Sorry, but I gotta make one more post on this subject. Admittedly, I am biased in this matter as I've been filing bankruptcies for people and businesses since Jimmy Carter was in the White House. There are quite a few people who do indeed abuse the Bankruptcy laws, but they are a small in comparison to the number of those described in my original post.
Just to see whose ox is being gored, tell me the effect that the new reformed bankruptcy laws would have on business bankruptcies, you know, the ones where the Board of Directors met behind closed doors with their attorneys and accountants, without shareholder notice or approval, without telling the 'guys on the loading dock' that their jobs would be lost,
without informing their employees that their unfunded retirement benefits would vanish in the twinkling of an eye, not bothering to call up the companies' suppliers and cancelling any further deliveries, 'forgetting' to inform anyone that they had just received a 'buyout' proposal from another company that could have saved the 'little people' but instead allowing the other company to pick up the assets after the little people were too busy desperately trying to find their next job to notice the transfer for next-to-nothing, and, with a nod and a wink, the Directors were being offered plum positions in the new company???
Oh, I almost forgot, the old Board of Directors provided themselves with 'golden parachutes' prior to voting for Chapter 11 Reorganization, which everyone at the table knew, lawyers included, was simply a stalling tactic to make certain that there would be sufficient time between the transfer and the actual Chapter 7, to avoid any preferential or fraudulent transfers that might have to be set aside.
You see, nationally, only about 5-10% of all Chapter 11s end in a successful reorganization, the rest are dismissed or converted to 7 cases.
[b]Well, what will the new laws do to alter that scenario?[/b]
I'll give you a hint - nothing, nichts, nada,
nyet, non, nullum, negative, 'that's a no-go',
no dice, not on your life, no way!
When Banks and other large institutions merge, and thousands of jobs are lost, we say 'well that's just business.' Right you are.
If anyone thinks that bankruptcy is immoral, then explain Chapter 15 of Deuteronomy, which is 'Mosaic bankruptcy law' and, IMHO, divinely inspired. This is the source of the Bankruptcy law's prohibition against a discharge in bank- ruptcy within seven years of a prior discharge.
Lest anyone think of bankruptcy as a simple expedient, or even an acceptable course of action, in dealing with your debts, remember that approximately one-third of the teachings of our Lord dealt with the wise stewardship of money, which is a blessing from the Father.
In closing, the French have a good expression for what will happen next, after the passage of the new reforms in Bankruptcy:
[i]Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose[/i]
[The more things change, the more things remain the same.]
EricTheHun, Esq.