To find bankruptcy filings, you have four practical options: search PACER, the federal courts’ online records system; call the McVCIS automated phone line; visit a federal bankruptcy courthouse in person; or, if the filing is your own, pull a free credit report. Bankruptcy cases are public records under federal law, so anyone can look them up, and most casual searches end up costing nothing.
Search PACER Online
The Public Access to Court Electronic Records system is the main tool. PACER covers every federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy court and holds more than a billion filed documents.1Public Access to Court Electronic Records. Public Access to Court Electronic Records Registration is free and takes a few minutes on the PACER website.
Once you’re registered, you have two ways in. If you know which court handled the case, search that court’s records directly by name, case number, or the last four digits of a Social Security number. If you don’t know where the case was filed, use the PACER Case Locator to run a nationwide search across every bankruptcy court at once.2United States Courts. Find a Case (PACER)
As of late 2024, searching the Case Locator by SSN or EIN also requires a last name or business name. The courts added that requirement for system security.3PACER. Coming Soon – Changes to PCL Find Bankruptcy by SSN/EIN
What It Costs
Viewing search results and docket pages costs $0.10 per page, capped at $3.00 per document. The important detail: if your account accrues less than $30.00 in charges during a quarterly billing cycle, those fees are waived entirely.4United States Courts. Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule For a one-time search to confirm whether someone filed, you almost certainly won’t hit that threshold. PACER is effectively free for most casual users.
What You’ll See
A search result shows the debtor’s name, case number, the court, the bankruptcy chapter (7, 11, 12, or 13), and the current status. From there you can open the full docket, which lists every motion, order, and filing. The petition, schedules of debts, and discharge order are all downloadable, with each page counting toward the per-page fee. Social Security numbers appear partially or fully redacted, but the case’s existence, the debtor’s name, the chapter, and the outcome are visible.
Call McVCIS for a Free Phone Search
If you’d rather skip the online account, the Multi-court Voice Case Information System gives you basic case data over the phone, 24 hours a day, every day.5PACER: Federal Court Records. Phone Access to Court Records Call (866) 222-8029. The automated system walks you through searching by name, case number, or Social Security number and reads back the case number, filing date, chapter, and status. It’s free. It won’t give you copies of documents, and if you’re searching a common name without any narrowing detail, you may have to listen through a long run of case summaries before hearing the right one.
Visit a Bankruptcy Court in Person
Every federal bankruptcy court has public terminals where you can view electronic case records at the courthouse at no charge. Printing from the terminal is $0.10 per page, but viewing is free.2United States Courts. Find a Case (PACER) This is the best option if you want to read through case documents without worrying about PACER fees piling up. The clerk’s staff can help you locate specific filings; they won’t interpret the records or offer legal advice.
Bankruptcy cases are filed in the federal judicial district where the debtor lives or has their principal place of business, so the debtor’s last known address tells you which courthouse to go to. The U.S. Courts website has a locator that maps addresses to the right district.
Older Cases Stored on Paper
PACER covers cases filed after courts moved to electronic filing. Older cases, including many from the 1990s and earlier, may exist only on paper at a Federal Records Center. Pulling them requires a request to the bankruptcy court clerk and a fee: $70 for the first box retrieved from storage, $43 for each additional box, or $11 plus any storage facility charges for an electronic retrieval. A court records search done on your behalf runs $34 per name or item searched.6United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule Confirm the case exists through McVCIS or a basic PACER search before paying for a physical retrieval.
Pull a Credit Report (Your Own)
A bankruptcy filing appears on the debtor’s credit report and stays there for up to 10 years from the date of the court order.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes that in certain instances a bankruptcy can be reported beyond 10 years.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does a Bankruptcy Appear on Credit Reports
Credit reports are not public records. Federal law restricts access to specific permissible purposes, including evaluating a credit application, employment screening with the applicant’s written consent, insurance underwriting, and tenant screening the consumer initiates.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports You cannot simply pull another person’s report to see whether they filed.
Checking your own report is the fastest route to confirm whether a bankruptcy is still listed against you. The three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) now offer free weekly reports through AnnualCreditReport.com, a program made permanent after launching as a pandemic measure.10Federal Trade Commission. You Now Have Permanent Access to Free Weekly Credit Reports
What Information Makes the Search Work
The more identifying detail you bring, the faster you’ll land on the right case. The debtor’s full legal name is the floor. Common names can return dozens of hits across the country, so narrow where you can.
- Last known address, since cases are filed in the district where the debtor lives. City and state at least point you to the right court or let you filter in the Case Locator.
- Last four digits of the SSN. PACER accepts partial SSN searches, and this is the fastest way to cut through results for a common name. Full SSNs are redacted from court records.
- Approximate filing date, which lets you set a date range and skip unrelated hits.
- EIN for a business bankruptcy. Combined with the business name, this returns a precise match.
Without at least a name and a general location, a nationwide search can return more results than you can usefully sort through.
Reading What You Find
The case status line is the first thing to understand. “Discharged” means the court wiped out the debtor’s eligible debts and the case was completed; creditors covered by the discharge can no longer collect on those debts. “Dismissed” means the case ended without debt relief, often because required paperwork wasn’t filed, Chapter 13 plan payments weren’t made, or the debtor missed hearings. After dismissal, creditors can resume collection as if the bankruptcy never happened.
The chapter tells you what kind of case it was. Chapter 7 is a liquidation, with nonexempt assets sold to pay creditors and eligible debts discharged, usually within a few months. Chapter 13 is a three-to-five-year repayment plan with a discharge at the end if the debtor completes the plan. Chapter 11 is a reorganization used primarily by businesses.
If You’re a Creditor, Stop Collecting
The moment someone files for bankruptcy, an automatic stay takes effect that blocks nearly all collection activity. Under 11 U.S.C. ยง 362, the stay halts lawsuits, wage garnishments, collection calls, repossession, and enforcement of pre-filing judgments. An individual harmed by a willful violation can recover actual damages, attorney fees, and in egregious cases punitive damages.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay If your search confirms an active bankruptcy against someone you’ve been trying to collect from, stop and talk to an attorney before doing anything else.
Limits on Using What You Find
Finding a filing is easy. Acting on it is constrained. Federal law bars government agencies from denying or revoking a license, permit, or employment based on a bankruptcy filing and bars private employers from firing or discriminating in employment against someone solely because of a past bankruptcy. The same statute extends protection to student loan programs.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 525 – Protection Against Discriminatory Treatment The filing itself is a public record anyone can see; taking adverse action because of it is a separate legal question.