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Article: Bankruptcy Reform: Two Years Later: When Congress overhauled the bankruptcy code in 2005, it was with the intention of making consumers think twice before filing as well as pushing debtors toward Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7 plans. Two years later, the law is not quite working out the way Congress intended, say experts.
- Article from:
- Collections & Credit Risk
- Article date:
- October 1, 2007
- Author:
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Sam Gerdano, president of the American Bankruptcy Institute, puts it this way: "The wave hasn't gone back into the ocean yet."
The 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), a 500-page document that radically overhauled the old bankruptcy code, spawned a tidal wave of consumer filings from nervous debtors in the months before the new law took effect.
And it was effective: Filings dropped 75% from 2.07 million in 2005 to 516,249 in 2006. Yet they have been steadily creeping up again: Second-quarter 2007 filings were up 8.7% from first quarter, which in turn were up 9% from the fourth quarter of 2006.
The ...