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Improved Noticing for Debtors Reduces Court Costs

Thursday, February 19, 2015

While business is increasingly conducted using smart phones, tablets and laptops, debtors who file for bankruptcy protection continue to receive paper copies of court notices and orders by regular mail — a practice that consumes both time and money. Thanks to a new program available through the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC), debtors in participating courts now have the option of receiving court-generated notices and orders electronically.

The program, known as Debtor Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing (DeBN), has expanded from a pilot and is open to all bankruptcy courts. DeBN is currently active in the bankruptcy courts of the Central District of California, Central District of Illinois, District of New Jersey, and District of South Carolina. In the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California—which has the largest bankruptcy caseload in the country— an informal poll showed that debtors would prefer to receive simple notices from the court on their phones, tablets, or computers rather than in the mail.

“We saw it as good customer service,” said Jeffrey Cozad, a Central District of California law clerk and member of the Judiciary’s Bankruptcy Noticing Working Group.

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