If I File Bankruptcy Will Everyone Find Out?

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If I file bankruptcy will everyone find out?  The quick answer is no, but like all legal matters, bankruptcy is part of the public record.  The catch is for the public at large to view bankruptcy filings they must have a Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) account and pay $0.08 per page to view the records.  I have never heard of a private individual with a PACER account.  For the most part only attorneys or other legal professionals have PACER accounts.

So who does find out?  The most obvious people that find out are the people or companies that you owe money to.  The underlying goal of bankruptcy is to treat the people you owe money the same depending upon the type of debt that is owed.  All creditors must be listed in the bankruptcy petition schedules to be treated properly.  They will all receive notice of your bankruptcy case directly from the Bankruptcy Court via United States mail.

The next obvious people that find out are those who you give permission to run your credit report after the case is filed or you may have previously given them permission to run your credit prior to filing the bankruptcy case.  Anyone you have given permission for them to obtain your credit report could possibly find out if and when they check your credit.  If you try to purchase a vehicle, apply for credit or purchase a home your credit report will be obtained.

So who else could find out?  In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy you can choose to have the monthly Chapter 13 Plan payment deducted directly from your paycheck each month.  This requires a Wage Order from the Bankruptcy Court and then the order is served on your payroll department.  Whoever handles deductions and making changes to your pay in your payroll department will then know you filed bankruptcy.  Them and everyone they tell.  I in a large company this would probably not matter, but in a small company expect loose lips to pass along that you filed for bankruptcy.

Then there is the long answer.  It depends upon how hard someone searches the internet given how good Google is at their job.  I do not think most bankruptcy lawyers are aware of this, but the Bankruptcy for the Northern District of California posts the Section 341 Meeting of the Creditors calendars on their website.  The calendar lists the name of the person filing bankruptcy, the case number and other information about the date and time of the meeting of the creditors.  The Court’s website only posts these calendars for a limited period of time though.  Once the Section 341 Meeting of the Creditors is complete the Court posts new calendars with the recent cases filed.  The fact remains that Google does find the calendar and if someone Googles your name they could find out you filed bankruptcy.  The Google results showing your name would most likely be buried on page 5 or more of the search results though.

The bottom line is that very few people will ever find out that you have filed bankruptcy unless you tell them, owe them money or they have some reason to deeply search Google results for your name.