Product Description: Everything you need to know about filing for bankruptcy under the new laws.
Bankruptcy law recently experienced a profound change that makes it harder to eliminate overwhelming debt. Yet many of the reasons for filing for bankruptcy (such as divorce, medical bills or job loss) remain.
Fortunately, there's help. The New Bankruptcy can help you choose the best strategy to get back on your feet. Filled with clear-cut answers and practical suggestions, it covers all the issues you face, including:
*qualifying for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
*how Chapter 13 repayment plans work
*which debts are wiped out
*how bankruptcy affects homeowners
*keeping cars and other property
*how bankruptcy affects credit
*alternative ways to handle debt problems
*paperwork requirements
*and much more
The New Bankruptcy also provides worksheets to help you determine whether you can file for bankruptcy under the new law. It also includes checklists, sample forms and easy-to-use legal charts for all 50 states.
Excellent book! ^ As always, Nolo books are the best! I am in the legal profession and Nolo Books are far better than the ordinarly law books, especially on Bankruptcy. They are great reference books and they are wonderful to look up something that would take hours to look up in law books. I recommend Nolo for anyone who needs this type of information, both non-lawyer and lawyers!
Excellent Introduction To Bankruptcy Law ^ As with so many of their publications, "The New Bankruptcy" gives a good, plain English synopsis of the current bankruptcy law. What makes the law "new" is BAPCPA, the 2005 amendments to the bankruptcy code. The book covers the heart of these changes, including the "Means Test" that made filing for and confirming a Chapter 13 bankruptcy more complicated. While not intended as an exhaustive reference, I recommend this book both to consumers considering bankruptcy and to new practitioners looking for a grasp of the basics.
This book is a fine bankruptcy reference for consumers ^ First, there is a lot to like about this book! It's very well organized, and it turns some remarkably complex bankruptcy concepts into fairly easy to digest nuggets.
Second, it's pretty complete as far consumer chapter 7 cases and consumer chapter 13 cases go. There are very few areas of the law that it skips, and it hits the important parts pretty well.
There is a lucid discussion of the roles of the bankruptcy trustee in both sorts of ordinary consumer cases, and a pretty complete discussion of the way a trustee looks at assets, exempt and nonexempt, in consumer bankruptcy cases.
There's one feature I particularly liked about the book, because a lot of bankruptcy resources become dated very quickly; just inside the cover page in the print edition there is a discussion of NOLO resources to check for updates, and that's a good thing.
There are 11 chapters (in the book, not bankruptcy chapters), and they concisely discuss the nature of bankruptcy, eligibility requirements, debts that survive both chapter 7 and 13 discharges, the bankruptcy estate and exemptions, differences in the treatment of homeowners and renters in bankruptcy, treatment of secured creditors in both sorts of filings, the treatment of zero balance credit cards (this is a little-known finesse), psychological and legal consequences of filing, the forms and procedures, getting help with bankruptcy, and alternatives to bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy alternatives discussion is a little weak, but I gave the book five stars anyway, because the title isn't bankruptcy alternatives, and is instead The New Bankruptcy.
I was a little uncomfortable with the discussion of getting help with the bankruptcy, and that's only natural because there was a slight bias in favor of non-lawyer assistance in the process, and I'm a board-certified bankruptcy lawyer practicing in Phoenix, Arizona. But that slight bias is not a good reason to avoid the book; I just have a lot of anxiety about a poor frightened debtor trying to find non-lawyer practitioners who will do a good job for them. With lawyer bankruptcy specialists, you have a somewhat more predictable service provider, although admittedly the service costs more; and the book does a good job of explaining why bankruptcy lawyers charge more than they used to under the new version of the bankruptcy law.
Note: for tracking down good bankruptcy lawyers in the outside world, there's a new resource that joins Findlaw and Martindale (with the coveted AV rating), which is AVVO; it's a little controversial, but it collates info about lawyers. Using those three online sites would at least give you a running start at finding a qualified bankruptcy attorney.
If you are a non-lawyer who is contemplating bankruptcy and you want a concise, well-organized overview of the area, frequently used terms, and the way the law works generally, you would find it hard to beat this book. I would feel comfortable suggesting to any potential debtor (the new name for bankrupt) that they read this book prior to visiting with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer.
Overall, if you read this book prior to filing, you should have a better understanding of the process than if you do not, and it should help keep your blood pressure down during the pain in the neck, time consuming and somewhat lengthy process.
Nothing in the foregoing should be construed as legal advice, and for legal advice, you should always consult a duly licensed professional in your area. See if you can find a bankruptcy lawyer with a Martindale-Hubbell av rating, or a bankruptcy attorney with a rating of 10 from AVVO.
p.s. as I write this postscript, there is a raging debate in Congress over a provision in the Bankruptcy Code that may, after amendment, permit the stripdown of some OR all mortgages on residential real property. Will that statute pass? Listen, I've practiced bankruptcy law in Phoenix, Arizona for about thirty years, and I've watched a long series of amendments to the "New Code" of 1979; and I've watched as Congress debated in the past. The 2005 amendments took about a decade to work their way through Congress. So MAYBE the Bankruptcy Code is about to change a lot. And MAYBE it's not. But if you're contemplating bankruptcy in Phoenix, Arizona, or anywhere else, you should be aware that the law is currently MAYBE about to change in a way that could be helpful to debtors, IF they qualify and are willing to put up with a Chapter 13 bankruptcy (which makes a root canal look like fun).
Good Book For Chapter 7 ^ If you are looking for a good introduction to Chapter 7 for individuals, this is a good book. For information about Business Reorganizations, I recommend Chapter 11 Business Reorganizations: For Business Leaders, Accountants And Lawyers
This is a Book that an 81-Year-Old Illinois Man Should Have Written ^ I posted an online article recently at Hopeless Utopian about an Illinois man, 81, who has filed for bankruptcy 8 times, most recently in June 2008. This is a guy who has seen both the new and the old, and the older and the even older bankruptcy reform and has had to deal with it all. If I knew the guy's address, I'd send him Stephen Elias' book so he'd be better prepared when he files for the 9th time, if he lives long enough to refile. (Isn't there a minimum number of years you must wait between filings?) In any case, this is the book I'd recommend to him.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
