new bk laws

[floridian]

i thought with all that is going on, that the 2005 bk law might get repealed or something....
i have been watching the news and reading obamas web page and i guess its not on the horizen...

[Never_Again]

Remember... Joe Biden was a big supporter of that bill.

[Flamingo]

It took years to get the laws changed. It will not be an overnight thing if they ever revise/change them.

[banca rotta]

Just curious, what is it that you would like to see changed in the bk law? What do you want repealed?

Before anyone jumps down my throat I never agreed with the law, Bush and the Repubs for passing it.

Did it force a lot of chapter 7 filers into chapter 13? It seems that all the stats mention that it did little to force debtors into 13's.

I mentioned this many times I just want to see chapter 13 cram downs for home owners just to stop or at least reduce forclosures.

[floridian]

my opinion is, that the same ones who pulled the strings for the grim financial situation, made sure you couldnt get out of it... others will disagree... if i remember correctly, the bk laws didnt change much for those who made big bucks...

[magyar123]

I don't really see any big changes coming soon except maybe an increase of/in exemptions amounts to lower the disposable earnings, and possibly eliminating the so called debt counseling requirements - which are totally worthless.

[Flamingo]

What was tauted as a reasoning behind the changes was to force more people who could pay for their debts to actually do so via a Chapter 13 instead of allowing people who could afford to pay for some debt into a Chapter 7. Lots of fraud was occuring prior to the law change (our attorney had a neat discussion about some matters he ran into) and another purpose was to also make it harder for fraud to be committed. Whether or not any of us want to admit it, there are folks out there who actually use or have used bankruptcy as a budgeting tool, being serial filers. Whether that is on purpose or they just can't handle money is only a guess but they know how to get around dumping debt. Of course that makes it hard for those of us who file legitimately with a loss of income, job loss, medical situation, horrid divorce, etc.

What they tried to do was to make bankruptcy filing harder due to those reasons above and others given by the banking industry. Many attorneys opposed it because it would create increased costs for them and filers due to the increased paperwork and details involved. I personally know of several attorneys who stopped taking BK cases on after the law was passed. Those in that Sector now have a booming business with all the filings.

After going through a bankruptcy prior to the new law being passed and years of reading postings on here as to what can and does go on, there should be protections in place for those that really need to file bankruptcy due to a life changing situation out of their control and more attention paid to keep an eye on filers attempting to abuse the system - they just make it harder for those that really need the protection of filing bankruptcy.

[keepmine]

I think the most we can expect is some change in Chapter 13's that allow a judge to modify the amount and interest for homeowners buried in negative equity or, dealing with unrealistic adjustments in ARM's.

[Flamingo]

I think the most we can expect is some change in Chapter 13's that allow a judge to modify the amount and interest for homeowners buried in negative equity or, dealing with unrealistic adjustments in ARM's.

This is a hotbed...there have been so many great articles in the paper this week about what this situation might cause as to those folks who are not in bankruptcy but are just plain struggling with 2 or 3 jobs to keep afloat. This could cause many people to quit one or two of those jobs, to just not pay their mortgages or bills to take advantage of something offered to others in the system such as would be offerred by loan modifications with a reduction in principle or via BK with principle reduction. If any change is made, it has to be crafted as to certain specifications that may take years to get in place to avoid what could create a further problem in the system as to other borrowers feeling others are afforded something they are not. I would not want to be in politics right now, that is for sure - LOL!

[HHM]

I wouldn't hold your breath for any meaningful changes in the BK laws.

Big picture, the new law has not singificantly changed the proportion of those filing 7 an 13.

The 2 things I would change.
1. get rid the mandatory classes
2. Allow the modification of mortgages

But as Flamingo pointed out: there are 2 sides to the mortgage modification issue.

[kenshirley]

It won't make much difference to us if the law changes.
It would take to long and we are at the point where we are going to have to file.
We are waiting to see the attorney now. Needless to say they are very busy and in rural areas it's hard to get an appointment in a short time frame.

[banca rotta]

I wouldn't hold your breath for any meaningful changes in the BK laws.

Big picture, the new law has not singificantly changed the proportion of those filing 7 an 13.

The 2 things I would change.
1. get rid the mandatory classes
2. Allow the modification of mortgages

But as Flamingo pointed out: there are 2 sides to the mortgage modification issue.

Get rid of the waste of time and money credit counseling. What a waste that is.

The debtor education is a good thing, at least for those that went bankrupt over consumer debts due to carelessness and not those that went bankrupt over misfortune.

The education system ought to have debtor education classes.