Declaring bankruptcy after natural disasters?

[Fleshdancer]

I'm watching the footage of destroyed homes, cars, businesses, etc and I suddenly began to wonder what happens to people who lose everything once the new laws go into effect making it harder to declare bankruptcy.

Does anyone know if people who survive catastrophic natural disasters are exempt from the new rules??

[NYCGirl]

1. I would hope that natural disaster is one of the reasons for bankruptcy

considered legitimate.

[AtomicKitten]

2. Sorry, citizen but you are f*cked.

No exceptions.

[MountainLaurel]

3. Considering that medical expenses

Are not exempt, I would assume that victims of a natural disaster get a big "fuck you" as well.

[Fleshdancer]

5. that's what I'm afraid of

I need to get my hands on the actual legislation though to know for sure. I'll hunt it down. If natural disasters aren't exempt, we have a lot of nasty letters to write. I'm watching television footage of people who have NOTHING now. I'm reading about DUers who have lost everything...this is insane.

[marions ghost]

8. if you get some info

please post it here. This is a very good question IMO.

[Fleshdancer]

10. I'm on hold with the Majority Report on AAR....

The woman who took my call said Sam wants to take my call. :D I'm bringing this up and hopefully we can get some answers. (It's going to take another 15-20 minutes though)

wish me luck. I've never called in to a radio show before.

[blondeatlast]

12. Here's the Thomas summary, if that helps any.

I can find the stuff, I'm a library reference provider, but can't interpret it to save my life!

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN00256:@@@L&summ2=m&

[marions ghost]

13. excellent

let us know how it goes

[Fleshdancer]

14. I just talked to Sam a few minutes ago

:bounce:

he said I made a good point and then he ranted about the new legislation. I was nervous as hell!

[SoCalDem]

4. It's income-specific , so if they has no job, they would surely qualify

or so i would think

[wli]

6. bankruptcy's only for rich people, debtor's prison is more likely

They'll probably model it after Guantanamo.

[Fleshdancer]

7. kick

I still haven't been able to find out if natural disasters is an exemption. Does anyone have any answers on this?

[cascadiance]

9. I guess a debtor's prison will be on of Bushie's priorities...

for Haliburton to build down there, to house the many new "criminals" that will be prosecuted for being bankrupt. I wonder how much that contract will go for. Will the CC and insurance companies contribute to building them?

[blondeatlast]

11. Mind; I'm only a reference priovider in a library, I can't interpret this

stuff to get myself out of a paper bag, but here's a site that may be of help;

Nolo's new bankruptcy law FAQ is a good overview, but no specifics available on disasters (Nolo publishes very user-friendly resources for consumers who are trying to do it themselves; they are so good many lawyers use their resources as well!)

http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/ObjectID/B0B66870-4C52-4303-919B10B9611D3EF9/catID/575C3BE9-F0C1-448E-B5F43D22FE36E9F2/213/161/176/ART/

Judging by what I'm seeing, we won't know much until the new rules take effect; there doesn't seem to be a lot of analysis--I'd love to see someone prove me wrong, though!

Consumer Reports July 2005 had a huge article about the changes, but not available online yet.

[Roland99]

15. What will the true cost of Hurricane Katrina be?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4510794