Pacer Problem...

[ansky0007]

I did a search by trustee to find other cases by the same trustee.. I did not put a date range so it pulled a report that was hundreds of pages... Report was so big that internet explorer crashed so I tried it again.

In the end a $176 pacer bill... I throught there was a page limit?

[StartingOver08]

Oh no! We have had people come on with surprise bills all the time - I'm sorry you had one.

[ansky0007]

I though there was a 30 page limit on reports?

[StartingOver08]

I read that 30 pg limit somewhere on the Pacer site - but I know I get billed for excess pages and many others have come on here make us aware of large Pacer bills.

[justbroke]

The 30 page limit is for documents that you view. The 30 page limit does not count when it comes to searches. When you search, you get charged for every "page" (about 30 or so results) that the search returns.

I learned that the hard way too.

My simple PACER search rules...

• never search by the Trustee's name
• never search by a prominent Attorney's nam
• only use very specific searches by Party or Case Number!

[BkinTX]

I keep reading about PACER?

Is this something we need?

[dingdong]

Don't feel too bad, I had a 190.00 bill early on.

DUH!

DId I feel like a nimrod!

Doesn't PACER know we are all bankrupt!

[justbroke]

My PACER bill was only $26.20 this quarter. Just paid it.

[StartingOver08]

Mine was $17.21 this quarter. Also just paid yesterday!

[BkinTX]

OK, WTH is PACER?

[justbroke]

Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)

It is sometimes called CM/ECF, but the PACER name is what everyone knows it by. It is the system used by the Court to manage cases and is basically an electronic docket.

There's a Sticky somewhere on this forum about PACER.

You can also learn about it at the U.S. Court PACER Service Center pacer.psc.uscourts.gov.

Be forewarned, PACER is used by the U.S. District Court a well, so don't get confused between the Bankruptcy Court and the District Court. However, the PACER service center is part of the U.S. District Court.

[BkinTX]

Thanks so much. I'm reading about it now!

I am just curious as to whether this is a necessity or not?

[StartingOver08]

Most of us signed up to make sure the case was filed on time, that the documents are what we thought we were filing and generally to follow up on our attorney.

It costs 8 cents per page to view and the billing is quarterly. You can research all kinds of cases on Pacer. This is where the high bills come in - if you like to research cases.

It is not necessary or required to get Pacer - but if you start to have issues with your case, it certainly helps to have direct access to what is going on.

[justbroke]

Thanks so much. I'm reading about it now!

I am just curious as to whether this is a necessity or not?

For Pro Se filers such as myself, it is absolutely mandatory! (Although it's not mandatory from the Court's perspective )

For other filers, who filed with an attorney, it just depends on if you're interested in tracking your case personally. I do suggest it for Chapter 13 filers, so that they can "police" the claims filed.

You can get caught up in it, so be careful with those searches!

[BkinTX]

I see...

I am curious but I also don't want to spend money unnecessarily. Thanks so much for the input!