Re: BridgeportBankruptcy.com
FROM CALIFORNIA
I was a bit leery of using the online services of "BridgeportBankruptcy.com" as well, because there is NO contact information, except for emails back and forth. I DO have to say though that they DID answer EVERY EMAIL I sent them - And PROMPTLY.
I did run into a few snags - But those I consider my fault. As I was entering my information from my many invoices into their online template (it is very simple) I noticed that a lot of my "regular" invoices as well as my "collection" invoices had sometimes up to 3 to 4 different addresses on just one invoice. Knowing the courts would need to send out notices to each Creditor, I sent an email to "Bridgeport" and they replied that I definitely should fill out a new template for EACH address - As if it was a different Account/Creditor, BUT to make sure to type in something to indicate that it was the same Account/Creditor. For instance: "Duplicate - American Express".
So I did this, and once I printed my documents, I found a small problem with it. I should have known, but the fact that I was up two nights in a row trying to get my paperwork done before I went to the BK Court on Thursday, I was not thinking too clearly...
Thus, when I entered these "Duplicate" accounts, I entered the balances due on EACH of them, rather than entering a "zero" amount due. I am not even sure if I would have been able to enter a "zero" amount. In any case, I just didn't think of it in my state of mind!
Well, I found that when I was completely finished with my entries, WITHIN SECONDS "Bridgeport" emailed me the complete forms! I could NOT believe it. So because I had been up again so late trying to finish all of this mess, it turned out to already BE Thursday! The day before I had called the court and was told to get there BEFORE it opened, and after looking at the time when the documents/paperwork "Bridgeport" emailed me were ready for printing - About 4:00 a.m.
I decided that I might as well get the paperwork (and myself) ready to drive to the courthouse, exhausted as I was. But I knew it would be quite worth it, if I could just get done and to that courthouse before that dreaded BK Deadline!
(Note: I made sure to buy a brand new ink cartridge and more paper, because the court told me that one original "set" of documents along with FOUR copies of "sets" is required, and I certainly had no time to obtain copies, let alone even the money at the time to pay for them, since I believe each of my "sets" of documents has at the least over 80 pages! So another one of my questions to the court was if it would be okay if I just brought in FIVE "sets" with ALL FIVE being "signed originals". They told me it did not matter at all.)
Anyway, what I found out with this "Duplicate" Account/Creditor business, was that while it sounded like a wonderful idea, when I had finally printed up my documents, I noticed that at the end where all of your Account/Creditor addresses are listed in the back (the court told me this was called "The Matrix") it appeared as if I had
100 CREDITORS!
I had called the court the day before and was told that if I had 100 or more on this "Matrix Sheet" that I would need to put the information on a CD/Disk, as well. My computer is OLD...So that was certainly not going to happen! It finally dawned on me that these "100 Creditors" were NOT "Creditors" at all, but just ADDRESSES, because I had been told to list EVERY SINGLE ADDRESS I FOUND ON EACH INDIVIDUAL INVOICE, ETC.
I also noticed that because I had without thinking entered the amounts due EACH time I re-entered the "Duplicate" information into the template, it had totalled ALL of these amounts as well, and the dollar amount shown on my documents was staggering, to say the least!
But, this is not the fault of "Bridgeport" and when I emailed them another of my many questions to them, they apologized for the confusion. They were ALWAYS very courteous!
I decided to use the listing I now had from "Bridgeport" of all of my Creditors with the amounts due, and entered it all into an Excel Spreadsheet...Of course this time minus the "Duplicates"! It showed I REALLY only had 34 Creditors...NOT 100! The total dollar amount was also quite reduced!
Yesterday (Thursday the 13th of October) I drove to the courthouse and waited in an extremely long (but well worth it) line. My number was FINALLY called and I was found to be missing three pages that were NOT in my printed documents/PDF file "Bridgeport" emailed me, though this was not a problem, since I noticed this was happening to a LOT of people; some who had gone to attorneys and paralegals. The employee who went over my paperwork was extremely nice and had the extra forms I was missing. After I paid, she stamped my paperwork "FILED" and gave me a receipt with my File Number and the date of my hearing. PHEW!
Today I wrote to "Bridgeport" explaining what happened. I also mentioned I was very concerned because the court employee who went through my paperwork before my number was called noticed that there were no signatures by an attorney or "Non-Attorney Bankruptcy Petition Preparer". The only signatures were mine as the "Debtor". Of course this caused me to begin to panic, but she gave me a form and told me to obtain their name, address and telephone number, write it all on the form and just mail it back to the courthouse in a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Well, I spent almost all this morning trying to get information on this "Bridgeport" company to see if I could obtain even a P.O. Box or a telephone number. NO SUCH LUCK.
So I emailed them and told them what the court had stated. I also mentioned the missing forms. They emailed me back in a few hours and told me to leave those sections blank, and that it would not be a problem at ALL with the court, because I had "used an online service", and that my signature as "Debtor" was enough. They stated that the court would NOT decline the paperwork because of that. I was quite grateful to them for emailing me back so soon!
They also emailed me in PDF format the forms I mentioned I did not have at the courthouse! I felt that was very thoughtful, especially since I mentioned in my email that the court had copies of them on hand. But this way, I can mail the court more than just one copy.
Would I use an online BK service ever again - IF the laws were as they were before?
NO! But only because I worry and stress too much and I would rather leave the filing (and stress) to a paralegal, etc.
However, it was not too bad...SO FAR! We shall see in November when it is time for my hearing...I will post how everything goes!
This is Crazy. Thier website is missing a State/territory, United States Virgin Islands. One of my creditors are located there and I need them to add USVI to thier "States" drop down menu. I requested them to add the USVI as a state, I even gave them a link to the government website to verify that the USVI is a territory. They have Puerto Rico in the "state" drop down list, and Puerto Rico is a territory also. So i know they can add it, but instead they "copied and paste" a reply form thier creditors instruction page and sent it to me. When I sent another email telling them of the error, they sent a reply saying they already answer my question. So I sent another email explaining to them they did not answer my question. They sent another "copied and paste" reply from thier Creditor instruction page stating that they are not a lawyer, and that I should get and attorney. WHY DO I NEED AN ATTORNEY! WHY CANT THEY JUST UPDATE THIER STATES LIST. All of thier repsonses are automated. The system looks at key words in your email and then spits out dumb replies. If a human had read my emails, Im certain they would have understood my request. I am going to ask a for a refund because I am not going to pay for forms that I know will be incorrect due to an error that they refuse to fix.