Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act: Friend or Foe?

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis M.S. Coelho
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Abuse Prevention ◽  
Consumer Protection Act

scholarly journals Bankruptcy Reform and Credit Cards

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 175-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle J White
Keyword(s):  
Interest Rates ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Credit Card ◽  
Credit Cards ◽  
The United States ◽  
Abuse Prevention ◽  
Bankruptcy Law ◽  
Personal Bankruptcy ◽  
Consumer Protection Act ◽  
Bankruptcy Policy

From 1980 to 2004, the number of personal bankruptcy filings in the United States increased more than five-fold, from 288,000 to 1.5 million per year. By 2004, more Americans were filing for bankruptcy each year than were graduating from college, getting divorced, or being diagnosed with cancer. In 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) became law. It made bankruptcy law much less debtor-friendly. Personal bankruptcy filings fell to 600,000 in 2006. This paper explores why personal bankruptcy rates rose, and will argue that the main reason is the growth of “revolving debt”—mainly credit card debt. It explains how the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) of 2005 altered the conditions of bankruptcy. Finally, this essay considers the balances that need to be struck in a bankruptcy system and how the U.S. bankruptcy system strikes these balances in comparison with other countries. I argue that a less debtor-friendly bankruptcy policy should be accompanied by changes in bank regulation and truth-in-lending rules, so that lenders have a greater chance of facing losses when they supply too much credit or charge excessively high interest rates and fees.

scholarly journals Bankruptcy Law—Rethinking the Discharge of Late Filed Taxes in Consumer Bankruptcy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin H. Dion ◽  
Barbara Curatolo
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Abuse Prevention ◽  
Bankruptcy Law ◽  
Due Date ◽  
Consumer Protection Act ◽  
Consumer Bankruptcy ◽  
Tax Returns ◽  
Bankruptcy Code

Published: Justin H. Dion & Barbara Curatolo, Bankruptcy Law—Rethinking the Discharge of Late Filed Taxes in Consumer Bankruptcy, 40 W. NEW ENG. L. REV. 197 (2018).The 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code, Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) was enacted in order to improve bankruptcy law. However, BAPCPA has made the issue of whether late-filed taxes are dischargeable even murkier than before the amendments. After BAPCPA, some courts continued to analyze claims as they had before the amendment. Others used a “one-day-late rule” that prevented late-filed taxes from being dischargeable—even if the taxes were filed only one day late. This Article suggests a different approach. It argues that the legislature intended tax debt associated with late-filed income tax returns be dischargeable if the return is filed within two years of the due date. *

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document