Free On-Line Credit Card Payment Guide - Texas


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United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Texas

Electronic Case Filing On-line Credit Card Payment Guide
Revised 9/3/2004

On-line Credit Card Payments
OVERVIEW
The Credit Card module is designed to allow attorney filers to pay filing fees interactively as part of the electronic filing process via the Internet to the U.S. Treasury. Upon the successful submission of a document requiring a filing fee the attorney filer has the option to pay after every transaction or can simply make one payment at the end of the day for all transactions. In order to successfully use the On-line Credit Card Payment module, your browser must have 128-bit encryption. Follow the instructions below to determine if your browser supports 128-bit encryption. Microsoft Internet Explorer (4.x, 5.x, 6.x) 1. Click on the "Help" tab on your menu bar at the top of the screen 2. Scroll down and select "About Internet Explorer" 3. A small window appears in the center of your screen indicating the version, as well as the encryption or cipher strength of your browser (either 40-bit, 56-bit, or 128-bit). If the screen indicates you have a 40-bit or 56-bit version, or if it does not indicate the encryption level, you will need to upgrade to a version with 128bit encryption. Nestcape Navigator/Communicator (4.x or greater) 1. Click on the "Help" tab on your menu bar at the top of the screen. 2. Scroll down and select "About Navigator" or "About Communicator". 3. A screen appears that lists the details of your browser. Look for a section on the left and toward the middle that begins "Contains encryption software from RSA Data Security, Inc..." If the next paragraph begins, "This version supports U.S. security..." your browser has 128-bit encryption. If it states that you have international security, your browser has 40-bit or 56-bit encryption and you will need to upgrade to a version with 128-bit encryption. All completed on-line payments of fees, show a receipt entry that is automatically posted to the docket sheet for the case(s). The entry will include the filing fee and receipt number. (See Figure 1)

Figure 1

PROCEDURE
Filing a New Bankruptcy Case or Other Pleading Requiring a Fee
Once you have completed the filing of a new case, or the filing of a motion that requires the payment of a fee (e.g., Motion for Relief from Stay), a pop-up window will appear. You may either select the Pay Now option or the Continue Filing option. (See Figure 2)
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Figure 2

IF YOU CONTINUE FILING You will receive an opportunity to Pay Now after each subsequent transaction or you may pay at the end of the day using the Reports menu option, Internet Payment Due Report. Note: If you do not pay your fees by the end of each day it is likely the system will prevent you from filing on the following day. You will be unable to file pleadings in ECF until you settle the outstanding balance on your account. IF YOU PAY NOW Click Pay Now and the credit card information screen will appear. (See Figure 3)

Figure 3
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1. Select the appropriate Card Type (Visa, MC, Discovery, Amex, or Diner's Club) from the drop-down menu 2. Enter Card Number 3. Enter Expiration Date 4. Click Continue. (Note: You can cancel the transaction at any time by clicking the Quit or Cancel button.) Once you click Continue, the Payment Summary and Authorization screen will appear. (See Figure 4)

Figure 4

1. Check the box next to "I authorize a charge to my card account for the above amount in accordance with my card issuer agreement. Note: If you do not check the box you will receive an error message and you will not be able to continue with payment processing. The picture on the next page provides an example. (See Figure 5) 2. If you would like an e-mail confirmation of the payment, enter your e-mail address in the box provided. You must re-enter the e-mail address for confirmation in the box provided to receive e-mail confirmation of the transaction. 3. Once the necessary entries are made on the Payment Summary and Authorization Screen, click the Make Payment button. IMPORTANT: Do NOT double-click the Make Payment button. Doubleclicking may result in duplicate charges to your credit card.
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Figure 5

Once your card has been authorized a screen will appear with the following message: "Thank you. Your transaction in the amount of $ (amount) has been completed." The system provides you with a transaction number. You can click on the link "print a copy of" to print a hard copy of the transaction. (See Figure 6)

Figure 6

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5. Click the Close Window button NOTE: If an invalid credit card number is entered, or an error in processing the payment occurs, the following message screen will appear. (See Figure 7) If you do not receive confirmation of a successful transaction, review the Internet Payment History Report under Utilities (see Page 11 of this guide for instructions), or the docket report on PACER, or contact the court to see if the transaction was successful. Do not re-file your pleading if you are unsure the transaction was completed successfully. Re-filing your pleading may result in duplicate charges to your credit card.

