Bankruptcy Counseling

How do you want to complete your counseling?

Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) is a non-profit agency that provides financial counseling and education services. The credit counselors employed by CCCS have been trained and certified by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), and complete continuing education on a yearly basis.

  • CCCS will provide a budget analysis that will examine your financial situation and we will provide you options for resolving your debt. Counselors will provide information about bankruptcy, including its process, the possible credit consequences, and your alternatives to filing for bankruptcy. The financial counseling session we will provide you has no effect on your credit report or credit score.
  • Clients with limited English proficiency will need to notify CCCS of the need for a translator, which will be provided free of charge.
  • The cost for a Pre-Filing Bankruptcy Counseling Session is $50 for an appointment in person or over the phone. This service is also offered over the internet and costs $50 because a phone call follow-up with a counselor is required after completing the online portion. These fees apply to both those who are filing alone and to those filing jointly. This fee is used to cover the cost of the class, and no additional fee is charged for the creation of your certificate. If you pay online, PayPal may choose to charge a fee for their service on top of CCCS fees.
  • CCCS waives fees for those whose household meets the low-income guidelines as established by the Department of Health and Human Services (income at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty guidelines for household size).
  • You will only receive a certificate of counseling if you complete the pre-filing counseling session. Upon completion of the counseling, CCCS has the obligation to promptly provide a certificate of counseling. If you have not received your certificate via email within 3 business days of completion, please contact our office at 316-265-2000.
  • If requested, CCCS may also provide your attorney and/or bankruptcy judge/trustee with copies of the certificate, as well as any other required information gathered during the counseling session. In the absence of such a request, you, and not CCCS, are responsible for providing a copy of the certificate of completion to your attorney and/or the court. Bankruptcy certificates are valid for 180 days from the date the counseling is completed.
  • Filing for bankruptcy may result in a lowered credit score. Bankruptcy will not improve your credit score and will appear on your credit report for up to 10 years. Please contact an attorney for more legal ramifications of filing Bankruptcy. CCCS employees are not attorneys.
  • CCCS may also offer you a Debt Management Plan (DMP) as an alternative to bankruptcy, where you have the right to negotiate an alternative payment schedule with regard to each unsecured consumer debt under terms set forth in 11 U.S.C 502(k). CCCS has no responsibility for any past, present, or future credit rating you receive; in a few certain circumstances, a DMP may affect your credit rating negatively. Your credit score might lower as a result of closing the accounts that are added to the plan, as a result of not paying the full amount owed on your accounts, or as a result of a late or missed payment once your DMP is in effect.
  • Employees of CCCS are not allowed to accept or make payments in exchange for referrals. However, a significant portion of funding for this agency comes from voluntary contributions from creditors who participate in DMPs under fair share agreements, due to their interest in having consumer debts repaid. As a non-profit agency, CCCS also receives funding through grants and donations, from agencies such as United Way of the Plains and the Office of the State Bank Commissioner of Kansas.
  • CCCS might disclose client information to the United States Trustee (EOUST) in connection with the United States Trustee's oversight of the agency, or during the investigation of complaints, during on-site visits, or during quality of service reviews.
  • The EOUST has reviewed only the agency's counseling and instructional services in regard to bankruptcy and has not reviewed or approved any other services that this agency provides.

Since 1985, Consumer Credit Counseling Service, Inc. (CCCS) has the honor and experience of educating consumers and clients about money and credit. Our counselors have completed the professional certification program with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and are required to continue their education yearly to maintain this highly regarded certification. Our agency is a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). The NFCC has high standards for quality credit counseling and financial education, and our agency complies with those standards. In addition, our agency is certified by the Council on Accreditation, an independent third-party organization that reviews and monitors entities that provide social services.

CCCS is a non-profit agency. We are organized and operate in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. CCCS receives funding in the form of grants from banks and other financial institutions that support financial counseling. We do not pay or receive fees or other considerations for referrals of debtor students to our agency. CCCS is obligated to provide your certificate promptly upon completion of counseling/briefing, and we will do this within one business day upon the completion of your course. You will only receive your certificate upon completion of counseling. The Executive Office for the United States Trustee (EOUST) may review client information as needed. The EOUST has only reviewed and approved Pre-filing credit counseling and Post-filing debtor education services.


How to Complete the Counseling

In-person or by phone
If you are completing this process in-person or by phone your counselor will ask you questions about your budget, assets, creditors, and factors that led you to consider bankruptcy. After reviewing all your information, your counselor will conduct an analysis of your financial situation and explore your options with you and develop an individualized action plan for dealing with them. If you complete this counseling in person your counselor will provide you copies of all this information.  If you are completing this process by phone your counselor will email, fax or send you copies of this information.

Online
If you are taking this program online, the program will ask questions about your budget, assets, creditors and factors that led you to consider bankruptcy. There is a requirement by law that you must have interaction with your counselor in the counseling process. Your counselor will contact by phone to ask questions about the information you provided. Your counselor will discuss the factors/reasons leading you to why you are considering bankruptcy, and review your budget, creditors and assets. Your counselor will conduct an analysis of your financial situation, explore all alternatives to resolve your credit problems, and develop an individualized written action plan for dealing with your situation. The quality of your counseling session does not depend upon whether you decide to file for bankruptcy or not.

In addition, the quality of the counseling session will not be diminished if you are completing the counseling session by telephone or internet. Once this is complete you will be notified by email to log back into the program where you can print copies of all this information for your records.