Tag Archives: Credit Counseling Course

How To Waive Credit Counseling Course To File Bankruptcy

By Ryan C. Wood

Since 2005 a credit counseling course from an approved provider must be completed before a bankruptcy petition is filed. For over ten years I have watched debtor after debtor representing themselves request the Court waive the credit counseling course requirement for exigent circumstances. First, the credit counseling course can cost as little as $8.75, total, or free if you qualify, and will take about two hours to complete online. So, I do not know how any human, even if bankrupt, cannot pay $8.75 or seek waiver of the fee, for the course and spend two hours answering question that have no right or wrong answers.

Second, no bankruptcy attorney that knows what they are doing will recommend seeking waiver of the credit counseling course. They will say the credit counseling course is simple, quick and nothing to get your bankruptcy case dismissed over, so just do it.

Who does recommend or provide information to seek waiver of the credit counseling course? A non-attorney or petition preparer are illegally giving out legal advice and providing forms to seek waiver of the credit counseling course. Each one I have ever read is deficient and again, I know why. The non-attorney or petition preparer do not actually want your bankruptcy case to continue and be successful. They want to charge you fees that are not legal (more than the limit of $150.00 total in California for a non-attorney petition preparer) and want your case to be dismissed quickly so it never comes up they ripped off the bankruptcy filer. So the non-attorney gets paid more than they should and you get around 14 – 20 days of relief before the case is filed for being dead on arrival….. Then hopefully you call me and I tell you the truth for free. Or hopefully you are reading this right now and do not give a single penny to a non-attorney and please call an experienced bankruptcy attorney in your jurisdictions.

I CAN DO THIS FOR EVERY PART OF YOUR LIFE IF YOU LET ME – FOR NOW HERE IS THE MAGIC REGARDING THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE OF LIFE………

SEEK WAIVER OF THE FEE TO COMPLETE THE CREDIT COUNSELING COURSE — DO NOT WAIVER OF THE REQUIREMENT TO COMPLETE THE COURSE BASED UPON EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES

See, I care about you and do not even know you. Here it is. Your circumstances are not exigent; there will be no waiver of the credit counseling course requirement. If you are reading this, you probably do not want to spend any money on a bankruptcy attorney. Let me tell you again, your circumstances are not exigent. The Court will deny your request waiver the credit counseling course requirement due to: “certification unsatisfactory under Section 109(h)(3).” I know which halfwits are out there spewing misinformation. But truth will make you less money and capitalism rules all. I just want to be equal to how the Court, chapter 7 trustees, chapter 13 trustees, their attorneys treat my clients as to money. No, no, only they can ignore the law to put your money in their pocket……. I digress but it is true.

File Certification of Exigent Circumstances Pursuant to Section 109(h)(3)

So, first off you need exigent circumstances. What are exigent circumstances? NOT MANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Just waiting to the very last minute to file the bankruptcy petition to immediately obtain the automatic stay is NOT an exigent circumstance. Even though your house is getting foreclosed on does not mean you cannot the credit counseling course. Since I am not your bankruptcy attorney though you may allege some sort of impossibility.

An exigent circumstance is something outside of your control not allowing you to timely complete the credit counseling course.

HERE IS MORE MAGIC: Now bankruptcy judges are clueless as to the credit counseling course, the costs, the time it takes to complete. They have never had to be a social worker/psychologist/ and do some attorney work for clients. What they do know is a human represented by a bankruptcy lawyer always properly completes the credit counseling course before every bankruptcy case is filed versus you filing your own case. Bankruptcy judges only see requests for waiver of the credit counseling course under Section 109 when humans represent themself. That is the common denominator and there is nothing exigent about not hiring an attorney. So, there are exigent circumstance only in cases that do not include an attorney? Hm no, no that makes no sense.

You will pay over $1,000.00 for a cellphone yet not take the time or spend between $1,000.00 and $2,000.00 to make sure your bankruptcy is done right.

YOU NEED TO REQUEST TEMPORARY WAIVER OF THE REQUIREMENT TO COMPLETE THE CREDIT COUNSELING COURSE – DO NOT REQUEST TO NEVER COMPLETE THE CREDIT COUNSELING COURSE

OMG, why are you requesting a complete waiver of the requirement, a requirement created by Congress, signed into law by your President of the United States to seek bankruptcy protection. Do not seek complete waiver but TEMPORARY WAIVER. Why are you not being told this. Well, here is it for free. I can do this for your entire life if you let me. You tell me what you want and I will tell you what must happen for you to get want you want. The problem is you cannot do it day in and day out. I read about this human man that bought a yearly pass for an amusement park to because the yearly pass came with free lunch I believe. The pass included some food anyway and the human man ate there everyday for free for over seven years with the yearly $150.00 pass. That is the sacrifice and discipline you do not have that is necessary to get it done.

