How Can I Get a Copy of My Bankruptcy Paperwork from 20 Years Ago?

Occasionally, I get a call or an email requesting copies of paperwork from a bankruptcy client who I represented fifteen or twenty years ago. Sometimes this paperwork is needed as part of a mortgage loan refinance and sometimes it is needed to help clear up a credit reporting issue. How do you obtain old bankruptcy paperwork?

In the Northern District of Georgia, bankruptcy paperwork has been online for close to ten years. If the petition, claims and discharge documents are available electronically, I can simply download the .pdf file and forward to my client.

What about paperwork on cases filed prior to the electronic filing era. Those documents are still available but will be more difficult to obtain. You can get copies of old bankruptcy paperwork through the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. Here is a link to the fee schedule for obtaining old bankruptcy records and here is a link to ordering your copies of bankruptcy records.  You can also order old bankruptcy records by fax or mail.