Russell A. DeMott is a friend of mine and a Charleston, South Carolina bankruptcy and foreclosure defense lawyer . He likes hot women; don’t ask why he wrote this piece for me at the Soapbox.
Hot Women and Bankruptcy?
What do hot women have to do with bankruptcy? Selling credit counseling and debtor education “services” required by the Bankruptcy Code.
I’m very pro-hot woman!
Let’s get something straight right up front: I have nothing against hot women.
When I go to conferences, either here in South Carolina or in other places, there is never a lack of attractive women manning—or should I say womaning?—displays touting their company’s credit counseling and debtor education programs.
In case you didn’t know, credit counseling is required prior filing bankruptcy. Think of it as your ticket into the bankruptcy system. No ticket, and you can’t get on board.
Debtor education is required to get out of the system—at least if you want your debts discharged. Think of it as your ticket out of bankruptcy.
The courses are stupid, but…
Both counseling sessions are required under the 2005 Bankruptcy Code. Both—particularly the pre-filing credit counseling course—could be poster children for some of the stupid, pointless, requirements of the new code.
As my colleague at Bankruptcy Law Network, Oregon bankruptcy lawyer Kent Anderson, recently noted:
Credit counseling itself is an enormous waste of both money and time. It is often described as a ‘speed bump’ in the road to bankruptcy relief. In the more than six years since the implementation of this requirement I have not had a single client change their mind about a bankruptcy filing due to the credit counseling they attended. However, they have spent thousands of dollars paying for this worthless and wasteful ‘service.’
And, of course, these silly requirements have spawned a new industry to provide these “services.” Now you know why I use the quotations marks.
The best solution
You can’t get out of it, but you can do it cheaply.
The Tides Center, a non-profit funding numerous projects, deserves a high-five (or fist bump?) for realizing that this requirement hurts the poor, as well as blue-collar debtors. The Tides Center has funded credit counseling services for only $5. Several large law firms and other businesses support this project. Thanks to these fine folks, you can get this needless requirement out of the way for only $5.
And for debtor education, Ypside.org will provide debtor education for only $15. Thanks to these organizations, you get your ticket in and your ticket out for only $20.
That’s more than these “courses” are worth, but I applaud these two providers for making this requirement as inexpensive as it can be. If you use other providers, you’ll pay up to $100 for both courses. Ypside also publicly supports ending these counseling requirements, which I also appreciate.
“But what about the hot women?” you say. Again, I’m not against hot women. I’d just like to see a day when they sell something useful—cars, computers, insurance, anything but these pointless courses.
Until then you now know where to go to meet these silly requirements.
Cathy reminds you that each federal judicial district approves providers of these services for cases filed in their court. Make sure that you use an approved vendor for the district in which you are filing.
Unfortunately, many debtors pay “counseling” providers far more than your clients do. Debtors have told me that the pre-bankruptcy counseling is of little (if any) value. Thanks for reminding debtors that that their are often more realisticly priced counseling services available in many districts.
I never thought about it this way, but it makes sense. Why else would anyone pay $50 for each course when they get little or nothing out of it?