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slowandeasy · Feb 7, 2007, 11:05 AM

Can any one tell me how to pull up bankruptcy records for virginia with out having to pay
I thought bankruptcy records were public records? If so then why should we have to pay to look them up ? Does any one have a link to this ?
Thanks
Slow and easy

bretb · Feb 8, 2007, 09:07 AM

Well, companies charge to do the leg work. If you don't want to look for them yourself. I recommend, if you know the county that the bankruptcy was filed in, see if the conty courthouse has a website with publicly accessible records. If not, you'll likely have to visit the courthouse or request a copy of the records through the mail and pay some stupid copy charge (like $2 per page or something).

excon · Feb 9, 2007, 08:39 AM

Hello slow:

Bankruptcy is a federal action, so you'll have to look in the US Courthouse, not the county.

excon

slowandeasy · Feb 9, 2007, 09:04 AM

Hi
Thanks ,I tried looking in the federal court house that was closest to the city where that person lives. But I could not acess any thing, It sais something about having to have an account,I thought public information was free!

Thanks
Slow and easy

excon · Feb 9, 2007, 09:33 AM

Hello again, slow:

If you go to the courthouse where the case was heard, you can look it up for free. So, it IS available, free of charge. That's all the government has to do. So, if you want to see the file for free, go there. If not, pay whoever DID go there.

excon

ScottGem · Feb 9, 2007, 09:57 AM

Certain public info is available for free. But not all delivery methods are free. It costs money to convert the paper records to online format and to maintain a website and servers. So sometimes there is a charge to make it easier to access info.

Even when info is public, there often is a nominal charge to offset costs. Public does not necessarily mean free.

slowandeasy · Feb 9, 2007, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, slow:

If you go to the courthouse where the case was heard, you can look it up for free. So, it IS available, free of charge. That's all the government has to do. So, if you want to see the file for free, go there. If not, pay whoever DID go there.

excon

All I was asking was it a website to look under, It is not always easy to get someone to take you places like that when you are in a wheelchair

Fr_Chuck · Feb 9, 2007, 11:28 AM

Normally you can access any bankruptcy records from the Bankruptcy district court.. You will have to look specficly at the Bankruptcy district court web site, not the Federal Court house web site.

Normally it will show who and when filed. Figuring out which district court they filed in is the hardest thing at times

Fr_Chuck · Feb 9, 2007, 11:34 AM

Here are the Bankruptcy Court web sites for VA ( I may have one west VA in there I was not sure if it was western VA or West VA.

It appears they are starting to charge 8 cents a page for documents on at least one of the web sites, but this is about the only place short of physcialy going to the court office you will find the info.

Eastern District of Virginia - Welcome

https://ecf.vawb.uscourts.gov/

United States Bankruptcy Court - Western District of Virginia - Home Page

United States Bankruptcy Court - Southern District of West Virginia

slowandeasy · Feb 9, 2007, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Here are the Bankruptcy Court web sites for VA ( I may have one west VA in there I was not sure if it was western VA or West VA.

It appears they are starting to charge 8 cents a page for documents on at least one of the web sites, but this is about the only place short of physcialy going to the court office you will find the info.

Eastern District of Virginia - Welcome

https://ecf.vawb.uscourts.gov/

United States Bankruptcy Court - Western District of Virginia - Home Page

United States Bankruptcy Court - Southern District of West Virginia

Thank you so much!!