Introducing PACER

I am not an attorney, I am a judgment referral specialist (Judgment Broker). This article is my opinion about PACER. Nothing in any of my articles can ever be considered legal advice.

PACER stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records. PACER is a web site that allows registered users to get case information and filings for all federal and appellate cases, including all bankruptcy cases for every state.

PACER is extremely well-known to attorneys. Usually, attorneys are required to file all cases electronically at PACER, on their Electronic Case Filing system. However, you don't have to be a lawyer to use PACER, and it is most often free.

Violating a debtor's protection after they filed for bankruptcy protection, or attempting to collect on their discharged debts, can bring heavy financial penalties, and may expose one to being sued by the debtor. For this reason, verifying with PACER is mandatory for anyone attempting to recover a debt. I recommend that you check the debtor's bankruptcy status before every collection action.

PACER is the golden reference for bankruptcy status. Anyone can say "I went bankrupt", however you should not always believe what they claim, you should always check PACER. Even if your debtor does file for bankruptcy protection, it might get dismissed or denied. If it is a DENIAL OF DISCHARGE or DISMISSAL, that means the debtor's bankruptcy is gone, and you can take or resume any legal collection action.

PACER requires you to register with them, and use your credit card. They do not charge you for every page viewed. However, they charge you 8 cents a page for any documents you request, and some reports viewed. If you spend less than $10 in three months, they waive their fees. That means if you use it only to check your debtors for their bankruptcy status, you willprobably not pay PACER a dime.

I use PACER every day, and it is still less than ten dollars for the 3 months - so it is free. It is hard for casual users to reach the ten dollar limit.

PACER's web site makes PDFs of case documents that you can download, but on some Macintosh computers, the downloaded file does not end with .pdf, so the Mac will seem unable to open the file. Simply add .pdf to the downloaded file name, and click YES when the Macintosh cautions you, and you will get a PDF that opens just fine.

There are many laws that restrict and protect the use of person's social security number, yet knowing a debtor's social security number is the only foolproof way to check their bankruptcy status, especially if a debtor has a common name. A debtor may file for bankruptcy protection in any state, and possibly under a different name than you know them as. Searching PACER by social security number is the best way to search.

Unlike a credit report or banking information, a person's bankruptcy status and anything they filed in their bankruptcy case is a public records. On PACER, no permissible or legal purpose is required to search for someone on PACER's web site at http://www.pacer.gov/.

Another way to check someone's bankruptcy status is over the phone, with the Bankruptcy Voice Case Information System at http://www.spiesonline.net/vcis.shtml. You can place two calls a day for free. This can be useful if you just want a quick check on whether or not there has been a bankruptcy filing at a court near the debtor. If there was, you can go back to PACER for the detailed information.


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Mark Shapiro - Judgment Broker - Free leads for Judgment Enforcers and contingency collection lawyers.

http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - is the judgment super-site where Judgments quickly get Purchased or Enforced by the best!