Is pacer free if i use under $10

[NY1]

Is pacer free if i use under $10? From what i understand if i dont use more than $10 , then i will not be billed..Is this correct?

[momisery]

Good question, I used 32 cents and I have not heard anything yet.

[forgotten]

Correct. You will only receive a quarterly bill if you balance goes over $10. If you make it to the end of the year and your balance is under $10 then your balance is deleted.

[NY1]

So as of 1/1/10 my balance was reset and everything i used in 2009 is deleted , correct?

[forgotten]

So as of 1/1/10 my balance was reset and everything i used in 2009 is deleted , correct?

In theory. You can check your account balance on the pacer website to make sure.

[ohiojewel]

Also you might be surprised how quickly those charges add up. I did a search using my lawyer's name just to see what her caseload is like. Suddenly I had generated 38 pages. So that was a reminder to me to not become too obsessed with the site.

[forgotten]

Also you might be surprised how quickly those charges add up. I did a search using my lawyer's name just to see what her caseload is like. Suddenly I had generated 38 pages. So that was a reminder to me to not become too obsessed with the site.

Agreed. I also thought I would stay under the $10 limit... Well, i've racked up $65 worth of charges since I filed in June.

[oloffredo]

so they bill you? do you have to input a credit card ?

[campinkook]

Free Pacer

I read and reread the Sticky's regarding PACER, and signed up using my debit card. Checked several times following the great notes in the Sticky's, and got everything I needed for nothing (MAYBE $.08). Once again, thanks to those here that provide such useful information!

campinkook

[SleepWellNow]

Great tip I read about Pacer in this forum...after you log in and click "query", it will take you to the page to type in your case number. Then click "run query". Up at the top it will give you the "date of last filing". If the date hasn't changed, nothing new has been filed and there is no need to go further. And, no charges will be made. If the date changes, you can click "Docket Report" and see what has been filed. This will keep your page viewings to a minimum.

[tinfoilhat]

Correct. You will only receive a quarterly bill if you balance goes over $10. If you make it to the end of the year and your balance is under $10 then your balance is deleted.

WRONG!!
I just got a charge from pacer for $1.84. One Dollar and Eighty Four Cents.

[tigergem]

I don't think the balance is deleted. It just isn't charged to your card. I had actually signed up for my PACER account a couple of years ago for some other reason, to help out a technologically challenged friend, and had a standing balance of like $8 and change ... and that balance remained on there until I logged into it for my own case purposes. When I went over the $10 during the course of my own filing, they attempted to charge the old original card that I had put into the system. Of course it was no good. So I got an email to update my payment information. Nice that they don't charge interest or fees on that!

[falken]

http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/announcements/general/new_bill_notice.pdf

- No notices posted after this one:

The change to billing policy responds to a measure approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States in March 2001 stating that no fee is owed until a user accrues more than $10 worth of charges in a calendar year. Consequently, if an account does not accrue $10 worth of usage between January 1st and December 31st each year, all balances will be deleted from our records. This policy change will be effective for the calendar year of 2001, and statements will not be mailed to PACER users whose accounts do not have a balance due of at least $10. Once the balance due exceeds $10, a user will receive a statement by mail which includes the current and previous charges.

[falken]

My mistake, there is a new notice:

The Judicial Conference of the United States approved a measure in March 2010 stating that you will not owe a fee unless your account accrues more than $10 of usage in a given quarter. If you accrue less than $10, your fees are waived for that quarter and your billing statement will have a zero balance. This policy change will be effective for the April 2010 statement.

http://pacer.uscourts.gov/pacerdesc.html

It now gets erased at the end of each quarter if you are under $10.

[tigergem]

Huh. Go figure. Mine didn't get erased. I just didn't have to pay it until it went over $10.