Filed and now getting letters for completing a debtor education course?

[duraflame]

I took the "credit counseling" course before filing and now I'm getting mail from companies saying I need to take this debtor education course in addition to "credit counseling" and if I don't the court will close my case without getting a discharge.

Anyway, what is this and if I do need to take it, any recommendations on the cheapest/most reliable?

Thanks.

[salsa]

Yes, you need to the debtor education couse prior to discharge. I used Dave Ramsey online. For both my husband and I it was 45.00.

[duraflame]

Ok, so I have some time. 341 is 10/16. What all does it entail?

Are there any similar "classes" that I will need to take after discharge?

[salsa]

No other classes needed after discharge. Did you file a chapter 7 or 13?

[duraflame]

No other classes needed after discharge. Did you file a chapter 7 or 13?

Chapter 7.

[gregemm]

he one I took was all about financial management, how to avoid falling into debt again etc.. It was really easy, it is a 2 hour course but I think I was through all the videos and answered all the questions in just under an hour and a half. I used DebtorEDU/DebtorCC and paid $9.99 for my wife and I.

[LadyInTheRed]

Here's a link to the course gregemm mentioned: http://www.debtoredu.com/post-bankruptcy-course.aspx. I don't think you will find a lower price.

Whatever course you take, make sure it is an approved course for you rstate by looking it up at http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa...e_approved.htm

[SadPanda]

Mine was $9 at 9DollarDebtEducation.com, which was the cheapest I'd seen - this is per person, not per couple (if you and your spouse are filing). As mentioned in the post above, make sure it (or any other course you choose) is approved for your state.

It took two hours, because each section was timed. The timer is probably longer than you'll need to actually read each page, but you can't continue to the next section until the timer goes to zero. At the end, there were some multiple choice questions about information that was in the course. I think there were between 8 and 10 questions. It didn't say if I got the answers right, but I think I did (although I'm sure they give you the certificate whether you get the answers right or not), and then it said I was done.

I received the "Certificate of Debtor Education" in my email within an hour or two and I sent it to my attorney. There is an option to put in your attorney's name and email so that the certificate can be emailed to them, but I decided to send it to my attorney directly. Even if you have it emailed to your attorney (if you have an attorney), it's probably a good idea to follow up with your attorney to make sure they received it.

Besides just taking the debtor education course, you have to file proof with the court that you completed the course. The "proof" of completion is the certificate you will get after completing the course. If you have an attorney, he/she will file the certificate (and the form, which I think is Form 23) with the court for you. Your case can be dismissed if you don't file this before the deadline; the letter you received from the bankruptcy court after filing should say what the deadline is - it's probably 60 days after the 341, although I'm not sure if this is different in some states. If the 341 was rescheduled, I believe the deadline would still be from the first 341 date that was set.

[duraflame]

thanks for the info everyone. I took my pre counseling course with Debtor CC so and it was $9.95 so I'll do this one with them too since they have it.

[woeisme]

I was real lucky, my trustee offered the post-filing course and it was free. Took 4 hours, which was insane, but luckily I had the time off and my husband is on disability so we were able to attend the face-to-face meeting run by the trustee's office staff. The Southern District of Ohio also offers all kinds of free financial management classes through the trustees office, things like rebuilding credit seminars, budgeting seminars, etc. I haven't been to any since most of them are in Columbus which is a good 1.5 hours away (but they do have the post-counseling course in more locations so it was only about 15 miles from where I live when I took that). But knowing how the trustee here is looking out for both the creditors and the CH 13 filers by trying to help them complete their plans successfully is really nice, wish I heard more positive trustee stories on here like that but I don't think many other trustees are that committed to making sure the process works as it should, being that the creditors and the debtors both come out ahead.

[ohiogal]

This is OT, but SadPanda, I hate that your panda is sad I just want to give it a hug!!

[SadPanda]

Aww

[ohiogal]

:-)

[BKAttyMI]

Make sure you didn't already pay for your counseling course with your attorney. We always have debtors pay for their courses along with their filing and attorney fees. We tell debtors this, but sometimes they fall for the letters that come in the mail demanding that they take more credit counseling courses. Verify with your attorney what course you should be taking, most (around here anyways), will have a company that they work with.

[joshuagraham]

Yes, you need to the debtor education couse prior to discharge. I used Dave Ramsey online. For both my husband and I it was 45.00.

I was so destitute that I was able to get that $45 fee waived both times.