2005

Means testing is the heart of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA). It provides a very detailed formula for determining when abuse arises in the case of an individual debtor with primarily consumer debts. The amendments to §707(b)

With all of the attention paid to BAPCPA's 2 new means test, credit counseling requirements and attorney sanctions, few people have noticed that Congress made an important change to the rules governing the taxation of income earned in the year of bankruptcy. To

Before enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) of 2005, the denial of discharge imposed against an individual chapter 7 debtor under §727 of the Bankruptcy Code was one of the most positive provisions available to creditors. The

In late 2004, the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) adopted a strategic plan 1 for 2005-10 that encompasses several critical goals: (1) protecting the integrity of the bankruptcy system, (2) promoting the effectiveness and efficiency of the system and (3) maintaining

This month's Update continues the series of articles examining BAPCPA in detail. Courts have long struggled with the issue of whether the Code permits a "ride-through" for a chapter 7 debtor's secured personal property. In fact, this question of "whether a chapter 7

In the past, traditional mortgage lenders automatically rejected people who had declared personal bankruptcy. Many potential homebuyers felt they must wait at least seven to 10 years after a bankruptcy to be eligible to become homeowners. Most financial and legal

In the eight-year run-up to the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), the coalition of consumer lenders driving this legislation won the public relations war for bankruptcy reform. With sometimes arrogant disregard for the facts about

It comes as no surprise that there has been a sense, mostly among members of Congress, that debtors who choose chapter 13 are more dedicated to repaying their creditors than those who choose chapter 7. Before enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer

From time to time in this column we have reported on general trends in chapter 13 case administration. Here, we present an update through the end of September 2003 (FY 2003). 1 Table 1 displays the numbers of chapter 13 filings and the amount of disbursements made

Senate Banking Committee members criticized a number of credit card industry marketing and fee practices during an oversight hearing on May 17. Several members of the committee, including committee chair Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), expressed concern about very high default