47
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The Credit Report Manager, Due Diligence, Credit Counseling and Debtor Education 253
Due Diligence, Credit Counseling and Debtor Education
Best Case now helps you to order due diligence and credit counseling products online through CIN Legal (Credit
Infonet). You can use the Due Diligence Explorer to order tax transcripts, real property appraisals, title products,
automobile valuations and credit counseling and debtor education.
Credit Counseling Requirement (pre-petition)
The new bankruptcy law that went into effect October 17, 2005, requires that consumers who wish to file under
Chapter 7 or 13 obtain credit counseling in the 180 days preceding filing a bankruptcy petition. The credit
counseling must be provided by a nonprofit credit counseling agency approved by the Office of the U.S. Trustee,
and the average length of the counseling is 90 minutes. Once counseling has been obtained, a credit counseling
certificate is provided by the agency, which in most districts must be filed with the petition. (See Filing Credit
Counseling and Debtor Education Certificates on page 255 for more information.)
Debtor Education Requirement (Prior to Discharge)
Prior to discharge, an individual debtor filing under Chapter 7 or 13 must obtain Debtor Education, which must be
provided by an agency approved by the U.S. Trustee. Debtor Education should take about 2 hours to complete.
Upon completion of the course, the debtor will receive a certificate of completion, which must be filed with the
court.
Both credit counseling and debtor education can be provided over the telephone, Internet, or in person.
Ordering Credit Counseling and Debtor Education through Best Case
Best Case has partnered with CIN Legal to streamline the process of requesting credit counseling and debtor
education services and to deliver the certifications to you promptly in easy-to-upload PDF format.
CIN Legal works with two agencies which provide credit counseling and debtor education at competitive prices:
Debt Education and Certification Foundation ( DECAF) (www.debt-foundation.org/), and
Money Management International (MMI) (www.crediteducation.org)
The agencies are approved by the Office of the U.S. Trustee, and offer courses over the telephone, and through the
Internet 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
Before You Can Order
To order due diligence or credit counseling products, you will need to become a member of CIN Legal (Credit
Infonet).
If you are already downloading credit reports from CIN Legal, there is nothing more you need to do to
configure your software.
If you are not yet signed up to receive credit reports from CIN Legal you can find out more about becoming a
member by logging onto the CIN Legal website at http://www.creditinfonet.com/. (For help entering your
login and password information, consult page 246.)
Ordering Due Diligence Products, Credit Counseling and Debtor Education
1. Open a client file to the Forms and Schedules Menu.
2. In the Menu bar, select Credit Reports >> Due Diligence and Credit Counseling.
3. Click the Order Due Diligence or Credit Counseling button.
4. The Due Diligence Explorer connects you to the CIN Legal website where you will find an order wizard with
a menu of products. Best case helps you by filling in information about your client based on what you have
entered in the Voluntary Petition. Simply follow the wizard to request the products and services you want.
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Note: The Due Diligence Explorer functions like a simple web browser and connects directly to
the CIN Legal website. The products that you order and the order wizard are produced outside of
Best Case by CIN Legal. If you have any questions about either the products or the ordering
process, you can call CIN Legal directly at 1.866.218.1003.
The Due Diligence Explorer connects you directly to the CIN Legal Website.
5. When you have completed your order, you can close the Due Diligence Explorer and return to Best Case by
clicking the close button (“X”) in the top right corner of the window.
After You Have Completed Your Order
1.
If you’ve ordered Credit Counseling or Debtor Education services,
both you and your client will receive an
email from CIN Legal. The email gives the client an 800 number for a telephonic course and a web link for
completing the course on-line
–
your client can choose either method.
Note: If your client does not have email,
you’ll need to provide him with the telephone number
and/or web link so that he can complete the course. With every course that’s ordered, you will
receive an acknowledgement email with the toll free telephone number and the web link and login
credentials.
