Under the current U.S. Bankruptcy Code or law, the system provides essentially TWO basic categories of outside assistance that a debtor filing for bankruptcy may use - assistance provided by an attorney, and assistance provided by a non-lawyer. And both of these parties come under what is called "Debt Relief Agents or Agencies." Basically, the non-attorney assistance provider, who also goes by a name such as Bankruptcy Petition Preparer (BPP), preparers the documents upon which bankruptcy is filed with the Court for bankruptcy processing, while the attorney (or, more accurately, the help he hires that does such work) prepares the same set of documents, EXCEPT that the lawyer assistance-provider can supposedly give a debtor "legal advice," and can appear, on the debtor's behalf, in the administrative hearing on the bankruptcy case administered by the Court "Trustee" (who is not a Judge, but a court-appointed administrator) that will oversee the bankruptcy case.
The new law had been prompted principally by the general clamor and intense outcry and lobbying of the well-financed, well-organized, and properly connected but powerful, American banking and credit card industries and the bankruptcy lawyers, who had contended that the old bankruptcy law was supposedly "too soft on debtors," and that the "excessive generosity" of the old bankruptcy system supposedly encouraged abuse and allowed many undeserving debtors who, they said, could well have afforded to pay their debts, to take undue advantage by using Chapter 7 bankruptcy to avoid repaying their debts.
They will not have the obligation to repay the debts that could not be paid with the money collected from liquidation of assets. That is the reason most people who have caught themselves in too much debts to be paid off with the means and assets available to them look at chapter 7 bankruptcy as an attractive option. It provides them an excellent opportunity to give their financial life a fresh start with no obligation to repay the debts they owe.
Whether or not the chapter 7 bankruptcy is easy for the debtors depends upon the specific bankruptcy case. However, in order to prevent bankruptcy frauds, the bankruptcy laws require the debtors to go for a "Means" test before they are declared as bankrupt. The objective of the means test is to compare the debtor's monthly income to that of the state's median income. If the debtor's monthly income is greater than the state's median income, he or she is not granted bankruptcy under chapter 7.
Service: In full Service bankruptcy work, the service of the non-lawyer debt relief agent or agency basically involves their staff gathering the various documents and required tons of papers and information together, and orderly arranging them and preparing all the legal forms and paperwork required by the debtor to file for bankruptcy with the bankruptcy court. For the better ones among them (they are not at all equal, some are far better than others, and quite a number of them are just about worthless!), these agencies use workers who are often highly trained and experienced paralegals (they average several years of work and/or training in the industry), and who are skilled at the preparation of legal documents and bankruptcy papers, and are often well versed and knowledgeable in bankruptcy filing law and procedures. With the Full Service bankruptcy petition preparers (at least those of them who are of the reputable and better categories), the debtor tends generally to get a better service and greater attention, and more one-on-one interaction for his or her case, along with the obvious far lower prices.
Historically, the ability of the average debtor reasonably to file for bankruptcy and to be reasonably discharged of his/her debt burden, and to obtain a fresh start to begin life anew relatively unhindered by the past debts, has been a fundamental but vital and long-standing part of the American law and life. In deed, that right is one of a handful of fundamental rights specifically named by the original U.S. Constitution and guaranteed under it. However, contrary to that fundamental American value, the new bankruptcy law of 2005 introduces into the bankruptcy system, perhaps for the first time ever, elements which drastically limit the extent of the exercise and enjoyment of this basic right by the average debtor. It does this by placing an array of new hurdles, financial as well as legal, on the path of the overburdened American debtor who seeks the "fresh start" protection that bankruptcy has traditionally offered the American debtor.
The new law had been prompted principally by the general clamor and intense outcry and lobbying of the well-financed, well-organized, and properly connected but powerful, American banking and credit card industries and the bankruptcy lawyers, who had contended that the old bankruptcy law was supposedly "too soft on debtors," and that the "excessive generosity" of the old bankruptcy system supposedly encouraged abuse and allowed many undeserving debtors who, they said, could well have afforded to pay their debts, to take undue advantage by using Chapter 7 bankruptcy to avoid repaying their debts.
They will not have the obligation to repay the debts that could not be paid with the money collected from liquidation of assets. That is the reason most people who have caught themselves in too much debts to be paid off with the means and assets available to them look at chapter 7 bankruptcy as an attractive option. It provides them an excellent opportunity to give their financial life a fresh start with no obligation to repay the debts they owe.
Whether or not the chapter 7 bankruptcy is easy for the debtors depends upon the specific bankruptcy case. However, in order to prevent bankruptcy frauds, the bankruptcy laws require the debtors to go for a "Means" test before they are declared as bankrupt. The objective of the means test is to compare the debtor's monthly income to that of the state's median income. If the debtor's monthly income is greater than the state's median income, he or she is not granted bankruptcy under chapter 7.
Service: In full Service bankruptcy work, the service of the non-lawyer debt relief agent or agency basically involves their staff gathering the various documents and required tons of papers and information together, and orderly arranging them and preparing all the legal forms and paperwork required by the debtor to file for bankruptcy with the bankruptcy court. For the better ones among them (they are not at all equal, some are far better than others, and quite a number of them are just about worthless!), these agencies use workers who are often highly trained and experienced paralegals (they average several years of work and/or training in the industry), and who are skilled at the preparation of legal documents and bankruptcy papers, and are often well versed and knowledgeable in bankruptcy filing law and procedures. With the Full Service bankruptcy petition preparers (at least those of them who are of the reputable and better categories), the debtor tends generally to get a better service and greater attention, and more one-on-one interaction for his or her case, along with the obvious far lower prices.
Historically, the ability of the average debtor reasonably to file for bankruptcy and to be reasonably discharged of his/her debt burden, and to obtain a fresh start to begin life anew relatively unhindered by the past debts, has been a fundamental but vital and long-standing part of the American law and life. In deed, that right is one of a handful of fundamental rights specifically named by the original U.S. Constitution and guaranteed under it. However, contrary to that fundamental American value, the new bankruptcy law of 2005 introduces into the bankruptcy system, perhaps for the first time ever, elements which drastically limit the extent of the exercise and enjoyment of this basic right by the average debtor. It does this by placing an array of new hurdles, financial as well as legal, on the path of the overburdened American debtor who seeks the "fresh start" protection that bankruptcy has traditionally offered the American debtor.
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Frank Miller has a Debt Consolidation Blog & Finance, these are some of the articles: Benefits Of Seeking IFRS Training Services You have full permission to reprint this article provided this box is kept unchanged.
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