So here is the trifecta of death for your self-filed bankruptcy case.

  1. Filing of skeleton petition; no statement of social security or creditor list;
  2. Request for waiver of court filing fee and no initial payment of filing fee; and
  3. Request for waiver of credit counseling course requirement

Also, the halfwit you overpaid to give you horrible legal advice also advised you to file a skeleton bankruptcy petition. If you want some love from the bankruptcy court file a complete and accurate petition while requesting TEMPORARY waiver of the credit counseling course and you will get what you want. Skeleton petitions filed by human beings in their own behalf rarely are complete and mandatorily dismissed within 14 days of filing the incomplete skeleton petition.

Now Section 109(h)(4) Is What Gets It Done – NO HUMAN WANTS THIS THOUGH

Section 109(h)(4) does provide for waiver of the requirement to complete the credit counseling course under certain horrible circumstances. After notice and a hearing, the court may waiver the requirement due to incapacity, disability or active military duty in a combat zone. You do not want to be determined to be mentally deficient so that you cannot complete the course due to impairment. No human want this. Disability is about being so physically impaired you cannot, after reasonable effort, participate in an in person, telephone or internet briefing course.

What Do I Need To Do To File Bankruptcy in California?

By Ryan C. Wood

When Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (more commonly known as “BAPCPA”), one of the new eligibility requirements to file for bankruptcy was to complete a credit counseling class from a nonprofit organization approved by the United States Trustee within 180 days prior to filing your bankruptcy case. See 11 U.S.C. §109(h). Your bankruptcy attorney will file the certificate completion with the court along with the rest of your bankruptcy paperwork. So what is this credit counseling class and why is it so important?

A lot of people hear the word “class” and shudder. They do not like to take classes and they are afraid they will be tested on information they know nothing about. A credit counseling class is very different. You should know the answers in this class because this class asks information about YOU and your income, expenses and debts. This class is offered in several different mediums: you can take the class in person, by telephone, or even online. Normally people opt for the online version because it is more convenient for them. They can take the class in their pajamas in bed at 1:00 a.m. if they wanted to. The purpose of this class is for you to understand and explore the different options that are available to you besides filing for bankruptcy. There are times when bankruptcy may be the only choice for you due to your financial circumstances but you still need to take the class.

If you took the class and received a certificate of completion, but you are unable to print the certificate and file it along with the rest of your bankruptcy paperwork the court will allow you fourteen days to file the certificate. If you have requested the credit counseling course from an approved credit counseling agency but were unable to complete the class during the seven days from the time you made the request because of an exigent circumstance, you need to provide a certification regarding what the exigent circumstances are. If the court finds that this certification merits a temporary waiver you still need to take the class, but you have 30 days from the date you filed your bankruptcy petition to file the credit counseling certificate with the court. The court may extend an extension of an additional 15 days maximum (making this a total of 45 days from the date you filed your bankruptcy petition).

So what is considered an exigent circumstance? It is something that occurs that is beyond your control that prevents you from taking the course prior to the filing of your bankruptcy petition. The court has the discretion to determine whether your circumstances are considered exigent in nature. A lot of courts have determined that filing your bankruptcy case due to a pending foreclosure sale is not considered an exigent circumstance because you had ample notice that the house was going to be auctioned at a trustee sale. Therefore any exigent circumstances were of your own making. So speak with a bankruptcy lawyer in your area sooner than later. See Dixon v. LaBarge, 338 B.R. 383 (8th Cir. BAP 2006). If the court does find that your circumstances are considered exigent in nature, remember that it is only a temporary waiver and you still need to take the class and file the certificate with the court.

Under 11 U.S.C. §109(h)(4), you can have the credit counseling requirement waived (meaning you do not have to take the course) if: (1) you have a mental illness or mental deficiency that would make you incapable of making rational financial decisions; (2) if you are physically impaired (disabled) and you cannot take the class after a reasonable effort to do so in person, by telephone or on the internet; or (3) you are on active military duty in a military combat zone. If you do not fall in any of these categories you will need to take the credit counseling course. Failure to do so will result in your ineligibility to be a debtor in a bankruptcy case which means that the court will dismiss your case.