When Debt Collectors Disrupt Dinner – Washington Post
An article from the Washington Post titled: When Debto Collectors Disrupt Dinner – What to Say, and Not to Say, When They Call About the Credit Card.
The Bankruptcy Myth
Minnesota Public Radio has an excellent and insightful discussion titled “The Bankruptcy Myth” that you can listen to here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/01/29/midmorning1/?refid=0
The gist is that, while people who file for bankruptcy generally end up better than if they hadn’t filed, a large number of people still continue to struggle since bankruptcy doesn’t address the underlying problems that often lead to bankruptcy (e.g., job loss; illness). The discussion includes call-ins from people who have gone through the bankruptcy process.
Here’s a summary of the program from their web site:
Bankruptcy is supposed to help people get back on their feet after a difficult financial patch. But new research suggests that people don’t recover as easily as all that. In the next “voices of Economic Experience” series two experts on bankruptcy and consumer debt talk about what years of study tell us about how we’re handling the burden of too much owed.
Guests
Katie Porter: Associate professor at the University of Iowa College of Law. She’s a member of the Bankruptcy Data Project, led by Elizabeth Warren at Harvard University.
Robert Lawless: Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law. He is a member of the Bankruptcy Data Project, which studies people who file for bankruptcy over years.
Bankruptcystory.com – My Bankruptcy
I found a site this morning at bankruptcystory.com with the title “My Bankruptcy.” I’m a little bit confused by the site’s organization, but if you go to http://bankruptcystory.com/category/my-bankruptcy-journal/, the writer (who remains intentionally anonymous) blogs about his decision to file for bankruptcy (along with his wife) and some of the day-to-day happenings. e.g., Going to a credit counselor and learning that that would not be a workable option for them; realizing that he can’t negotiate for a lower rate with his credit card companies in advance but must instead wait until his payments are late.
The blog begins May 17, 2008, and the last entry appears to be November 5, 2008. Can’t tell if there will be additional entries.
There’s also a link in the left sidebar called “Uncategorized” that goes to a series of articles by various authors about bankruptcy topics that are all connected with a website called www.ezinearticles.com.
A Bankruptcy Attorney’s Story: Catching Those Who Are Falling
A nice article from the Charlotte Observer about bankruptcy attorney Rick Mitchell who is a member of the Bankruptcy Law Network. In the article, Rick comments on the increasing range of the kind of people who file for bankruptcy (e.g., more rich and upper middle class). He also gives an overview of what typically happens in a bankruptcy case as well as some things to keep in mind with regard to bankruptcy.
The Moral Burden of Bankruptcy (Christian Science Monitor)
“The Moral Burden of Bankruptcy: With more people buried in debt, Christians argue over forgiveness versus responsibility.“ This article ran in the Christian Science Monitor on July 3, 2006. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0703/p13s01-lire.html
An interesting angle on bankruptcy filing. Though it seems that the arguments depend on the assumptions as to why people need to file for bankruptcy. Since people file for a variety of reasons, generalizing on morality in the bankruptcy context seems to be a bit of a slippery slope.
Personal Bankruptcy Story from Bills.com
Personal Bankruptcy Story from Bills.com recounts an unnamed man’s experience with Chapter 13 bankruptcy, brought on by his six-month bout with skin cancer that had left his family finances in a bad place. He then adds that after he got through his bankruptcy, his son had to file for Chapter 7 because he was trying to keep up with his friends’ lifestyle and got in over his head with credit card debt.
While these stories seem to represent real-life experiences, the piece seems to be more of an ad for Bills.com debt repayment service as it glosses over many of the difficulties that the writer would have had to face and makes the process seem like a breeze.
A Bankruptcy Story – from David Swanson’s Blog
A Bankruptcy Story is an email submitted to David Swanson’s blog at www.democrats.com, which he posted without the sender’s name. http://www.democrats.com/node/4307
The writer describes how she, her husband (a steelworker and union member) and their three kids dealt with a Chapter 13 filing that they later had to convert into a Chapter 7. She focuses on her failed efforts to keep their house and how she feels one of the two banks involved took advantage of her with the foreclosure process.
My Personal Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Story
My Personal Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Story is from a site called http://ezinearticles.com and is written by Phoenix Blossom-Lipschitz. Can’t tell the date it was written, though the filing took place in 2005. http://ezinearticles.com/?My-Personal-Chapter-13-Bankruptcy-Story&id=332750
The article does a good job of describing how she experienced the Chapter 13 process and what steps were involved, as well as how she found a lawyer and some of the other more complicated cases she saw the day she went to court. Also, a cynical comment about the silliness of the credit counseling requirement included in the 2005 bankruptcy law revisions.
On the whole an enlightening piece by someone who got into debt but had the wherewithal to reorganize her life after using the bankruptcy process to get her debt under control. She contrasts this with some of the other cases she saw where people had criminal records, serious medical issues or just lacked the ability to organize their lives.
(She also lists a website called happy-after-bankruptcy.com that she says she’s writing on, but the link appears to be inactive.)
How Bankruptcy Saved My Life
How Bankruptcy Saved My Life ran in DailyKos.com on March 3, 2005. It recounts how the author’s struggle with the onset of severe depression, which was not well covered by his insurance, led him to file for bankruptcy protection.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/3/215026/3462
As interesting as the post are some of the reactions in the comments that follow the post.
