Receive Court Notices and Orders by Email (DeBN)
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania offers debtors the opportunity to request to receive court notices and orders from the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) by email rather than by U.S. mail, through a program called Debtor Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing (DeBN).
Note: DeBN only applies to court-issued notices and orders. DeBN will not email notices, pleadings, or other filings that are to be served by other parties in a bankruptcy case, such as the Trustee, creditors or attorneys. These other parties will continue to serve papers by other means, such as U.S. mail or personal service.
DeBN provides the following advantages:
- It’s FAST: Receive court notices and orders the same day they are filed by the court, and the same day as your attorney.
- It’s FREE: No charge to enroll, or to view or save your emailed court notices and orders.
- It’s CONVENIENT: Receive unlimited access to your court notices and orders from your computer or mobile device equipped with an Internet connection and a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9036, a party may make a written request for delivery of notices via email, instead of U.S. mail. Through the DeBN program, only court notices and orders that have been filed by the court can be emailed to the debtor. Debtors requesting participation in the DeBN program must complete a request here: Debtor’s Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing Request (DeBN). If both debtors in a joint case wish to receive emailed court notices and orders, you both must complete a registration separately. A DeBN account remains active until you either request to deactivate your account or the BNC receives a delivery failure for your email address.
What is DeBN?
DEBTOR ELECTRONIC BANKRUPTCY NOTICING (DeBN) is a FREE and voluntary service that allows debtors to request delivery of court notices and orders from the bankruptcy court, through the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC), via email instead of U.S. mail.
Who is the BNC?
The BNC sends court notices and orders from all bankruptcy courts to debtors and other parties in bankruptcy cases by either mail or email.
What are Court Notices and Orders?
Court notices and orders refer to the documents filed by the bankruptcy court, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Notice of Meeting of Creditors
- Notice of Incomplete and/or Deficient Filing
- Notice of Requirement to Complete Course in Financial Management
- Order on Motion for Wage Attachment
- Order on Motion for Relief from Stay
- Order regarding Chapter 13 Plan
- Order of Discharge of Debtor
Who Will Serve Me via Email?
By enrolling in DeBN, a debtor consents ONLY to service of court notices and orders filed by the bankruptcy court via email. The BNC, on the bankruptcy court’s behalf, will prepare and send the emails.
DeBN will not email notices, pleadings, or other filings that are to be served by other parties in a bankruptcy case such as the Trustee, creditors or attorneys. These other parties will continue to serve the papers by other means, such as U.S. mail or personal service.
Length of Enrollment in DeBN:
Once the debtor’s DeBN account has been created, the account will remain active, unless:
- Debtor’s account is automatically disabled due to an email transmission failure (email bounce-back); or
- The debtor files a request to deactivate the account. A debtor may file this request at any time.
As long as the debtor’s DeBN account is active, all court notices and orders will be emailed to the debtor by the BNC in any current or future bankruptcy or adversary case from any bankruptcy court district in which the debtor’s name and address in that case match the name and address in the debtor’s DeBN account, including cases where the debtor may be listed as a creditor.
How it Works:
Once the debtor files a DeBN request form and the clerk's office creates the DeBN account, all future court notices and orders will be emailed to the debtor.
When the court files a notice or order and sends it to the BNC for service upon the debtor, the BNC will email the notice to the debtor at the end of the day. The court notice or order will be emailed as a single PDF attachment, and a separate email will be sent for each court notice or order that has been filed.
There is no limit to the number of times the debtor may view the PDF attachment, and the debtor is free to print the attachment, save it to his or her computer, or simply retain the email for viewing at any time.
If the PDF attachment exceeds 8 MB, the notice will be sent to the debtor by U.S. mail instead of email.
How Do I Request DeBN?
Signing up for DeBN is easy using this request form. Debtor's Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing Request (DeBN)
Your account will be automatically activated upon receipt and processing your request. From that point forward, all future notices and orders filed by the court will be delivered to you via email, as long as your name and address in the bankruptcy case match your name and address in your DeBN account and there are no email transmission failures.
Keep the Court Advised by Filing an Updated Request if You:
- Change your email address;
- File a new case after enrolling in DeBN (so the court can make sure your name and address in your DeBN account match your new case); or
- Wish to deactivate or reactivate your account.
Email Transmission
The Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) will transmit emails in the evening on the same day a notice or order is filed by the Court and sent to the BNC for service upon the debtor.
The notice or order will be attached to the email as a single PDF file. It is recommended that you use the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader software for viewing these PDF documents. If you do not have this software, you can download it free of charge here. If you are using a mobile device, please visit your mobile device’s app store for a free download of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Not all notices you receive in a case are processed through the BNC.
BNC Email Address
The BNC will send you confirmation emails and court notices and orders using the following addresses:
bncedi@noticingcenter.com
bncrtn@noticingcenter.com
Please add these email addresses to your contacts/safe-sender list to ensure delivery of court notices/orders to your email inbox.
Note: Please do not reply or send emails to these email addresses. These email accounts are used for the sole purpose of sending emails, and the inboxes are not monitored. Please contact the Clerk’s Office if you have any questions about the DeBN program.
