Bankruptcy Records Are Not Free for a Reason

court records involves an administrative fee no matter who requests them. Be wary of these companies.Plain and simple, bankruptcy records are not free. Though bankruptcy records may be documents residing in the public records, administrative fees are necessary for their release. Public clerks who maintain and provide those public records do not work for free, after all.Paper and electricity are not free either. About the only thing that companies who offer such a service will be able to tell you for free is that you have filed for bankruptcy. Well, duh! They are going to know that bit of information just because you have contacted them. Do they think someone would approach them without having status as a person with a bankruptcy on their records?Charging for Release of Bankruptcy RecordsOf course, bankruptcy records can be found within a public database and these files can be accessed and printed. But, this is not a free service. Any company operating and delivering on the premise that they can offer you free records would soon go bankrupt.They will be assessed a fee; how can they not charge you? Also, it is probably a good thing that these records are not free. Charging a fee adds another level of privacy to the documents and keeps many from digging for that sort of information for underhanded reasons. Also, if you are so interested in your bankruptcy records, realize that companies are not the only ones who can fetch those records. And they cannot do so unless they have pertinent information such as your social security number. You can go down to the courthouse and order up your own documentation. In fact, you should already have such documents left over from your bankruptcy proceedings. Your bankruptcy lawyer certainly has those records.Not All Companies Are Bogus, But BewareFolks who have a bankruptcy on their records should look for a company that is upfront about the fees it charges. Check a number of companies so you can compare fees. Beware of companies that overcharge, and beware of those that undercharge. Companies that overcharge are just trying to take advantage of troubled people. Sadly, this is not an uncommon practice in these recessionary times.Companies who undercharge may be looking out for something and your best interests is probably not one of the things they are looking out for. They may be looking for your personal information for nefarious purposes. Even though you may have recently filed for bankruptcy, you can be sure that you are still a candidate for identity theft and all the bad things that go along with it. Some cases have emerged where the bankruptcy status of the person whose identity has been stolen has actually abetted the ability of the thieves to increase their dishonest self-enrichment.When Marketing Turns into LyingJust on the face of it, offering something for free as a way to attract a customer, and then tacking on miscellaneous fees to cover the costs, is just not right. This could be called flypaper marketing. Once you have landed, you are stuck. Would you really want to do business with folks who use such ploys? No! Honesty is probably in short supply in a business who employs such tactics. Look for a company that operates with integrity, that is up front about their fees, that is not out to take advantage of vulnerable people.