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The road to bankruptcy now runs
through consumer credit counseling agencies.
Provisions in the new bankruptcy law mandate credit
counseling before a bankruptcy can be filed and a personal financial management
seminar before a bankruptcy is complete. The law went into effect Oct. 17. There
is no free lunch -- most consumers will have to pay at least a nominal fee for
both of these classes, adding to the financial burden of a bankruptcy filing.
In fact, the entire process is about to get a lot more expensive and complex as
a result of the new law. Known as Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection
Act of 2005, it was passed by Congress in March and signed into law by President
Bush in April. Its passage set off a
mad scramble, as federal agencies, courts, attorneys and credit counseling agencies
all had to deal with a new set of rules. The new law restricts the ability of
debtors to wipe out their debts under Chapter 7, to file repeated bankruptcy petitions
and to select a more favorable jurisdiction for bankruptcy filings. Consumer
advocates say the law imposes too many burdens on consumers overwhelmed by debt.
Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, or
CFA, notes that there are two critical issues in the credit counseling and personal
financial management provisions: whether consumers can find a reputable agency
that will actually help them deal with their debts and whether the timing is right
for them to benefit from such help. "If
most people can't benefit, then this will be an expensive barrier to both getting
into, and emerging from, bankruptcy," he says. "The
law is designed to prevent debtors from using the system as a way to avoid their
creditors," says Howard Ehrenberg, an attorney with SulmeyerKupetz in Los
Angeles, and a member of the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Panel of Trustees. However,
it will take time for trends to emerge in how the law is actually interpreted
by judges, he says. Credit counseling
briefing
One of the most significant changes is
that under the new law, consumers who want to file for bankruptcy must complete
a credit counseling briefing, designed to inform them of their options in dealing
with their debts, six months prior to filing. The course must be at least 90 minutes
long and can't cost more than $50. Accredited agencies can't turn anyone away
based on their ability to pay. The
briefing can be provided through one-on-one, in-person counseling; group classes
or over the phone or Internet. The U.S. Trustee Program of the Department of Justice,
which administers various aspects of the new bankruptcy law, must approve the
curriculum. Credit counseling agencies rushed to get
on the government's approved list, but few made it by the time the law went into
effect. If you want an in-person counseling session, you're in for quite a drive.
As of Oct. 17, the government's list
of approved vendors included only a handful. Someone in Albuquerque, N.M.,
for example, would have to drive 226 miles to El Paso, Texas, to get an in-person
interview. A Miamian would have to drive 650 miles to Atlanta for a similar one-on-one
session. That leaves telephone or Internet classes as the only real options for
most people. | 