Figure 7

Filing a New Bankruptcy Case Using Quick Filing or "Flash" Filing
If you are using petition preparation software to submit your bankruptcy filings to the court, you MAY NOT be prompted with the credit card payment pop-up window upon completion of the filing. In order to pay your fee(s), you will need to go to Utilities and use the Internet Payments Due feature in ECF. You must settle your account by the close of business each day. See the section below for instructions on how to use the Internet Payments Due Report for payment of fees.

Filing a New Adversary Case
The same procedure for filing bankruptcy cases through ECF applies for adversary case filing. Upon filing your adversary in ECF, you are prompted to either select the Pay Now option or the Continue Filing option. NOTE: There is an EXCEPTION to this procedure. EXCEPTION: If the plaintiff is: 1. The United States, other than the U.S. Trustee acting as a trustee, or 2. The debtor, or
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3. A Child support creditor, or its representative, who has concurrently filed an Appearance of Child Support Then you will complete the filing of your adversary and select Continue Filing from the credit card payment pop-up screen. DO NOT CLICK THE PAY NOW BUTTON IF THESE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES APPLY. Next, send an Email to [email protected] to have the court remove the filing fee removed from your transaction log. Please include the following information in your Email: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Attorney Filer's Name Case number Event (adversary, motion to reopen, etc.) Dollar amount Date of Filing, and Reason the fee is to be waived

The court will review the case and notify you by Email that the fee has been waived. A message such as the one below will remind you during the filing of your adversary case. (See Figure 8)

Figure 8

If one of your adversary cases contains any of these special circumstances, do NOT settle your account until you have received Email notification from the court that the fee has been waived. This will ensure that the court has had time to receive your e-mail and remove the filing fee from your transaction log.

Filing a Motion
The procedure for using the ECF credit card module works similarly for new case opening, motions and notices which require fees. For a complete list of all filing fees, please go to the court web site at http://www.txnb.uscourts.gov/general/fee_schedule.jsp NOTE: If you are filing a motion for relief from stay that is exempt from the filing fee because it is: 1. Agreed, Stipulated or With Consent
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2. Co-debtor Lift Stay 3. Filed by an agent of the government 4. Filed by a Child Support Creditor Be sure to choose the correct "No Fee" event code. No prompt appears to pay a filing fee.

Filing Amended Matrix and Schedules (D, E & F)
1. Select the event Amended matrix/amended schedules (fee) By choosing this event, a single $26.00 fee will be charged. If docketed separately a $26.00 fee will be charged for each pleading.

REPORTS
Internet Payments Due
This report allows an attorney to pay immediately all outstanding fees without docketing another pleading or opening another case. Use this report if you are done filing for the day and forgot to select the Pay Now option on your last filing. There are no selection screens or sort options offered. 1. Click Utilities 2. Click Internet Payments Due 3. A summary pop-up screen will appear (See Figure 9)

Figure 9

4. Scroll to the bottom of the pop-up screen and click Pay Now
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5. The credit card information screen will appear 6. Select the appropriate Card Type (Visa, MC, Discovery or Amex) from the dropdown menu. 7. Enter Card Number 8. Enter Expiration Date 9. Click Continue. (Note: You can cancel the transaction at any time by clicking the Quit button.) Once you click Continue, the Payment Summary and Authorization screen will appear. (See Figure 10)

Figure 10

1. Check the box next to "I authorize a charge to my card account for the above amount in accordance with my card issuer agreement. Note: If you do not check the box you will receive an error message and you will not be able to continue with payment processing. Figure11 on the next page provides an example. 2. If you would like an e-mail confirmation of the payment, enter your e-mail address in the box provided. You must re-enter the e-mail address for confirmation in the box provided.

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Figure 11

Once your card has been authorized a screen will appear with the following message: "Thank you. Your transaction in the amount of $ (amount) has been completed." The system provides you with a transaction number. You can click on the link "print a copy of" to print a hard copy of the transaction. (See Figure 12)

Figure 12
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10. Click the Close Window button NOTE: Once you have completed the on-line payment of fees, the receipt entry will be automatically posted to the docket sheet for each case(s). The entry will include the filing fee and receipt number. (See Figure 13)

Figure 13

Internet Payment History
The Internet Payment History Report allows an attorney to review his/her completed credit card payments over any specified time period. 1. Click Utilities 2. Click Internet Payment History 3. Enter date range 4. Click Run Report 5. The report will display (Figure 14)

Figure 14

For more information regarding court procedures for electronic case filing, please visit the ECF User Manual located at www.txnb.uscourts.gov/ecf

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