Will My Bankruptcy be in the Newspaper?

Your bankruptcy filing will not appear in the local newspaper. This is one of the top myths surrounding filing for bankruptcy in Oklahoma. Oklahoma bankruptcy filings are a matter of public record, but they are not generally publicized in newspapers or elsewhere. Plus, even if it were published (it is not), people hardly read the newspaper anymore. While it is true that bankruptcy petitions and schedules get uploaded to the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) system used by federal courts to store and access documents, in order to access PACER people have to register for an account and then pay for each page they download from the system.

It is easy to understand why clients are worried about this bankruptcy myth, but it is highly unlikely anyone will find out about your bankruptcy filing. Is it possible someone you know may find out about the filing? Absolutely. However, consider this: if you do not file for bankruptcy and one or more of your creditors files a civil lawsuit against you while trying to collect the debt, it is much more likely people will learn of your financial troubles. They may see process servers showing up at your home to serve the lawsuit(s). If the lawsuit becomes a judgment against you, the judgment will appear under your name online on the Oklahoma State Courts Network (OSCN) and the On Demand Court Records (ODCR) website. These websites are free to access and those lawsuits and judgments are much easier to discover. All a person has to do is type in the county and the name of the person and all of the lawsuit details can be seen.

We realize that you are feeling upset and overwhelmed by your financial crisis. Our goal at the Henson Law Firm is to simplify filing for bankruptcy in Oklahoma as much as possible. For more information or to get started with the Oklahoma bankruptcy filing process, contact us at 918.551.8995 or click “Schedule a Free Virtual Consultation” on our website to setup a FREE and confidential initial consultation.

*We are a debt relief law firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

*We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.