|
||||||||
Frequently Asked QuestionsTroubleshooting1) Q. What if I entered an incorrect email address in my user profile?
2) Q. What if I complete the counseling in one sitting and only begin to suspect that I may have used the wrong email address after I submit my information and am waiting for results?A. If you have been waiting for longer than the time estimates on the website, the first thing you should do is to check your email inbox, spam folder and/or junk folder in case our message has been delivered into one of these locations. If not, send us an email explaining the situation and providing us with the best email address for reaching you. 3) Q. What if I don't get an email from you after signing up, sending a question by email, submitting data or after requesting a certificate?A. We are very committed to responding to you promptly within the estimates we provide. The most common reason for a failure to receive an email is that it has been delivered by your email provider into your “spam” or “junk” folder, instead of into your main inbox. We recommend that you check your inbox first and if you do not see our response, look in these other locations. A. A second possible problem comes when a user enters an email address with a typo of some kind. If the message bounces back to us we may have no way to get it to you. So, if you have checked thoroughly without finding a response, send an email to counselors@consumerbankruptcycounseling.info explaining the problem and providing your user name along with the email address you want us to use. 4) Q. What if I forget my user password when I try to log back in?
Is this credit counseling service right for me?5) Q. Is it possible to do my counseling entirely by telephone on this website?A. No, we provide support to users primarily via email communications. In special circumstances we will respond to a telephone call as noted above. But there are other unaffiliated credit counseling agencies that can provide telephone sessions. 6) Q. I am unable to initially provide the information requested by this website without personalized assistance. Can I get personalized assistance from ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info so as to enable me to initially provide the information requested by this website?A. No. ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info does not provide any personalized assistance in gathering your financial records so as to enable you to initially provide the information requested by this website. Information about how to obtain a free copy of your credit report is available on the site. And, if you have questions concerning what is required we will respond to them. 7) Q. Where does that leave me?
8) Q. What alternative providers of credit counseling and certificates of completion exist?A. You may wish to consider using a credit counseling service which, like ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info, is properly authorized to issue certificates of completion by the Executive Office for the United States Trustee, United States Department of Justice, but which credit counseling service is not exclusively internet based as ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info is. There are many agencies offering in-person counseling and/or telephone counseling sessions. 9) Q. Are there any other alternatives that will allow me to obtain my certificate of counseling?A. You may also choose to start the process of getting your certificate of counseling by first going to a lawyer. That lawyer can then, among other things, personally assist you in initially assembling and providing the information requested by this website. We recommend that consumer debtors who need private attorneys use the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Lawyers (NACBA) as a resource. Completing my counseling10) Q. Why won’t the website accept my input?A. All dollar amounts that you are required to provide should be entered as simple whole numbers without punctuation and rounded off. So, if your gross pay amount is $1,700. 89 you should enter it on the website as “1701”. Another related mistake is to enter your gross pay as weekly when it is really paid biweekly or monthly.11) Q. What if I cannot pay for my certificate?A. ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info provides its services regardless of your ability to pay the $5 per certificate fee. 12) Q. How can I qualify for a waiver of your certificate fee?A. We use the federal poverty guidelines to evaluate who should be given a waiver of our $5 per certificate fee. If your income is less than 150% of the applicable level for the number of persons in your household and state of residence, the fee will be waived. Charts showing the applicable poverty level and family size are provided on the website. If your income exceeds the applicable level but you still feel your circumstances create a special hardship you can request consideration on a case-by-case basis. 13) Q. What if I can afford to pay but do not have a credit or debit card or a prepaid card?A. Many users are in this situation and they ask a friend or family member to allow them to make the charge on their credit card or debit card. If you need to use another person’s card be sure that you have the correct spelling of their name and the accurate address that was used to obtain the card or the transaction will be declined by the credit processing company. In addition, you can also purchase a pre-paid card for a modest amount and then use it to make your payment.A. ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info provides its services regardless of your ability to pay the $5 per certificate fee. My Certificate14) Q. When should I expect to receive my certificate of counseling?A. ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info does not provide immediate delivery. Once you have completed the internet data entry portion of the credit counseling, your counseling session is NOT over and you will NOT get a certificate of counseling until one of our counselors has contacted you through e-mail communication. A counselor will review your entries and e-mail you an analysis and possible solutions to your financial situation, usually within 24 hours of your submitting all necessary information. Once you have adequately reviewed the counselor’s comments and contacted us to resolve any questions, you will be able to access the portion of the site that will enable you to request your certificate of counseling. Your certificate will be e-mailed to you and/or your attorney, usually within one business day of completion of all aspects of the necessary counseling. From beginning to end this process may take up to 3-5 business days. If you believe this timeline for getting your $5 Certificate of Counseling will be detrimental to you, you may want to contact another provider that is not primarily internet based in the way ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info is. 15) Q. What if I need expedited help before a court filing or foreclosure?A. We try to take questions on a first come first served basis but we recognize that time can be critical when actions are taken on foreclosures or the situation changes because you learn there is about to be a repossession of your car or auction of your home or you must make an emergency bankruptcy filing. In such circumstances, write URGENT in the subject line of your email and we will make every effort to help you quickly. 