• Home
  • Bankruptcy in Brief
  • ABC’s of Bankruptcy
  • Considering Bankruptcy
  • True Stories
  • Chapter 13
  • Blog
  • About
  • TOC

Northern California Bankruptcy Lawyer

On The Bankruptcy Soapbox

The Soap Box
  • How bankruptcy works
  • Mortgage Matters
  • Consumer Rights
  • You & Your Lawyer
  • Small Business
  • Family Law

Financial education program worthwhile

By Cathy Moran

Stand by:  I’m going to say something nice about BAPCPA, the bankruptcy “reform” law of 2005.  The debtor education requirement that is a condition of getting a discharge is a good idea.  Just this week, two clients have reported that they learned useful stuff from the required program.

Filing bankruptcy is a teachable moment for many:  they are trying to figure out what happened to them and how not to go through this again.  There is an openness to ideas and skills that may not have existed before.

The prebankruptcy “credit counseling”, the twin of the financial management class, is uniformly  held to be worthless. (Are you reassured that my keyboard hasn’t been hijacked by my evil twin?)  No one is deterred from filing as a result; for nearly everyone who readies themselves to file, there is no non bankruptcy alternative.

April is Financial Literacy Month.  You don’t have to be bankrupt to add to your bag of money skills.

More from the Soapbox

  • California Homestead Grows With Inflation: Calculating The Homestead IncreaseCalifornia Homestead Grows With Inflation: Calculating The Homestead Increase
  • Bail Yourself Out Of Payroll Tax TroubleBail Yourself Out Of Payroll Tax Trouble
  • Looming  California foreclosure doesn’t require bankruptcyLooming California foreclosure doesn’t require bankruptcy
  • Interest rate truth below banker’s blusterInterest rate truth below banker’s bluster
  • The Easiest Business Loan In TownThe Easiest Business Loan In Town

Filed Under: How bankruptcy works

About Cathy Moran

I'm a veteran bankruptcy lawyer and consumer advocate in California's Silicon Valley. I write, teach, and speak in the hopes of expanding understanding of how bankruptcy can make life better in a family's future.

Bankruptcy Basics

About The Soapbox

You’ve arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said “try”).

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

The Biggest Lie About Bankruptcy

Read anything about Chapter 7 and you get, "Your possessions are sold in Chapter 7 bankruptcy." That is, flat out, the biggest lie about bankruptcy. It's a liquidation proceeding and your stuff will be sold to pay creditors, the lie goes on. No wonder people are scared off from getting relief from debts they … Read more

More Posts from this Category

643 Bair Island Road
Suite 403
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: (650) 694-4700
Phone: (650) 368-4700

Categories

All content copyright © Moran Law Group. All rights reserved.