South Chicago Heights Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Advice On Credit Counselin...

Once the petition is created, we have an attorney look it over and review it.  Once it’s ready, we send it out to the client for their signature.  It’s very important to stress that the client needs to look over everything and make sure everything is accurate.   There are a few more steps that the client needs to take before we can file the case.  The first one is that they need to take what’s called a “credit counseling session.”  Now the credit counseling session was mandated by federal law.  The credit counseling session is mandatory for every single client no matter where they file bankruptcy.  The good news however, is that this is basically just a hoop to jump through and it’s very simple.  The client will list their creditors, their income, and once they take it they get a certificate.  The client can take the credit counseling through three different mechanisms.  One, they can take it person, two, they can take it over the phone, or three, they can take it online.  Now obviously, there are pros and cons for each of these approaches. For some people it is easiest to take it online. For some people who aren’t as familiar with computers or don’t access the Internet, taking it on the phone is the best way to complete the class.  But in any case, once they take the class they will get a certificate.  Another important thing to stress about the credit counseling certificate is that it’s only good for 180 days.  So, it’s best to take the session close to when you think that you will be filing bankruptcy