Upon completion of the course, your client will be required to have a telephone call lasting from 15 to 30
minutes with a credit counselor at the number provided in the email. The agency will then release the
completion certificate to CIN Legal.
2.
Both you and your debtor will receive an email with a PDF attachment containing the completion
certificate, assuming both email addresses have been provided.
3.
If you ordered the pre-petition credit counseling: Save the Credit Counseling certificate to the ECF
Manager for the client (see Filing Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Certificates). If it is required in
your district, the Best Case OneTouch system automatically uploads it with your petition.
-OR-
4.
If you ordered the post-petition debtor education: Once you get notice that Debtor Education has been
completed, you can either save and file the certificate provided by CIN Legal, or create a Debtor Education
certificate in Best Case (Form 23). (See Filing Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Certificates.)
Checking the Status of Your Order
Best Case makes it easy to check the status of your Due Diligence product orders that cannot be completed while
you wait. To see if your order has been completed:
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Chapter 8
The Credit Report Manager, Due Diligence, Credit Counseling and Debtor Education 255
1. Open the client file to the Forms and Schedules Menu.
2. In the Menu bar, select Credit Reports >> Due Diligence and Credit Counseling.
3. Click the Check Status of an Existing Order button.
4. The Due Diligence explorer will open and connect you to a page on the CIN Legal website, similar to the one
pictured below, where you can quickly verify the status of any of the products you have ordered.
Checking the status of your order on the CIN Legal website.
Ordering Due Diligence and Credit Counseling from OCR Suite Solutions
Best Case gives you the option to order due diligence and credit counseling products online through OCR Suite
Solutions. You can use the link to connect to the Suite Solutions website and order tax transcripts, real property
appraisals, title products, automobile valuations and credit counseling and debtor education.
Getting Started
To order due diligence or credit counseling products from OCR, you will need to become a member.
If you are already downloading credit reports from OCR, there is nothing more you need to do to
configure your software.
If you are not yet signed up to receive credit reports from OCR you can find out more about becoming
a member by logging onto their website at http://www.suitesolutions.info. (For help entering your
login and password information, consult the Credit Report Manager: Configuration help topic)
Ordering Due Diligence and Credit Counseling Products
1.
Open a client file to the Forms and Schedules Menu.
2.
In the menu bar, click on Credit Reports >> Due Diligence and Credit Counseling>> Online Credit - Suite
Solutions.
3.
Best Case connects you directly to the Suite Solutions website where you can pick the products to order.
Filing Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Certificates
If your court requires that the Certificate of Credit Counseling be filed electronically, and you want to include it with
your case filing, follow the steps below to ensure that your file gets uploaded properly during OneTouch.
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By Default the clients ECF Manager
folder is located in C:\ECF\{Client
If you receive a PDF copy of the certificate via email, you can simply save the file to the ECF Manager as
described below.
If you have a paper copy of the credit counseling certificate, you can scan the document and convert it to PDF
using BestScan.
If you are including the certificate with the debtor’s initial filing, you court may also require you to attach the
PDF file to Exhibit “D” using the PDF Attachment Feature.
Saving Your Credit Counseling Certificate in the Right Place
If you order the debtor’s credit counseling from CIN Legal, when the debtor has completed the counseling, CIN
Legal will send you an email with the Certificate of Credit Counseling attached to it in PDF format. Once you have
received the email from CIN Legal, or any other company which emails you a PDF of the certificate, here is what
you need to do to save the PDF file to Best Case for electronic filing:
1. Open the email which contains the PDF and right click on the link to the attachment.
Then choose Save As in the pop-up menu that appears.
2. In the Save As window that opens, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Save
In box at the top of the screen. Select the C: drive.
3. Double Click on the ECF Folder in the main portion of the window and then
again on the folder with your clients last name.
