Pre-Filing Bankruptcy Counseling

On April 17, 2005 the President of the United States signed the “Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act" that required all debtors who were considering filing for bankruptcy to receive counseling prior to being allowed to continue the process.

As part of the counseling session, one of our certified counselors will evaluate your personal financial situation, discuss other alternatives and help you create a personal budget based on your resources and needs. The counselor will evaluate your income, expenses, assets and liabilities. This process will help uncover your real financial situation. The counselor will also work with you to develop a reasonable spending plan, a detailed action plan and help you set short and long term financial goals.

The documents that are required to carry out this type of counseling session are the following:

• Recent paycheck stubs, bank statement, or Income Tax Return.
• Recent credit card statements.
• List of your creditors, balance owed to each, and monthly payment sent to each.
• Payment book of your personal loans, mortgage and/or vehicle.
• Recent utility bills, plus your cellular phone(s) bills.

We provide counseling either face to face, by phone, or via online. To schedule a Pre-Filing Bankruptcy Counseling session, please contact us at 1-800-717-2227 or (787) 722-8835.  

If the counseling is to be conducted by phone, we will need you to send us some information in advance before we set up the appointment in our system. Please fill in the Counseling Application and then download the following documents:

• Counseling Affidavit
• Telephone Counseling Disclosures
• Client Rights

After signing them, please return the documents by mail, fax, or email so that we can continue setting up the appointment in our system.

Mailing Address: CONSUMER  -  PO BOX 8908 San Juan, PR 00908

Email:   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Fax:  (787) 722-6979

Both the face-to-face counseling and phone counseling entail a $50 fee, whereas the Internet counseling only costs $45. These fees may be waived for persons meeting certain criteria. You may fill out the Request for Fee Waiver Form. If you do not meet the requirements for the fee waiver, please proceed to the Online Education link and select the appropriate course. Once you choose the course and make the payment, you may continue with the registration process and you will receive e-mail with the access code.

To start an online counseling session, please access the following link: Online Education