About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

Proposed Bankruptcy Legislation to Address Natural Disaster Victims 1 (September 27, 2005)

handle is hein.bank/crsbank0041 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22275
September 27, 2005
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Proposed Bankruptcy Legislation to Address
Natural Disaster Victims
Robin Jeweler
Legislative Attorney
American Law Division
Summary
Several bills have been introduced in the 109th Congress to amend the U.S.
Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. H.R. 3662
would delay the effective date for the means test amendments to the Code enacted in the
Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. H.R. 3697, S. 1647, S.
1765, and S. 1766 would make substantive amendments to the Code to deal with victims
of natural disasters. They are discussed below. This report will be updated as events
warrant.
Many members of the public and of Congress have expressed concern over how
bankruptcy law in general and implementation of the new bankruptcy provisions in the
Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), P.L. 109-8, many
of which take effect on October 17,2005, will affect victims of Hurricane Katrina.' This
report reviews bills introduced to date which would amend provisions of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 101 et. seq.
Two provisions, a bill, H.R. 3662, entitled the Financial Safeguards for Hurricane
Survivors Act of 2005 and a proposed (but not adopted) amendment to H.R. 2862,2
would delay the effective date for the BAPCPA amendments by two years or one year
respectively. This would allow hurricane victims more time to file under the current
(soon to expire) provisions of chapters 7, 11, and 13.'
H.R. 3697, the Hurricane Katrina Bankruptcy Relief and Community Protection Act
of 2005 would make substantive changes to the Code.
1 For more background, see CRS Report RL33082, Bankruptcy Relief and Natural Disaster
Victims.
2 S.Amdt. 1678, 109' Cong., 2 n Sess. (2005).
3 Both individual and business bankruptcy filings have increased in anticipation of the BAPCPA.
Two airlines, Delta and Northwest, filed on the same day. See 17 BNA BANKR. L. REP. 762, US.
Bankruptcy Filings Up 16 Percent, Marking Record Number for Any Quarter, Sept. 1, 2005.
Congressional Research Service *oo The Library of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most