Debtors -General Information (6)

• 1.  How do I obtain court or case information?  

  I. COURT LOCATIONS AND PHONE NUMBERS

  The District of Oregon Bankruptcy Court has offices in the following two locations, and they are both open from 9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. every Monday through Friday except for federal holidays:

  PORTLAND OFFICE
  1001 SW 5th Ave #700
  Portland, OR 97204
  All Access: From the 7th Floor
  Phone Numbers:Main: (503) 326-1500
  

  EUGENE OFFICE
  405 E 8th Ave #2600
  Eugene, OR 97401
  All Access: From the 2nd Floor
  Phone Numbers:Main: (541) 431-4000
  

  Bankruptcy case and adversary proceeding files are public records and available for viewing in the Clerk’s Office until 4:15 pm in either Portland or Eugene, depending on where the case was filed. If the debtor resides in Benton, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion or Polk counties, filings must be made in the Eugene office. If the debtor’s address is in any other county, filings must be made in the Portland office. NOTE: Eugene cases are designated by either a "6", "7", or "8" as the first digit of the five digit portion of the case number. Portland cases are designated by either a "3", "4", or "5" as the first digit of the five digit portion of the case number.

  II. ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO CASE AND COURT INFORMATION

  The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon maintains two (2) systems for electronic access to information relating to Oregon bankruptcy cases filed since October 9, 1984, and adversary proceedings filed since August 1988. These systems are described below. You must try one of these systems before calling the court as there is a very good chance it will have your information. The systems are:
  
  1. PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) - Extensive access to case records via the Internet. See details immediately below.
  
  2. VCIS (Voice Case Information System) - A free service using a touch-tone telephone that provides basic case information. Click here for details
  
  P A C E R Public Access to Court Electronic Records

  The court provides real-time access to electronic case records via PACER services over the internet. You may access PACER here. There is a slight fee charged for access to each page viewed or printed, but with a maximum fee per document.

  Please refer to the opening page of the court's PACER site for important information regarding the site. It also provides a valuable link to the court's free web site containing other extensive and frequently updated general court information at: www.orb.uscourts.gov

  If you've ever had a PACER account, it remains active for your use. The access fees are charged to your account.

  If you don't presently have an account, or have questions such as regarding fees or access to the federal courts' PACER services (including other court's PACER sites and/or the US Party/Case Index system), contact the PACER Service Center at 1-800-676-6856 or at http://www.pacer.gov.

  V C I S Voice Case Information Service
  
  

  VCIS is a free service that requires a touch-tone telephone. It is updated every 2 hours and provides basic case information. To connect, dial 1-866-222-8029.

  VCIS uses a computer-generated synthesized voice device to automatically read case information in the court's database such as the case number, chapter, date the case was filed, debtor's name (and, if applicable, names of principal adversaries), debtor's attorney's name, trustee's name, judge’s name, date and location of the 341(a) meeting of creditors, any claims filing bar date, case status, and any discharge and/or closing dates of the case. See below if you need further instruction on how to use VCIS.

  INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE THE VCIS SYSTEM
  
  

  1. To connect, dial 1-866-222-8029.

  2. Press 1 for English (2 for Spanish) then 67 (OR) for court id. To search by a case number, press 2, then enter a 4 digit year for the case, like 2010, then a 5 digit case number like 30001.

  You can also enter in either the name of a case participant, or the debtor’s complete nine (9) digit Social Security Number or Tax ID Number. Enter names by pressing the keys on your telephone that correspond to the letters in the name. Use the number 1 key for the letters "Q" and "Z", and skip any characters that are not letters, such as spaces, apostrophes and hyphens.

  a. For an individual, enter the surname, given name, then the # sign key. For example, to enter the name "Joe O'Riley", you would press the following keys:

  6 7 4 5 3 9 5 6 3 # O R I L E Y J O E

  b. For a company, enter the company name, then the # sign key. Leave off suffixes such as "Inc." or "Corp.". For example, to enter the name "Joe's Subs, Inc.", you would press the following keys:

  5 6 3 7 7 8 2 7 # J O E S S U B S

  3. The system will read you information about the case. You will also be given a chance to have names spelled out. If more than one case matches, information on each case will normally be read.

• 2.  How do I remove inaccurate information from my credit report?   

  Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 USC § 1681c], both the credit reporting agency and the creditor are required to correct inaccurate or incomplete information on a credit report. The credit bureau will reverify the item in question with the creditor at no cost to the consumer. The credit reporting industry has a policy that requires a creditor to respond to a reinvestigation within 30 days. After the reinvestigation is complete, the credit reporting agency will notify the consumer of the outcome. If information in the report has been changed or deleted, the consumer will receive a copy of the revised report. For additional information on credit report disputes click on the credit repoting agencies below.

  Some of these agencies are:

  Equifax Information Service Center
  Attn: Consumer Dept.
  PO Box 740241
  Atlanta GA 30374
  (888) 685-1111
  Equifax WebSite
  
  Trans Union Corporation
  National Consumer Disclosure Center
  PO Box 1000
  Chester, PA 19022
  (800) 888-4213
  Trans Union Corporation WebSite
  
  Experian
  Consumer Assistance
  475 Anton Blvd.
  Costa Mesa, CA 92626
  (800) 311-4769
  Experian WebSite
  
  

  The Federal Trade Commission has a number of educational publications on its web site to help consumers address credit and financial issues.

• 3.  What is a bankruptcy "estate" ?  

  A bankruptcy “estate” is defined in Title 11 of the United States Code § 541. It is a very broad definition and includes all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property, wherever located, as of the commencement of the case. It also includes any property in which the debtor has an ownership interest that is recovered by the trustee if it was merely out of the possession of the debtor. In certain circumstances, property acquired by the debtor within 180 days after the filing of the case may also be considered part of the bankruptcy “estate”.

  An attorney should be consulted if there is any question as to whether specific property will be included in the bankruptcy “estate” and the exemptions available to the debtor which may exclude certain property.

• 4.  What is a “trustee”?  

  The trustee in a bankruptcy case is the representative of the estate.

  In chapter 12 or 13 cases, the appointed trustee receives the payments from the debtor and disburses those funds to the debtor’s creditors according to the debtor’s plan which has been approved by the court.

  In a chapter 7 case, the appointed trustee examines the debtor at the First Meeting of Creditors in an effort to locate and take charge of the debtor’s nonexempt assets, if there are any. The trustee will then take whatever steps are necessary to reduce those assets to cash. Since there generally is not enough money to pay all the creditors in full, the trustee, under the supervision of the office of the US Trustee, disburses the funds according to the priorities set out in 11 USC §507.

  To be eligible to serve as a trustee, the individual or corporation must be competent to perform the duties of trustee and, in chapter 7, 12, or 13, must reside or have an office in the judicial district or adjacent to the district in which the case is pending. The trustee must also maintain an insurance bond which guarantees faithful performance of the trustee’s official duties.

  Promptly after a case is filed with the court, the United States Trustee appoints a disinterested person who is a member of the panel of trustees established pursuant to 28 USC §586.

  The compensation of a trustee is set by statute [11 USC § 326].

• 5.  What is the function of the U.S. Trustee and where is their office located?  

  The Office of the U.S. Trustee (often referred to as the UST) is an Executive Branch agency that is part of the Department of Justice. Its function is to oversee the administration of bankruptcy cases. The U.S. Trustee establishes and supervises a panel of private trustees in chapter 7 cases, appoints standing trustees in chapter 12 and 13 cases, and appoints case trustees in chapter 11 cases. The U.S. Trustee monitors the administration of chapter 11 cases by, among other things, reviewing disclosure statements and plans of reorganization, and monitoring post-confirmation plan performance. The U.S. Trustee also monitors bankruptcy cases for possible fraud which may be reported to the United States Attorney for investigation and prosecution.

  If you wish additional information regarding either the trustee program in general or individual trustees, you should contact the Office of the U.S. Trustee at:

  For cases filed in Portland: 620 SW Main St Rm 213, Portland OR 97205 (503) 326-4000

  For cases filed in Eugene: 405 E 8th Ave #1100, Eugene OR 97401-2706 (541) 465-6331

  You may also visit their web pages by clicking here for Eugene or clicking here for Portland.

• 6.  How can I learn more about bankruptcy?  

  Bankruptcy Basics provides basic information to debtors, creditors, court personnel, the media, and the general public on different aspects of the federal bankruptcy laws. It also provides individuals who may be considering bankruptcy with a basic explanation of the different chapters under which a bankruptcy case may be filed and answers some of the most commonly asked questions about the bankruptcy process.