Saving the Certificate of Credit Counseling to the ECF Manager
Note: By default Best Case creates the clients ECF Manager folder in C:/ECF/{Client Name}. If
you are unsure of where your ECF directory is located, Best Case displays the file path for each
clients ECF Manager folder at the top of the ECF Manager.
Best Case displays the ECF Manager Folder path at the top of the client’s ECF Manager Screen.
4. In the box labeled File name, make sure the file is
called “
CCC.PDF
.”
5. Click the Save button.
6. If there is a separate certificate for the joint debtor, return to the email and right click on the attachment with
the joint debtor’s certificate. Then follow steps 2
-
4, making sure to name the second file “
CCC2.PDF.
”
7.
If you will be including the certificate with the debtor’s initial filing, you court may require you to attach the
PDF(s) to the debtor's Exhibit “D”. If you do not need to attach the certificate to Exhibit “D”, stop here. Best
Case will automatically upload CCC.PDF, and CCC2.PDF if applicable, during OneTouch.
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The Credit Report Manager, Due Diligence, Credit Counseling and Debtor Education 257
When you click the Save PDF button, BestScan
automatically selects the client’s ECF Manager folder as
the destination for the scanned document.
Scanning a Paper Certificate of Credit Counseling
If you have a paper copy of the Certificate of Credit Counseling, you can quickly scan it, convert it to a PDF file and
save it to the ECF Manager using our BestScan feature.
1. Open the client file to the Forms and Schedules
Menu, and then click the ECF Manager button at
the bottom of the forms list.
2. Click the BestScan button on the right hand side
of the ECF Manager window. Best Case
Bankruptcy automatically finds your scanner and
opens the BestScan window with the court-
recommended settings selected.
3. Load the document into your scanner and click
Scan. If this is a multi-page document, put the
next page on the scanner and click Scan in the
pop-up box that appears after you scan the first
page. When you have scanned all of the pages,
click Cancel to close the pop-up and return to the
BestScan window where you can review your
scanned image.
4. When you have reviewed the document, click the Save PDF button to create a PDF of your document.
5. Name the file
“CCC.PDF,”
and then click Save. The name of the electronic file you created is displayed in
the ECF Manager.
6. If there is an additional certificate for the joint debtor, repeat steps 2-5, making sure to name the new scanned
document
“CCC2.PDF.”
7.
If you will be including the certificate with the debtor’s initial filing, you court may require you to attach the
PDF(s) to the debtor's Exhibit “D”. If you do not need to attach the certificate to Exhibit “D”, s
top here. Best
Case will automatically upload CCC.PDF, and CCC2.PDF if applicable, during OneTouch.
For a more complete description see
Scanning Documents with BestScan: on page 230.
Attaching the CCC.PDF to Exhibit “D”
1.
Select a form: You first need to select your main document. From the Forms and Schedules Menu, highlight
Exhibit “D”, then click the Attach button at the bottom of the window, or press [Alt]
-[T].
2.
Add a PDF File: The attachments list screen appears. Click Insert and select Existing PDF File to add a new
PDF file.
3.
A window appears asking you to select a PDF file from your hard drive or network. If you used BestScan to
scan the debtor’s pay stubs you will need to browse t
o your clients ECF Manager to find Paystubs.PDF. To
do so:
a. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Look in box at the top of the Select PDF files to
Attach window. Select the C: drive.
b. Double click on the ECF folder in the main portion of the window and then again on the folder
with your client’s last name.
4.
Double-click on the CCC.PDF file, or highlight it and click Open.
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User’s Guide
5.
The Add Attachment screen appears with common answers marked. Click OK to add the PDF file to the
document.
(See “
Adding Attachments
” on page
199for a complete description of the options available here)
6.
The PDF file will now appear in the attachments list screen. Click Close to exit the list of attachments. When
you return to the Forms and Schedules Menu, you’ll notice that a paperclip appears on top of the form icon
next to your document, indicating that there is an attachment.
7.