Email Formatting
Each email containing a court notice or order will be formatted as follows:
1. A subject header containing the BNC email serial number and your DeBN account number. The serial number increases each time you are sent an email notice in order to help you determine that you have received all of your emails.
2. Text that describes the number of notices and total notice pages.
3. Text that shows the name and address of the recipient, case number, court form code, originating court and title of document filed for each notice.
4. Contain a PDF attachment of the notice or order that was filed in your case.
Email Examples:
1. Notice Filed in a Case
2. Confirmation of Activation of DeBN Account
3. Confirmation of Updates to DeBN Account
4. Notice of Deactivated Account
Name and Address Matching
Your DeBN account is created using your name and address exactly as it appears in your bankruptcy case. As long as your name and address in your bankruptcy case exactly matches your name and address in your DeBN account, all notices and orders that the court files and sends to the BNC for service upon you will be delivered to you via email.
If your name and address in your DeBN account does not match the bankruptcy case, then the BNC will send court notices and orders to you via U.S. mail.
If you or your attorney files a notice of change of address with the court, then the clerk’s office will make the necessary changes to both your bankruptcy case and your DeBN account. You will then receive an email from the BNC advising you that your DeBN account has been updated.
Email Bounce-Back (Undeliverable Email)
The first time the BNC receives an email bounce-back (undeliverable email), your DeBN account will automatically be disabled, and the notice or order will be resent to you via U.S. mail (as long as the bounce-back occurred within 10 days). Any future court notices and orders will be delivered to you via U.S. mail, and you must file an updated request form if you wish to reactivate your DeBN account.
1. Reliable Internet Access
2. Email Account
Please be aware that the email address you use for your DeBN account will become a part of the official court record. A DeBN account will not be created if the clerk's office determines that the debtor's email address is inappropriate or offensive.
The BNC will send you confirmation emails and court notices using these addresses:
Please add these email addresses to your contacts/safe-sender list to ensure delivery of court notices/orders to your email inbox.
Note: Please do not reply or send emails to the above email addresses. Those email accounts are used for the sole purpose of sending emails and the inboxes are not monitored. Please contact the Clerk’s Office if you have any questions about the DeBN program.
3. PDF Reader
Court notices and orders will be sent as PDF documents. Modern internet browsers can open PDF documents or you can download a PDF software program like Adobe Reader.
4. Debtor’s Electronic Noticing Request Form
Debtors requesting email delivery of court notices and orders through the DeBN program must complete a request form using this link Debtor’s Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing Request (DeBN).
Emails are sent by the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) in the evening on the same day a notice or order is filed by the court in your case.
No. Only notices and orders filed by the court which are sent to the BNC for service upon you will be delivered via email. DeBN will not email notices, pleadings, or other filings that are to be served by other parties in a bankruptcy case, such as the Trustee, creditors or attorneys. These other parties will continue to serve papers by other means, such as U.S. mail or personal service.
No. You only have the option to receive notices and orders from the BNC by either email or U.S. mail.
Your email address will not be shown on the caption of the case docket and your DeBN request form will not be visible to the public for viewing. However, the BNC Certificate of Notice that is filed in the case will reflect your email address if the notice or order was emailed to you. The BNC Certificate of Notice must include the party’s name and the address where they were served.
Neither the court nor the BNC can resend notices. If you accidentally deleted a notice, you should contact your attorney, or you may contact the court for further directions on how to obtain another copy of the notice or order.
No, both debtors do not need to entroll in DeBN. If only one debtor wants to enroll and receive notices and orders from the court via email, the other debtor who is not enrolled in DeBN will continue to receive notices and orders via U.S. mail.
Yes. A debtor and joint debtor can use the same email address. Each of you will have your own DeBN account and separate emails will be sent to each of you at whatever email address was used to register for DeBN.
Update your registration here: Debtor’s Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing Request (DeBN). Once the clerk's office has processed your request, you will receive an email from the BNC advising you that your DeBN account has been updated.
Complete another registration request here: Debtor’s Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing Request (DeBN) and choose update to request reactivation of your account. Once the clerk’s office processes your request, you will receive an email from the BNC advising you that your DeBN account has been activated.
There are several reasons why this may have occurred, including:
- Your DeBN account may have been disabled due to an email bounce-back (undeliverable email). If this occurred, you must re-register here: Debtor’s Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing Request (DeBN) to reactivate your DeBN account.
- If your name and address in the case do not match your DeBN account, then the notice or order will be delivered to you via U.S. mail. Please contact the Clerk’s Office for assistance.
- If you recently filed an updated request with the court and did not receive an email from the BNC advising you that your DeBN account was updated, please contact the Clerk’s Office for assistance.
Please contact the Clerk’s Office with any questions about the status of your DeBN account.
Please contact the Clerk’s Office if you have any questions about the DeBN program. Do not contact the BNC, or reply to emails you receive from the BNC. Those BNC email accounts are used for the sole purpose of sending emails, and the inboxes are not monitored.
You can enroll in DeBN at any time while your case is open. You may also request deactivation of your account at any time.