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One of my favorite parts of ABI's Annual Spring Meeting is the Great Debates. Fellow Maine resident Robert J. Keach will moderate several different debates over emerging consumer and business insolvency topics. I have to admit I sit there with my Code and try to follow the debates, usually with some kind soul next to me who translates. Every year I learn something new, and that is why I truly love the debates.
Consumer issues are those that I explore and write about. Most recently, there has been much discussion and debate about our economic state. There are numerous proposals, some even having to do with modifying the Bankruptcy Code, to try and deal with what may in fact be a faltering economy. Mr. Keach may have read the same article that I read on Jan. 29, 2008, when the largest daily newspaper in Maine ran the following headline: "$600 rebate: save it, splurge, invest or go surfing?"1
The headline referred to the introduction of H.R. 5140, known as the "Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008 ."2 We wondered how Americans would actually answer the question posed by this newspaper. Would they buy durable consumer goods as the political pundits were predicting, or would they use it to fill their gas tanks at over $3 per gallon? So we decided to ask the question.
Background
The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) incorporated a requirement that individuals must complete mandatory credit counseling in order to be eligible to file a consumer bankruptcy case under the Bankruptcy Code.3 In addition, the law requires certain debtors in the bankruptcy system to complete a mandatory financial management instructional course in order to receive a discharge of their debts." A married couple filing a joint bankruptcy petition must each complete both the counseling and the education as a result of the law's application of these requirements to "individuals."5
Our agency6 was approved under §111(a) to provide both the mandatory credit counseling and financial management instructional course in all 88 judicial districts covered by the U.S. Trustee Program and the six Bankruptcy Administrator7 districts in the fall of 2005.8 Services are provided in all districts by telephone...