Facilitators

If you are a Facilitator attorney and have already been given a user name and password, please select the login button at the top right hand side of your screen to access your web portal.

 

Client Handouts

 

Summary

Facilitators are attorneys, legal aid and social service organizations that wish to regularly refer their clients to the Institute for Pre-Filing Counseling and/or Post-Filing Debtor Education services. Facilitators receive their clients’ certificates by email and have direct internet access to their clients’ information and certificates through their web portal. There is no cost of any type for the Facilitator, but Facilitators must collect the Institute’s service fees from clients and remit them to the Institute on a weekly basis.

 

Why Become a Facilitator

Correct Services every time. Many attorneys report that, no matter which agency or provider they are using or how clearly the attorney explains the process, overwhelmed clients find it challenging to differentiate between pre-filing and post-filing services and often sign up for the wrong one. With a Facilitator account, the law firm specifies the service the client needs, thus avoiding those mistakes.

Swift Access to Services. Clients may not have an electronic means of payment, which may cause additional delay or expense in obtaining services. With a Facilitator account, the law firm collects and remits the Institute’s service fee(s), thus ensuring the client’s swift access to services and avoiding next day shipping charges for checks and money orders.

Certificate Issues. Some clients don’t know what to do with a certificate once they get it, or give the agency or provider the incorrect fax number for the attorney. Even if the fax number is correct, the attorney then has to scan the certificate before submitting it to ECF. With a Facilitator account, the attorney not only receives the certificate immediately by email, but also has access to the certificate online in case the certificate is accidentally deleted. Since the client’s legal name and judicial district are entered directly by the law firm, typos and miscommunications are reduced.

Transparency. Many attorneys faced with certifying the accuracy of their clients’ financial statements prefer to have access to clients’ budget information, which they then compare to their draft schedules to identify accidental inconsistencies. Other attorneys use the budget information and recommendations as the starting point for drafting schedules and a detailed client interview.
 
Efficiency. Many attorneys prefer to have a single agency/provider which can handle all of their Pre-Filing Counseling and Post-Filing Debtor Ed needs. With on demand telephone and internet delivery options for both counseling and debtor education and a no-hassle pro bono process, the Institute can deliver quality services to almost any client, anywhere.

 

Online Web Portal

After creating a Facilitator account, Facilitators are issued a user name and password for the web portal. This allows the Facilitator to:

• Sign clients up for services (Pre-Filing Counseling and/or Post-Filing Debtor Ed)
• Monitor their clients' progress through the program(s)
• View clients’ Pre-Filing Counseling budget information
• View the Institute’s analysis and recommendations to the client
• Have direct access to clients' certificates of completion
• Automatically be sent clients’ certificates of completion by email

 

Fee Remittance

• Facilitators collect the Institute’s service fees from clients and remit them to the Institute on a weekly basis.
• Facilitators collect the Institute’s service fee only if they use their Facilitator account to sign a client up for a specific service.
• Facilitators must hold the Institute’s service fees in escrow or a client trust account in accordance with local bar requirements for client funds.
• Fees accrue when the client is signed up for a specific service.
• The Institute offers a 100% money back guarantee to all clients if they are not satisfied or do not use a service.
• Facilitators may remit fees using their credit card, debit card, ACH (electronic bank draft), or check.
• Facilitators receive weekly itemized remittance invoices by email or fax.

 

Institute Service Fees

Pre-Filing Counseling: $50 per household (single or couple) regardless of delivery method.
Post-Filing Debtor Ed: $50 per household (single or couple) regardless of delivery method.

 

Pro Bono Services

All agencies and providers approved by the EOUST and Bankruptcy Administrators are required to provide services without regard to the client’s ability to pay. The Institute is committed to ensuring that the counseling and education requirements do not create an obstacle to individuals in need of bankruptcy protection.  The Institute meets this commitment by:

• seeking out partnerships with legal aid organizations and individual pro bono providers
• automatically waiving service fees for clients of these legal aid organizations and pro bono providers
• waiving service fees for clients whose attorney certifies they have waived their legal fee in whole or in part
• waiving service fees upon request for clients whose documented gross income is less than 150% of the federal poverty line
  reviewing requests for service fee waivers under other circumstances on a case by case basis
• treating all clients with respect and providing quality service regardless of payment status

Legal services organizations and their supporters are encouraged to contact the Institute to discuss the available partnership options. If you have any further questions about fee waivers, please call our offices toll free at 866-662-4932 during normal business hours.

 

Normal Business Hours.

 

Facilitator Registration Form

In order to establish a Facilitator account, please fill out a Facilitator Registration Form. The Institute will create an account for your organization and contact you to schedule a training session for you and your staff on the web portal. The training session normally takes approximately 30 minutes, and covers the following topics:

• Logging in
• Locating an existing client's file
• Reviewing the client's budget information and recommendations
• Adding a new client to the system
• Adding and removing services (Pre-Filing Counseling and/or Post-Filing Debtor Ed) from a client
• Receiving Certificates of Completion
• Signing up Pro Bono clients without being charged

 

Facilitator Client Handouts

These are single page forms designed to be given to clients by Facilitators. Each form corresponds to a particular service and delivery method, as the instructions vary slightly from one to the next. The different services and delivery methods are explained in the Overview. They are not required, but may help avoid some client confusion.

Facilitator Internet Pre-Filing Counseling Client Instructions

Facilitator Internet Post-Filing Debtor Education Client Instructions

Facilitator Telephone Pre-Filing Counseling Client Instructions

Facilitator Telephone Post-Filing Debtor Education Client Instructions

Facilitator Home Study Post-Filing Debtor Education Client Instructions