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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.

The ABI’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy will unveil its final report of recommendations tomorrow at 9 a.m. EDT at https://consumercommission.abi.org/. Watch a live webstream of a briefing by Commission leadership at 10 a.m. EDT tomorrow on the site as well. Panel sessions at ABI’s Annual Spring Meeting this week will also be taking a closer look at the recommendations. Be sure to attend!

Total bankruptcy filings for the month of March 2019 decreased 3 percent from this time last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. The 73,476 total filings in March 2019 were down from the 76,060 total filings during March 2018. Consumer filings also decreased 3 percent in March 2019 to 70,228 from the March 2018 consumer filing total of 72,351. Total commercial filings decreased 12 percent in March 2019 to 3,248 from the 3,709 business filings recorded in March 2018. The 434 total commercial chapter 11 filings in March 2019 marked a 44 percent decrease from March 2018’s total of 774.