I wonder how many people (like me) filed Bankruptcy before the deadline?

[liberalitch]

I'll bet the numbers are staggering!

What will the sudden influx of bankruptcies mean for the economy?

[huskerlaw]

1. My lawyer friends

said that the volume was shocking. They've been doing essentially nothing but bankruptcies for the past month.

[liberalitch]

5. My lawyer alone said she had 120 she filed by 5pm sunday night....

[GOPisEvil]

2. I saw the pictures of the lines in Denver. How sad.

I had to do it 7 years ago. I had gotten way over my head. I learned from that, and used it as a fresh start. Now I'm a homeowner.

A lot of debt is going to be written off this quarter and next. Not good for corporate bottom lines. Although, if they were smart, they'd have planned for this.

[Darth_Kitten]

3. I don't know....

I say everybody has to do what's right for them and their families, and let the economical chips fall where they may. :(

I intend to see a financial trustee here (Canada) to see what options I have for my heavy debt load. :(
I don't think I will file for bankruptcy, there are other options before that, but it still seems "easier" to file in Canada than in the States.

Credit card companies are raking in the big bucks, so I'm learning not to feel so "guilty" about my own situation. :)

[liberalitch]

4. It's like the trap with the big box, the stick and the string....

get you in a whammo!

[SouthernDem2004]

6. I thought about it since Kitrina left me owing over $100,000 on a pile of

debris. Yes, Debris :) No flood insurance so I am basicly screwed. I just could not bring myself to file bankruptcy though.

[WCGreen]

7. It is going to hurt a lot....

My take on the subject back from a column I wrote in 1997...


Hate to say it but the economy might not be performing as well as it has been. Look, economic activity has to come from somewhere. You can't just wish a recovery. Remember, the late 80's and early 90's were filled with oppressive economic news. Stock market crashes, Savings and Loan bailouts, soaring federal deficits provided fodder for pessimists everywhere. President Bush (The first One) tried everything including a war to jolt the economy. Nothing worked.

But little by little, consumers started to feel a bit more confident. They started to leave bad news behind and went shopping. Meanwhile, consolidations, mergers and start-ups were occurring at a startling rate in the debt-generating business. Competition was fierce. The market was flooded with pre-approved credit cards. As good credit card customers became harder and harder to sign up, banks and credit card companies decided that basically anyone breathing deserved a visa to the American Dream.

And so more and more people without the financial wherewithal to support credit binges ended up in bankruptcy court. Those who grant consumer credit simply adjusted interest rates to compensate for the increased risk of granting credit to people who might not deserve credit. You are literally paying for the indiscretions of the freewheeling creditors as well as the bankruptees.

[liberalitch]

8. When Congress passed this law they WOULD NOT....

make any exclusions for those of us who aren't declaring on unsecured credit but on medical bills because we lack insurance (or did when we racked up the bills).....
My SO got hit by a car..... because he had two beers in his system he couldn't sue (in Va. having ANY B.A.C. invalidates your claim).
I had to have "mergencysurgry on my femaleparts" before I got my current job where I am insured.

SOME HOW I get labeled irresponsible.

[WCGreen]

9. That was from back in 1997 when they were contemplating

a chnge in the bankruptcy laws...

The new laws are ridicualous and do nothing to stop the easy credit that gets so many people in trouble...

I had to declare due to a massive amount of medical bills and a lost career, all in one year...

We just couldn;t make it...

[liberalitch]

11. I wonder how long before this law gets into...

appeals court?

[WCGreen]

13. Probably quite a while...

It's a horrble law...

It's like a man dressing down his beautiful wife because other guys are making passes at her....

[liberalitch]

16. Or making her wear a burkah.....

I think sometime Bush is wearing a burkah but he has it on backwards!

[z-man]

10. A friend of mine filed chapter 7 last month.

She's already had her court date. Sad.. she lost her tech job to overseas outsourcing two years ago and is having a hell of a time finding something else. Even basic jobs aren't calling her back because they're flooded with applicants. I feel bad for her she doesn't have any family and she's struggling with severe PTSD due to extreme childhood abuse... she had to sell all of her furniture and she's being foreclosed on so she won't have anywhere to live in a couple of months. Now she's about to lose her car because she hasn't found anything even part time. It really sucks. She's such a sweetheart too.... tries really, really hard.

PTSD and those flashbacks are some nasty shit.

[liberalitch]

12. MORE TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH!!!!

Talk about catch 22 man!

How fast was her court date?

[z-man]

14. It was about three weeks from the time she filed.

N/T.

[Trigger Hippie]

15. I work for lawyers who represent unions.

Trust me, there was a lotta bankruptcies coming in the last few weeks. It's so sad....:(

[liberalitch]

17. How far into the future do the court dates go....

Do the courts have months and months of bankruptcy hearing ahead?