16) Q. What if I realize that there is a spelling error or a typo in my name on the certificate?A. Send us an email with your user name and ID number addressed to counselors@consumerbankruptcycounseling.info letting us know what needs to be corrected and we will reissue the certificate and send it to your email address and any other email addresses you requested. 17) Q. What if I received my certificate but have lost or deleted it?A. Send us an email with your first and last name, user ID number and email address at counselors@consumerbankruptcycounseling.info requesting that we resend your certificate to you and we will do so. You can also request that a copy be sent to your bankruptcy attorney. 18) Q. Can you also send my certificate to my attorney, a relative or a friend?A. Yes, we recommend requesting a copy for your attorney. You can request that a copy be sent to your attorney at the time you make your original request for a certificate, or you can go to your online counseling results page where you can add multiple email addresses, or you can send an email to us making this request later. 19) Q. How long will my certificate be good for?A. Pre-filing bankruptcy counseling is required within 180 days before a consumer bankruptcy case can be filed. Proof of counseling must be submitted to the court in the form of a certificate showing the date on which you completed counseling. This is the date on which we email your counseling results to the email address or addresses you provide. You and your attorney must file for bankruptcy by the date that is 180 days after the counseling date on your certificate. When you receive your counseling certificate, be sure to calculate when the 180th day will be and call your attorney with a reminder two to three weeks before the final date. 20) Q. What happens if my certificate gets “too old”?A. If you do not file a bankruptcy action within 180 days, you will have to complete a new pre-filing counseling session and obtain a new certificate if you decide to seek a bankruptcy discharge of debts. Post Counseling Questions21) Q. If I must take the counseling over, can I do it on this website?A. Yes, you can complete a second pre-filing counseling session on this website but to do so you will need to provide a new and different email address to use in the new user account you will create. This is easy to do by simply creating a new free email account with any of the companies providing these services. Then once you have a new user account, you will need to enter your income and debt information as of the current time period. And remember, any communications from us will be sent to your new email address so be sure to watch for it there. 22) Q. Do you also offer the Personal Financial Management and Debtor Education course that is required before a consumer debtor can receive a discharge and exit the bankruptcy action?No, we do not. ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.Info only provides pre-filing credit counseling. About/Contact ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info23) Q. What are the qualifications of your counselors?A. The counselors are either Certified Financial Health Counselors, certified by the Association of Financial Health Counselors, or have experience and background in providing credit counseling for no less than two (2) years from this date and have obtained this experience on or after January 1, 2003. Once you have entered your financial information as part of a free credit counseling session, you will be provided with an e-mail address to contact our qualified counselors for assistance. 24) Q. What are ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.Info’s business hours?A. The internet functions around the clock but we humans do not. You can take advantage of the website flexibility to do your counseling at times that are convenient for you and we will do our part to turn it around promptly. Once you enter all the information requested of you and submit it, you will receive a counselor’s response within the second business day; once you request a certificate, you will receive it by the end of the next business day, usually within 24 hours. 25) Q. How can I ask you questions if I need help?A. The best way to reach us is by email to which we respond promptly. Send your questions (that are not answered in this section) to counselors@consumerbankruptcycounseling.info and always provide your name, user ID number and email address for a reply. If you absolutely cannot access your email for some reason and require a telephone call provide the number where you can be reached, the time period when you can be reached at that number and your time zone. We will call you by the end of the following business day. 26) Q. How can I reach you by telephone?A. Our site is designed and operated as an internet based service which enables us to keep our fees low. We ask that you contact us by email to keep us efficient. However, if your internet is unavailable and you must contact us, you can leave us a telephone message at 415-758-2227 and we will try to call you back by the end of the following business day. Important InformationThis program has received authorization from the Executive Office for United States Trustee, United States Department of Justice, to service all federal Districts except for the District of Alabama and the District of North Carolina, to provide credit counseling and to issue certificates in compliance with the Bankruptcy Code. Approval does not endorse or guarantee the quality of any Agency's services. Do not use this website if you live in the State of Alabama or the State of North Carolina, as you cannot receive a valid certification from this website at this time if you reside in either of these states. If you live anywhere else subject to federal bankruptcy jurisdiction, you can receive a valid certification from this website. |
||||||||
A. If you make this mistake, you will not receive our initial sign up confirmation email that gives you a user ID number that is required to log-in to the website and complete the counseling process. If you suspect that you used an incorrect email address, send an email to us explaining the problem. Address your message to us at 
A. Send an email to 
A. When you find yourself in this position, you cannot use ConsumerBankruptcyCounseling.info to obtain your certificate of counseling. Instead you can find an alternative provider of credit counseling and certificates of completion.