Are you worried about whether your employer, family, friends and neighbors will find out about your Bankruptcy filing? We understand this concern, but you have to seriously consider if that is a good reason to avoid a bankruptcy filing which will give you the bankruptcy protection you need.
There are basically four very unlikely ways for someone to find out about your bankruptcy filing (so long as you keep it private)
- Bankruptcy Filing System: The bankruptcy court has a filing system called “PACER”. Your nosey neighbor would have to first find the bankruptcy website, set up a PACER account, figure out how to use the PACER online system, find your filing in the records, and then pay a fee if he or she wants a copy of your bankruptcy filing. All of these steps make it extremely unlikely that anyone would go to this much trouble to find out if you have filed for bankruptcy protection.
- Bankruptcy Mail: When you file for bankruptcy protection, you will receive mail about your filings. It is highly unlikely that your mail would be mistakenly delivered to one of your neighbors.
- Published in the Newspaper: Bankruptcy petitions are only published if the filing is somehow newsworthy. A corporation filing bankruptcy could be newsworthy. A celebrity filing bankruptcy could be newsworthy. But it is highly unlikely that your bankruptcy filing would be published in a newspaper.
- Internet Publishing: Again, it is very unlikely that your bankruptcy filing would be published on the Internet unless you are a celebrity or a corporation making it newsworthy.
Foreclosure Notices Are Published in the Local Newspaper
Some people confuse the foreclosure notices that are published in the local paper with bankruptcy notices. Foreclosure notices have to be published as a matter of law, so you will see these in the newspaper.
Kansas City Bankruptcy Attorneys
At Troppito Miller Griffin, LLC, we encourage our clients to weigh the options. When bankruptcy is going to give you a fresh start, you have to seriously consider that option. You have to weigh that against the highly unlikely event that your employer, family, friends and neighbors would find out about your bankruptcy filing.