If you are bankrupted and planning to file your bankruptcy; then you have got something important to do before the filing. You should be getting counseling for the bankruptcy, so that your credit report isn’t affected too badly by this. It’s ok if you don’t go through the counseling process but it is actually helpful for you.

There was a change in the bankruptcy law in 2005; through that change this counseling has been made mandatory for those who want to file a bankruptcy. You should not be annoyed about this act, it might seem like an extra hassle but it is needed. This counseling will help you a lot to keep your credit scores in a better state and even filing the bankruptcy.

Bankrupted? Get Counseling for Credit Reports

The ‘credit counseling’ key

Because of the change in bankruptcy act in 2005, you now actually have to submit a file of completing the credit counseling while filing the bankruptcy. As the counseling thing has become essential and you can’t just avoid it, you should be looking for a worthy and of course qualified counselor. Then assess the agency, check and re check if they are going to provide you a certificate at the end of your counseling. Without a certificate there’s no point of wasting money. Knowing everything about your counselor is a staying a step ahead and optimizing the whole process.

What you should be looking for

You will find some counselors who actually offer courses that you can do before filing your bankruptcy. These pre-bankruptcy courses are specially designed to suit your needs perfectly. If you take a good course it will help you keep your credit score in a good level. You should consider having a conversation for potential alternatives to bankruptcy. And your conversation with the counselor should also include your financial state to continue with the proceedings.

The Costs

Whatever you have a single penny in your pockets or not, the counseling sessions need money.  For the counseling service, usually the pay is 50$ on average. But in case you are totally unable to pay the fees, then the counseling agencies are bound to provide you the counseling the services and the certificate for free. But you need to provide the proofs for that, without proof no agency will stipend that fee. As the law says, you have to discuss all the charges with agency beforehand to avoid any further complications. Usually the average length of these courses is 60 to 90 minutes. You don’t even need to meet face to face, a phone call, chat, or even video call might suffice.

Last Words

Before sitting for counseling, it’s good to know all the procedures and the estimated fees. And also be sure what records of you are going to be kept, they need to be kept some accredited, so that they can help you in the future to file your bankruptcy. With all these records kept, you are supposed to have received all the services without trouble.