­ing this phone call and can be deliv­ered to you and your attor­ney by email, fax, or mail.

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Who will receive the cer­tifi­cate of com­ple­tion?
The certificate(s) can be sent to you and your bank­ruptcy attor­ney by email, fax or mail.

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Why do I have to take a debtor edu­ca­tion course after I have already filed for bank­ruptcy?
The Bank­ruptcy Abuse Pre­ven­tion and Con­sumer Pro­tec­tion Act of 2005 includes two pro­vi­sions man­dat­ing finan­cial coun­sel­ing and edu­ca­tion: Before fil­ing for bank­ruptcy, con­sumers are required to have a brief­ing on the alter­na­tives to bank­ruptcy; and before receiv­ing a bank­ruptcy dis­charge a debtor is required to com­plete an instruc­tional course con­cern­ing per­sonal finan­cial man­age­ment. These pro­vi­sions were included to pro­vide debtors in bank­ruptcy with the skills and tools needed to poten­tially avoid future finan­cial problems.

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Can another per­son take the bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing course for me?
No. How­ever, you may obtain assis­tance from a friend, fam­ily mem­ber or attor­ney when com­plet­ing your bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing session.

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Are there any tests?
No. Each course is designed to help you under­stand your own per­sonal finan­cial picture.

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Does my cer­tifi­cate of com­ple­tion for bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing expire?
Yes, the pre-filing bank­ruptcy credit coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate expires 180 date from the date if is issued by NFLF. Your bank­ruptcy attor­ney may be able to pro­vide addi­tional clar­i­fi­ca­tion regard­ing these requirements.

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How long will I have to wait for a coun­sel­ing appoint­ment?
NFLF  has coun­selors stand­ing by to take your calls. No appoint­ment is nec­es­sary. Call 1–877-380‑6353 to speak directly to a coun­selor now.

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Should I fol­low up with my bank­ruptcy attor­ney once my cer­tifi­cate of com­ple­tion has been issued?
Yes. Once the cer­ti­fi­ca­tion process has been com­pleted, NFLF will email, fax or mail a copy of the cer­tifi­cate to you and your attor­ney. It is your respon­si­bil­ity to fol­low up with your bank­ruptcy attor­ney to ensure that the cer­tifi­cate has been received. NFLF can reis­sue the cer­tifi­cate at any time at your request.

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Do I need to meet with a bank­ruptcy attor­ney before I can speak to one of your coun­selors?
No, you can talk to a coun­selor by call­ing 1–877-380‑6353 before or after you meet with a bank­ruptcy attorney.

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