Bankruptcy Birthday!
On October 17, 2013 the bankruptcy law known as BACPA turned 8 years old! The importance of this is that, those who filed for relief under Chapter 7 bankruptcy were not eligible a discharge from another Chapter 7 until eight years have passed. So back in 2005 when the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law was passed, many chose to file to discharge their unsecured non priority debts before the new law came into effect. Since then, the country has experienced one of the worst economic times on record and many of
those who, got relief back in 2005 find themselves back in trouble again, and the good news is they are now eligible for relief.
The prediction is that many people who filed when the law first came out will file again now that the waiting period is over. The end result is the same, but there are a few new parts to bankruptcy that did not exist back in 2005. These include:
- The Means Test, which is used to qualify people for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
- The law now requires people to take mandatory credit counseling before filing and a debtor education course after filing
- Providing documentation as to the last 6 months of income and tax returns for at least the last 2 years.