People in Florida who cringe at the thought of opening their email or physical mailboxes for fear of seeing yet more demands for payment by creditors are not alone. The stress that excessive debt can put on consumers may feel overwhelming at times. Instead of being able to consider filing for bankruptcy as a way of getting out from under a mounting mound of debt, some people are left swirling with no real options.
According to a new report recently released by ProPublica, some believe that the current bankruptcy code may well prevent access to bankruptcy relief simply because a consumer cannot afford to pay for the bankruptcy. It is ironic indeed to think that a person in need of debt relief is precluded from getting that relief because of an inability to pay for it.
The American Bankruptcy Institute, a member organization with some 13,000 participants, has put forth a series of recommendations designed to overhaul the current bankruptcy system. One of the goals of these recommendations is to make bankruptcy relief available to a broader number of consumers. It is believed that the requirement for a consumer to pay a lawyer at the outset of a bankruptcy plan may be a major hurdle to filing for bankruptcy.
Discharging student loans is something that is extremely difficult for most debtors to do under the bankruptcy laws as they stand today. The ABI would like to see these changed so that student loans may be more easily forgiven after a period of time.
