Required Credit and Budget Counseling for Bankruptcy

 

Under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 individual debtors who file bankruptcy on or after October 17, 2005, must undergo credit counseling within six months before they file bankruptcy.

 

The United States Trustee Program approved Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling to provide pre-filing credit counseling for New Jersey and New York South and Eastern District bankruptcy filers

 

Approved Districts:

New Jersey (All Counties)

New York East (Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk Counties)

New York South (Bronx, Dutchess, New York, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester Counties)

 

Online:

Begin the process Here.

 

Face-2-Face:

Begin the process Here.

Pre-Bankruptcy Counseling Session

 

Your counseling session will consist of three parts: a multimedia presentation, a budget analysis and a debt analysis.

 

The counseling session will begin with an online multimedia presentation that will provide information on credit, debt and the choices that are available when someone experiences financial difficulty.

 

After the online presentation, call CC&BC to talk with a Certified Counselor who will work with you to analyze your budget.  This budget would then be compared to an normalized budget to help identify expenses that may be higher than expected.

 

The cause(s) of your current financial situation will then be discussed, with attention to your ability to modify the behavior that led (or contributed) to your current situation.

 

Your Counselor will then analyze your debt situation and review the choices that are available to you.  As part of your analysis your counselor may also develop a Debt Management Program that will show what CC&BC can do to help you get out of debt through a structured debt repayment program.  There is NO obligation to receive a Debt Analysis or join a Debt Management Program.

 

 

Online Presentation:

Introduction
Credit, What is it?
Credit Reports
Credit Scores
Controlling your Credit
Choices When you Experience Financial Difficulty

Budget Counseling:

Cause of current Financial Situation

Income

Expenses

Making adjustments to avoid problems in the future

  Debt  Counseling:

Current debt Situation

Review of Options:

          - Do It Yourself

          - Credit Counseling

          - Bankruptcy

          - Debt Consolidation

          - Debt Negotiation

Bankruptcy

 

The right to file bankruptcy is an important tool which society provides for those with significant debt problems. It is often stated that bankruptcy should be considered as a “last resort” for financially troubled consumers.  Bankruptcy should be neither the first option nor the last resort.  Each case must be examined on its own merits.
Although bankruptcy is not a magical cure, it is an important alternative for a range of financial problems.  Bankruptcy may provide immediate protection, particularly for individuals facing foreclosure or repossession of property.  Even those who are not in short term danger of repossession or foreclosure may often decide upon bankruptcy simply for the relief of having debts erased in order to get a fresh financial start.