Getting out from under crushing student loan debt might become a little easier if new proposed changes in bankruptcy rules take hold, MarketWatch.com reported. The proposed changes are part of a wide-ranging report by prominent members of the bankruptcy community, including former judges, academics and lawyers from both the debtor and creditor sides. The recommendations from the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy are aimed in part at addressing issues that have made it more challenging for debtors to file bankruptcy. The 274-page report, released Thursday, touched on issues including attorney costs, rainy day funds for debtors with unexpected expenses and the disproportionate number of African-American consumers in a certain type of bankruptcy proceeding. “Debt hanging over the debtor forever has a cost,” Elizabeth Perris, a retired bankruptcy judge who co-chaired the commission report, said Thursday. “It’s a cost in terms of lack of purchase of houses, cars, having children and we just recognize that at a certain point for those people who want to avail themselves of bankruptcy, they ought to be able to get the fresh start and move on with their lives.” Read more.
To download a copy of the the Consumer Commission’s Final Report of recommendations or to watch a special briefing by Commission unveiling the report, please visit consumercommission.abi.org.
