should I sign up for pacer?

[backtoschool]

Hi all,

I would like some opinions on whether or not to sign up for pacer. I am very emotional and nervous about this bankruptcy and I deliberately DIDN'T sign up for pacer because I was afraid that I would be checking it every five minutes and then freaking out about whatever was posted there.

My attorney is not the type to immediately answer my questions (24 hour turn around or more usually on an email) and I don't want to be sitting around in a panic if I read something on pacer that I don't understand. I am good at research so I could probably find out what everything meant, but I am trying to reduce the anxiety of this whole process.

Why or why not did all of you sign up for pacer? Has it been helpful, and if so why? I am trying to weigh the anxiety of not knowing what is going on with the anxiety of knowing too much of what is going on.

[music12]

hello backtoschool,

originally i didn't sign up for pacer until one day i worried whether or not my atty actually filed all the required documents or not. i worried for no particular reason, and it was totally irrational. i couldn't very well call the lawyer and ask whether he filed everything or not because he had already told me that everything was done and filed. the only way to check was go to pacer. of course everything was perfectly fine... so i felt better.

i think it's a good idea to have pacer. for example, after my 341 i heard nothing from my lawyer about my report of no distribution. i would not have known about it if i didn't have pacer. or, i would have known about it only after pestering the lawyer. i prefer to save pestering my lawyer to when it's actually necessary.

also it's good for checking up on your lawyer. some people had horror stories where the lawyer did not have the debtor education certificate filed. as you know, it's a requirement for getting a discharge. so if you can check that it's been filed, you won't have to worry about it.

you can decide not to check pacer every second. i checked after my 341 and once a week since then. some people check every day. indeed, some people get nervous about something there that they don't understand. however, usually anything important gets mailed to you as well as to your attorney, which means that you would end up nervous about it anyway, just a few days later by mail instead of online.

i feel less nervous about things if i know what's going on. some people prefer not to. you know yourself best.

you can keep reading this forum and you'll then know what to expect. that way, you won't really have any surprises from pacer.

[bkmaggster]

Join pacer.

Only search on your docket number, and only click on anything if the "date of last filing" changes. That way you can check your case for free and only be charged to view a new document.

If you do a name search or any other kind of random search it will charge you. For instance, I did a search on my trustee's name, and pacer charged me THIRTY dollars. I didn't even click on any results, that was just the charge for the search.

[kenshirley]

Yes and remember nothing is ever going to be filed on the court's databases on weekends and holidays.
I know people that had to look every day.

[justplaintired]

Pacer is nice for keeping track of your case. I check every other day or so, just to see if there is anything different on our case. I don't click on anything that says it cost so much per page, unless I see something different. So far, nothing, knock wood. I did find a mistake on our petition, which I was able to bring to our attorney's attention, it wasn't anything big and we didn't amend our petition (don't want to bring attention to ourselves, learned that on here) bit what if it had been something big? Pacer could have saved us if it had been.

[music12]

there was a poster here that had a trustee's report filed on a saturday... the filing these days can be 24/7.

[backtoschool]

thanks all for the helpful responses.

I am going to try to hold out until my 341 (which is in two weeks) to join. I am nervous enough and I just don't think I can handle staying off the site and not clicking too much.

Since I moved from nyc to the midwest my lawyer already thinks I am pushy, lol so I don't want to be asking her questions every five minutes.

I guess burying my head in the sand right now to the details of my case is probably the better route for me.

[music12]

you know best what's best for you. sometimes there is bliss in ignorance. enjoy it!

[kenshirley]

there was a poster here that had a trustee's report filed on a saturday... the filing these days can be 24/7.

OK, I will bite on that but I could care less about that type of action. I was awaiting court action and they don't do business on weekends and holidays.

[music12]

OK, I will bite on that but I could care less about that type of action. I was awaiting court action and they don't do business on weekends and holidays.

true! but if all someone wants is to see a report of no distribution, and it gets filed on a saturday, that could make their weekend!