Article: Is Chapter 13 a viable alternative?

Despite concerted efforts to encourage Chapter 13 bankruptcies over straight-line Chapter 7, this consumer repayment mechanism does exact a price.

Recent revisions in the code and recommendations to Congress are steering individuals to take the restructuring route. But that route has some rough spots.

Nearly two-thirds of the repayment plans nationwide do not succeed, according to Samuel Gerdano, the American Bankruptcy Institute's executive director. A hefty number, considering the 403,025 Chapter 13 petitions filed in 1997. Gerdano says that a vast majority of Chapter 13 restructuring plans underestimate the amount of disposable income filers require. "They're too cut to the bone," Gerdano ...

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