aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Bankruptcy filers really are broke
In what will undoubtedly be the first of many ‘’I told you so” reports, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys has found that, overwhelmingly, people who file for bankruptcy protection aren’t deadbeats who went on shopping sprees with the intention of shirking their debts.
That’s quite contrary to what was being charged by supporters of a federal bankruptcy law that went into effect last October.
For years, those proponents argued that billions of dollars were being lost because people were simply being allowed to walk away from their debts. [...]
Now, in the first analysis of the tens of thousands of people who have undergone credit counseling since the law passed, the bankruptcy attorneys association found that nearly all (97 percent) of the debtors truly couldn’t pay their debts. [...]
Four out of five filers felt forced to seek bankruptcy protection because of a job loss, catastrophic medical expenses, or the death of a spouse, according to the report, ‘’Bankruptcy Reform’s Impact: Where Are All the Deadbeats?”
RELATED: Christopher Hayes wrtingin In These Times on How to Turn Your Red State Blue last March suggests building a movement around credit reform:
Americans Coming Together (ACT), a massive voter organization group, could, in a future incarnation, select 100 red counties in red states with high bankruptcy rates and pay for two organizers and an office in each. The organizers would use the extensive e-mail lists of groups like MoveOn and Democracy for America to recruit volunteers from among local progressives, and reach out to people in the area who are in serious debt through canvassing, fliers and other means...At the same time as organizing and outreach is happening on the ground locally, ACT could begin a national media campaign around a “credit reform” platform that would reregulate the credit industry, empower those filing for bankruptcy, cap annual interest rates and outlaw predatory lending practices...Success would build on success.
The people in my circle here in Georgia believe it’s a message that would resonate. Let’s do it!
