{
  "id": "RL33082",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL33082",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 309855,
      "date": "2005-11-14",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:27:47.412029",
      "title": "Bankruptcy Relief and Natural Disaster Victims",
      "summary": "In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, many questioned whether implementing\nthe\nnew procedures of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA),  P.L.\n109-8 , which became effective on October 17, 2005, should have been delayed or revised. \n This report considers whether bankruptcy law in general, and the BAPCPA in particular, may\npresent unique challenges to financial recovery for those whose life, livelihood, and/or home have\nbeen damaged or destroyed. \n To some extent, the new goals of the BAPCPA, which is designed to restore personal\nresponsibility to individual's financial affairs and reduce the number of chapter 7 filings, may be at\nodds with the goals of those who want to assist Katrina victims through a speedy financial\nrehabilitation procedure under chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. \n The BAPCPA is an extremely lengthy, complicated, and technical overhaul of bankruptcy\npractice. Many of its provisions will undoubtedly be of assistance to debtors, while others are more\nproblematic. This report reviews just a few elements of the new law in areas such as burden of\nproof, debt forgiveness, flexibility, transaction costs, and small business reorganization and considers \ntheir implications for disaster victims. It concludes that it may be impossible to predict how the\nimplementation of a new bankruptcy system will impact Katrina victims, whose specific needs in\na bankruptcy context are not yet known.\n To date, several bills that address the issue of bankruptcy relief for Katrina victims have been\nintroduced. These bills include provisions to push back the effective date for implementation of the\nBAPCPA, and to make substantive changes to the Bankruptcy Code for the benefit of disaster\nvictims. This report will be updated as events warrant.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL33082",
          "sha1": "56d050bc71cc0495b9edc596255e1c55da177d7c",
          "filename": "files/20051114_RL33082_56d050bc71cc0495b9edc596255e1c55da177d7c.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL33082",
          "sha1": "d887ed9b13ac11258bbe50feab219621bbc7395a",
          "filename": "files/20051114_RL33082_d887ed9b13ac11258bbe50feab219621bbc7395a.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7811/",
      "id": "RL33082 2005-09-14",
      "date": "2005-09-14",
      "retrieved": "2005-11-18T11:26:53",
      "title": "Bankruptcy Relief and Natural Disaster Victims",
      "summary": "In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many have questioned whether implementing the new procedures of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), P.L. 109-8, scheduled to go into effect on October 17, 2005, should be delayed. This report considers whether bankruptcy law in general, and the BAPCPA in particular, may present unique challenges to financial recovery for those whose life, livelihood, and/or home have been damaged or destroyed.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20050914_RL33082_3481e1b7ec7f62cc146d6652c919fd19d7922818.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20050914_RL33082_3481e1b7ec7f62cc146d6652c919fd19d7922818.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Finance",
          "name": "Finance"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Disasters",
          "name": "Disasters"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Bankruptcy",
          "name": "Bankruptcy"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Emergency management",
          "name": "Emergency management"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": []
}