Posted on 04/20/2005 1:22:05 PM PDT by atrocitor
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – President Bush on Wednesday signed into law a bankruptcy reform bill that will make it harder for individuals to clear their debts through bankruptcy.
So, experts say, if you were thinking about filing for bankruptcy, you might think twice -- or act twice as quickly, since major provisions of the law will go into effect six months from the day the law is signed.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Exactly.
"Those who made the laws have apparently supposed, that every deficiency of payment is the crime of the debtor. But the truth is, that the creditor always shares the act, and often more than shares the guilt, of improper trust. It seldom happens that any man imprisons another but for debts which he suffered to be contracted in hope of advantage to himself, and for bargains in which proportioned his own profit to his own opinion of the hazard; and there is no reason, why one should punish the other for a contract in which both concurred."
I don't know what you are asking me, or don't understand, about my comments in #28.
What's this a quote from?
Hey bra....lemme hol' twenty....
When are the free traitors going to set up Debtors prisons?
I find it bitterly humorous that Ken Lay is laughing all the way to the bank, free as a bird while the president and his party come down like a ton of bricks on the average working stiff.
America, what a country.........
"I have no problem with CC companies making money. Just don't use the government to reduce risk on billions of loans you already made."
Just a clarification: Would you vote 'aye' on this bill, if it had the same form, but simply grandfathered so that previously acquired debt could be handled according to prior rules?
i.e., is this one objection of several, or your only objection to the bill?
"Let the CC lobby apologists and those who believe that their should be no debt discharge or exemption laws rejoice."
YAHOO!!! LET'S GO SHOPPING!!
"limitless cash that you can then welsh on paying back"
I have a question: Is "welshing" on a debt an ethnic slur? or does it have some derivation other than that?
hmmm. Catherine Zeta-Jones is Welsh. She can borrow my stuff anytime ... did she promise to give back Michael Douglas to Maureen Dowd... or is Maureen an "Indian giver"?
I will answer your question when you finally answer the question I had previously posed to you on another thread, would it be fair for the government to remove legal protections that creditors had relied on when they entered into billions of dollars of debt contracts?
How do you prove that?
"his party come down like a ton of bricks on the average working stiff. "
It's just a tad harder to decalre bankruptcy now .. how is that 'coming down like a ton of bricks'... if you really can't pay, you still have bankruptcy ... it's just more rigorous in defining ability to pay:
"In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your assets (minus those exempted by your state) are liquidated and given to creditors, and many of your remaining debts are cancelled, giving you what's known as a "fresh start." In 2004, over 1.1 million people filed for Chapter 7, accounting for roughly 72 percent of non-business bankruptcies.
Since many Chapter 7 filers don't have assets that qualify for liquidation, credit card companies and other creditors sometimes get nothing.
In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you're put on a repayment plan of up to five years. Any debts not addressed by the repayment plan don't have to be paid. Last year, there were 445,574 Chapter 13 filings.
After the bill becomes law, fewer people will be allowed to file under Chapter 7; more will be forced to file under Chapter 13.
Lawmakers who favor the legislation argue that it would prevent consumers from abusing the bankruptcy laws – using them to clear debts that they can afford to pay. "
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your assets (minus those exempted by your state) are liquidated and given to creditors, and many of your remaining debts are cancelled, giving you what's known as a "fresh start." In 2004, over 1.1 million people filed for Chapter 7, accounting for roughly 72 percent of non-business bankruptcies.
Since many Chapter 7 filers don't have assets that qualify for liquidation, credit card companies and other creditors sometimes get nothing.
In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you're put on a repayment plan of up to five years. Any debts not addressed by the repayment plan don't have to be paid. Last year, there were 445,574 Chapter 13 filings.
After the bill becomes law, fewer people will be allowed to file under Chapter 7; more will be forced to file under Chapter 13.
Lawmakers who favor the legislation argue that it would prevent consumers from abusing the bankruptcy laws – using them to clear debts that they can afford to pay.
What that means for consumers is it will be harder to find a bankruptcy attorney willing to file because of the liability and the additional work required to verify a client's information, Elias said.
Those who are willing are likely to charge more.
Credit counseling and money management: Under provisions of the new bill you must meet with a credit counselor in the six months prior to applying for bankruptcy. And before debts are discharged, you must attend money management classes. You must pay for any fees charged.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/13/pf/bankruptcy_bill/
Samuel Johnson (September 16, 1758)
thanks
You are mistaken - they are especially tough on executive misconduct in this new bill ...
http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/13/pf/bankruptcy_bill/
"Tougher homestead exemptions: Currently, if you declare bankruptcy, the state where you file may allow you to protect from creditors some or all of your home equity. In Florida, for instance, your home may be entirely exempt, even if you bought it soon before filing. In Nevada, you may exempt up to $200,000.
The bill, however, places more stringent restrictions on the homestead exemption. For instance, if filers haven't lived in a state for at least two years, they may only take the state exemption of the state where they lived for the majority of the time for the 180 days before the two-year period.
Filers may only exempt up to $125,000, regardless of a state's exemption allowance, if their home was acquired less than 40 months before filing or if the filer has violated securities laws or been found guilty of certain criminal conduct. "
NOTE THE LAST ITEM.
"Since they are now guarnteed their money by government;"
hogwash. Not so. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is still around. If you have a high income level, however, you will be more likely to be put on a 'repayment plan' and not a straight chapter 7 liquidate and move on.
" will the credit card companies be able to force people into bankrupcy?"
No. Almost all personal bankruptcies are voluntary actions to discharge debts.
"The reform bill will make filing for bankruptcy more difficult,"
http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/13/pf/bankruptcy_bill/
Answered on the other thread: I dont see how this change in rules is different than many many other bills (eg tax law changes) that impact people. We dont always grandfather.
Besides, people are on alert, they have 6 months to get their things in order. if they are in bad shape, file now before the rules change.
It seems reasonable.
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