Note from the Team ✨

Fall is just around the corner, but we still have exciting Summer updates for you all! In this month's edition, we have ECF filing updates you won’t want to miss - these include huge improvements we've made on filings time in some of the big courts. We also have upcoming webinars, industry news, and product updates!

Webinars and Upcoming

Join our sales and support teams for our upcoming webinars. You can join these webinars through the links below.

Download and Print: Thursday, September 7th, 3:00 PM ET

Credit Report Integration: Friday, September 8th, 12:00 PM ET

Filing Through NextChapter: Thursday, September 21st, 3:00 PM ET

ECF Integration Updates

NextChapter makes electronic filing easy with our ECF integration. You can assemble bankruptcy petitions and electronically file cases, for your primary or non-primary district with the bankruptcy court right in our app! This integration is a great tool for your firm, however; we understand that recently, you may have been experiencing an increase in filing times with NextChapter, causing delays and errors when filing your cases. We want to keep you updated on why this is occurring and what our team has been diligently working on to correct it.

NextChapter has upgraded its entire system to institute a more secure and stable application. Around this same time, many of the courts upgraded their systems to implement higher security measures as well. Together, these upgrades caused severe lag times both in the app and on the courts’ sites which is why many of you are experiencing slower filing speeds.

Our team has been working diligently to optimize the in-app speeds and has made huge improvements in filing times in some of the big courts. We've been tracking average filing times by switching all filing processes to follow the “case upload” option, allowing for filing speeds that average 1 minute per case. However, each district must be switched and tested separately and with variances between each court, and we are unable to switch all filing processes at once. Our team is prioritizing districts by usage, number of firms, etc and will continue to provide updates as me migrate courts over.

Reminders:

• Filing times may take up to 30 minutes. If you notice your page is hanging at 99%, this is typical. Your filing has not timed out and the case will continue to file.

• You may work on other cases or open a new case while your case is filing. You are not obligated to stay on the filing page. Your case will continue filing and NextChapter will notify you by email if the filing results in an error or successfully files.

• Keep an eye on your notifications from the court. Sometimes the NextChapter in-app message reads there was an error, but the case actually successfully filed. This error message is due to those lag times and can result in confusion. If you see your notification from PACER, then you can be assured that the case was filed successfully.

Here is a list of all districts that have already been updated:

• Northern District of Alabama

• Arizona

• Central District of California

• Northern District of California

• Delaware

• Middle District of Florida

• Idaho

• Eastern District of Kentucky

• Western District of Kentucky

• Western District of Louisiana

• Maryland

• Western District of Michigan

• New Jersey

• Eastern District of North Carolina

• Oregon

• Eastern District of Pennsylvania

• South Carolina

• Eastern District of Texas

• Western District of Texas

• Utah

• Eastern District of Virginia

• Eastern District of Wisconsin

• Western District of Wisconsin

• Wyoming

Industry News

Since the pandemic, this is the first year we’ve seen bankruptcies begin to rise, and with the current economy, it’s likely this current trend will continue.

Last week, for the very first time, credit card debt reached a whopping high of 1 trillion dollars. As credit card debt has risen, so have interest rates - making it harder and harder for Americans to pay them off in a timely manner. In an interview with ABC7 News, Ted Rossman from Bankrite.com explains "The average credit card now charges interest rates of over 20%… If you have the average credit card balance and make minimum payments at the average interest rate, you'll be in debt for 17 years”, he states in the article “Americans' credit card debt breaks record of $1 trillion as interest rates climb”.

Along with credit card debt, student loan interest resumes in September with payments continuing in October. The implications of high credit card debt and student loans could implicate a rise in bankruptcy in the near future.

Product Updates 

• State of Michigan exemption updates

• Xactus credit report integration contract update

• Event code addition to Northern District of Texas: Declaration About an Individual’s Schedules ONLY

• Bug fixes