 Law Alert!
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005
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 The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 ("the Act") includes numerous and detailed amendments to the U. S. Bankruptcy Code on a variety of subjects in addition to consumer debt relief. The following summary is not an exhaustive list of all of the changes made by the Act. CEB will prepare updates to all of its titles that address bankruptcy. The updates will be released as soon as practicable after the new law takes effect. In addition, for those amended bankruptcy rules and forms released too late for inclusion in updated CEB publications, CEB will post links to amended rules and forms.
- Bankruptcy Reform
- Some highlights of the new Bankruptcy Act
- More information
Bankruptcy Reform
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (S. 256, Pub. L. 108-9) (the "Act") was signed by President Bush on April 20, 2005. Most (although not all) provisions of the Act will take effect on October 17, 2005. The Act makes sweeping and controversial changes to the U. S. Bankruptcy Code. The changes are generally intended to require more consumer debtors to repay at least a portion of their debts under a Chapter 13 repayment plan.
Some highlights of the new Bankruptcy Act
- Debtors are subjected to a strict means test to determine eligibility to file a Chapter 7 case
- A debtor's attorney is required to certify that the client's bankruptcy petition is well grounded in fact, is warranted by existing law, and does not constitute an abuse, and that the attorney has no knowledge after inquiry that the information in the schedules attached to the petition is incorrect
- Debtors are required to receive credit counseling from an accredited agency before filing a bankruptcy case, and to complete a financial management course before obtaining a discharge of their debt
- Debtors are required to file extensive personal financial documentation with the bankruptcy court, including copies of tax returns; and
- Many new protections for secured creditors, landlords, federal and state taxing agencies, and holders of spousal and child support claims
More information
Full text of the Act: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.256:
The Bankruptcy Code with changes: http://www.dpw.com/practice/code.blackline.pdf
Summary of major provisions: http://www.flnb.uscourts.gov/Documents/CRS_leg_summary.pdf
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