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ABI WINS
GRANT TO STUDY EFFECTIVENESS OF CREDIT COUNSELING
PROGRAMS
size='3'>February 23, 2007,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Alexandria
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Va.
American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) has received a grant by the Special
Committee Consumer Protection and Education Fund (the Sears Fund) to
study approved providers of pre-bankruptcy credit counseling. The ABI
study is being designed and executed by the a group that includes Prof.
Susan Block-Lieb of Fordham University Law School, Dr. Richard L. Wiener
of the Law and Psychology Program at the University of Nebraska, and
David Friedman of the New York-based Coalition for Debtor
Education.
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention
and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) established new credit
counseling and debtor education requirements for consumers looking to
file for bankruptcy and receive a discharge from debt. The ABI study
awarded by the Sears Fund will focus on credit counseling programs now
required under the new law.
To assist the study,
the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Fordham
size='3'>Corporate
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Law
size='3'>Center
agreed to host a closed-session business law roundtable on the credit
counseling industry.
size='3'>Leading industry players, federal and state regulators, and
scholars will be invited to discuss the state of the industry, including
implementation of the new law. Information
about the Center is available at
http://www.fordham.edu/law/faculty/fisch/source.html.
A final report is expected
during 2008.
The Sears Fund was established
after the 1997 settlement of a 50-state enforcement action against
Sears, Roebuck and Co. The Special Committee, staffed by representatives
of three offices of the attorneys general, accepts grant applications
aimed at enhancing consumer protections.
This is ABI’s second
award from the Sears Fund. It also marks the third time that ABI has
worked with Prof. Block-Lieb, Dr. Wiener and the Coalition for Debtor
Education to fund their empirical research. The most recent product of
ABI grant funding to these experts includes two articles on the effects
of emotion on enhanced credit card disclosure requirements like those
contained in BAPCPA:
Richard L. Wiener,
Michael Holtje, Ryan Winter, Jasone A. Cantone, Karen Gross and Susan
Block-Lieb, Consumer
Credit Card Use: The Roles of Creditor Disclosure and Consumer
Miswanting, __ J. Appl.
Psych. __ (forthcoming 2007)
Richard L. Wiener,
Michael Holtje, Ryan Winter, Jasone A. Cantone, Susan Block-Lieb and
Karen Gross,
size='3'>Psychology and BAPCPA: Enhanced Disclosure and
Emotion, 71 Missouri L.
Rev. __ (forthcoming 2007), available online at
href='http://law.missouri.edu/lawreview/docs/71-4/Wiener.pdf'>http://law.missouri.edu/lawreview/docs/71-4/Wiener.pdf.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization
dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency.
ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased
analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than
11,500 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders,
turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a
forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional
information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference
information, visit
href='http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html'>
color='#0000ff'>http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.