If this is a joint filing, and you need to attach the joint debtor’s Certificate o
f Credit Counseling to Exhibit
“D”, follow steps 1
-
6 above using the Exhibit “D” (Joint Debtor) form and attaching the CCC2.PDF file.
Filing Form 23: Debtor’s Certification of Completion of Instructional Course Concerning Personal
Financial Management (Debtor Education Certification)
The option to OneTouch Form 23 is only available for cases that have already been issued a case number. To create
and file Form 23 with Best Case:
1. Open the Electronic Case Filing Preparation Wizard by clicking the ECF lightening bolt in the Best Case tool
bar or by clicking the Prepare ECF Filing button in the lower left corner of the ECF Manager.
2. Select the radio button labeled Form 23
–
Post Petition Financial Management Education and click Next.
Note: This option will not be available for cases that have not been issued a case number or cases for which
no case number has been entered. Case numbers may be entered in the Notes section.
3. If you have not yet edited Form 23 you may do so from
this window by clicking Edit Debtor Form 23 (or
Edit Joint Form 23). If you are filing in a jurisdiction
that requires the Financial Management Certificate to
be attached, you may click the Attachments button to
insert a PDF of the certificate. In joint bankruptcy
filings some jurisdictions require both debtor and joint
debtor Form 23s to be filed as a single PDF document.
Other jurisdictions require each Form 23 to be filed as
separate PDFs; consult your court for local
requirements. Mark the appropriate radio button in the
lower right corner and click Next.
4. The PDF (or PDFs) will automatically be named appropriately by Best Case. You may also change the date
on the signature line here. When finished, click Prepare Filing.
5. When the above steps are completed, a button labeled File B23 will appear in the lower right corner of the
ECF Manager. Click this button to login to the court. Best Case will automatically upload Form 23 to the
court’s website and a
receipt will be displayed at the end of filing.
29
Chapter 9
File Management and General Procedures 259
Chapter 9
File Management, Case
Management and General
Procedures
In This Chapter
AddressFill™ .......................................................................................... 260
Spell Check ............................................................................................ 261
Case Status, Notes and Filing Information ............................................ 262
Changing the chapter of filing or type of debtor ..................................... 265
Working with the Client List .................................................................... 267
Right-Click on Client Name for File Options .......................................... 267
Using the Filter Drop-Down to Hide and Sort Cases ............................. 267
Searching the Client List ........................................................................ 268
Copying One Client File to a Diskette or a Separate Folder .................. 270
Copying a Client File from Another Drive ............................................... 272
Moving Creditors from One Schedule to Another .................................. 276
Copying Creditors from One Schedule to Another ................................. 276
Exporting and Importing a Common Creditor List .................................. 277
Combining Common Creditor Lists from Multiple Machines .................. 279
Making a Duplicate Copy of a Client File ............................................... 279
Making a Standard Client Template ....................................................... 280
Using the Calculator ............................................................................... 280
Advanced Feature: Creditor Import/Export ............................................ 280
Copying a Creditor Schedule from One Client to Another ..................... 286
Converting and Importing Word or Word Perfect Addresses ................. 286
Property Import and Export .................................................................... 287
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260 Best Case Bankruptcy for Windows
User’s Guide
File Management, Case Management and General
Procedures
AddressFill™*
AddressFill provides a quick way for you to select a creditor from either your Common Creditor List or a list of
creditors entered on Schedules D, E and F in this case. When you insert a creditor (or other address data) in places
where your Common Creditor List is available, the AddressFill list appears just below the name field as pictured
below.
If the name you want is in the Common Creditor List, just begin to type the creditor name, then press
R
when the
appropriate creditor is highlighted.
Just start to type the name. When
the creditor is highlighted, press R.
When you press R,
the name and
address will be
filled in for you,
and the cursor will
move to the next
field.
The DEF tab lets you copy a
creditor from any of the creditor
schedules.
The AddressFill list appears
automatically when you add a
creditor.
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