HBO's John Oliver recently profiled Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy on his critically acclaimed program "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver". In the profile, Oliver describes the often intimidating process, as well as some of the procedures that are designed to scare away filers.
The program, featured here, discusses how some lawyers encourage potential filers into a more costly Chapter 13 filing. Featured in the story are also examples of the often degrading and insulting credit counseling requirements, which apply for all filers, even though the circumstances surrounding the filing have little, to nothing, to do with poor debt management habits. The most common causes of the bankruptcy filing are generally, a severe medical illness, an unexpected tragic loss, job loss or loss of income, and divorce. In almost all of these scenarios, poor debt management skills are rarely to blame for filing bankruptcy, yet federal law requires the filer to take part in two separate courses designed to "educate" the filer about the types of debt, managing expenses, and proper budgeting.
To learn more about these requirements, watch here, or contact our Brooklyn bankruptcy attorneys for your free bankruptcy consultation.