Law Commons^™

La Responsabilisation De L'Economie: What The United States Can Learn From The New French Law On Consumer Overindebtedness, Jason J. Kilborn

Jason Kilborn

This Article on the French law continues a study of European consumer debt-relief systems, which the author began previously in an article on the German system. With rapid legal and practical developments in consumer debt-relief law, Europe provides an excellent comparative legal laboratory for observing the potential benefits and pitfalls of consumer bankruptcy reforms. In particular, French and German experiences with long-term payment plans shed useful light on the great debate raging in the United States over similar plans.

Of Progressive Property And Public Debt, Christopher K. Odinet

Christopher K. Odinet

Bankruptcy Empiricism: Lighthouse Still No Good (Reviewing Teresa A. Sullivan, Elizabeth Warren & Jay Lawrence Westbook, The Fragile Middle Class: Americans In Debt (2000)), Margaret Howard

Margaret Howard

Not available.

Divorcing Into Debt: How Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention And Consumer Protection Act Created A New Class Member In America's Debtors' Prisons, Bobby A. Lean Jr.

Bobby A Lean Jr.

This paper takes a look into BAPCPA and how 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(15) of the bankruptcy code creates a debtors' prison. It then compares the Florida courts and the Ohio courts and how creditors can use this section to potentially jail their debtors. Using policy analysis the paper turns to possible solutions and the cost there of.

Theories And Practices Of Islamic Finance And Exchange Laws: Poverty Of Interest, Ahmed E. Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

The Balanced Budget Amendment: Will Judges Become Accountants? A Look At State Experiences, Donald Tobin

Donald B. Tobin

No abstract provided.

Exploring Chapter 11 Reform: Corporate And Financial Institution Insolvencies; Treatment Of Derivatives -, Michelle Harner

Michelle M. Harner

No abstract provided.

"Pennies On The Dollar": Reallocating Risk And Deficiency Judgment Liability, Kristen Barnes

Kristen Barnes

Many homeowners are unaware that they face the prospect of crushing personal financial liability if they default on their mortgage loans. While owners may appreciate that they can lose their homes to the lender if they fail to make payments in accordance with their loan terms, many do not fully comprehend that the exposure they have under such circumstances does not end with relinquishing the financed property. In what are known as recourse states, if the lender forecloses and the foreclosure sale does not yield an amount sufficient to cover the borrower’s outstanding debt balance, the lender may file for …

Indebitamento Della Società, Scissione Ed Elusione Della Tutela Dei Creditori, Valerio Sangiovanni

Valerio Sangiovanni

No abstract provided.

The Indentured Generation: Bankruptcy And Student Loan Debt, Daniel A. Austin

Daniel A. Austin

A generation of Americans has borrowed heavily for their education, and hundreds of thousands of them are deeply in debt. Some 37 million Americans owe a total of approximately $1 trillion dollars in student loans. They constitute an Indentured Generation as many of them will be burdened with student loan debt for much of their lives. With one of the worst job markets in decades, members of the Indentured Generation who are in particularly dire circumstances will turn to bankruptcy for a “fresh start.” But most student loan debtors will not get relief through bankruptcy. This is because the Bankruptcy …

How To Choose The Least Unconstitutional Option: Lessons For The President (And Others) From The 2011 Debt Ceiling Standoff, Michael C. Dorf

Michael C. Dorf

The current successor to a federal statute first enacted in 1917, and widely known as the “debt ceiling,” limits the face value of money that the United States may borrow. Congress has repeatedly raised the debt ceiling to authorize borrowing to fill the gap between revenue and spending, but in the summer of 2011, a political standoff nearly left the government unable to borrow funds to meet obligations that Congress had affirmed earlier that very year. Some commentators urged President Obama to ignore the debt ceiling and issue new bonds, in order to comply with Section 4 of the Fourteenth …

Widener Law Analysis: Share Pain Or Deal With Bankruptcy, Juliet Moringiello, Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey

No abstract provided.

Widener Law Analysis: Share Pain Or Deal With Bankruptcy, Juliet Moringiello, Michael Hussey

Juliet M Moringiello

No abstract provided.

Coerced Debt: An Empirical Examination Of The Role Consumer Credit In Domestic Violence, Angela K. Littwin

Angela K Littwin

When one pictures domestic violence, consumer credit probably does not come to mind. Physical and sexual abuse in intimate relationships has become an acknowledged reality. Structural abuse, which includes tactics such as isolating victims from other relationships and cutting off access to transportation, has also made headway in the public consciousness. Even forms of economic abuse that depress victims’ income have been well-documented. But there is another facet of domestic violence that has not yet been recognized: financial abuse through consumer credit. As consumer lending has permeated American life, violent partners have begun using debt as a means of exercising …

Activist Distressed Debtholders: The New Barbarians At The Gate?, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

The term “corporate raiders” previously struck fear in the hearts of corporate boards and management teams. It generally refers to investors who target undervalued, cash-flush or mismanaged companies and initiate a hostile takeover of the company. Corporate raiders earned their name in part because of their focus on value extraction, which could entail dismantling a company and selling off its crown jewels. Today, the term often conjures up images of Michael Milken, Henry Kravis or the movie character Gordon Gekko, but the alleged threat posed to companies by corporate raiders is less prevalent—at least with respect to the traditional use …

State Laws, Court Splits, Local Practice Make Consumer Bankruptcy Anything But "Uniform", Daniel Austin

Daniel A. Austin

The Bankruptcy Clause allows Congress to establish “uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States.” Pursuant to this authority, the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §101 et seq., governs consumer bankruptcy in the U.S. As a federal statute, it might be expected that the Code would be applied in a relatively uniform manner throughout the U.S. However, state laws, judicial interpretation, and local practice can vary so significantly, that the relief and procedures available to a debtor in one state can be entirely different from what is available in another state.

Making Debtor Remedies More Effective, Melissa B. Jacoby

Melissa B. Jacoby

Commissioned for a conference on credit markets at Harvard Business School in February 2010, this paper explores functional system design and the role of lawyers and intermediaries in providing debtor remedies in a complex legal system. The thesis of this paper, which proceeds in the “law and society” tradition, is that the location of a remedial right within the debtor-creditor system substantially affects the costs and benefits of the remedy for debtors, creditors, the system, and society. In other words, merely adding specific substantive provisions does not directly translate into actual protection. Relatedly, policymakers must recognize that lawyers and other …

The Credit Repair Organizations Act: The Sleeping Giant, Justin Smith

Justin T Smith

Congress created the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) to protect consumers from unscrupulous providers of credit repair. In the fifteen years since it was enacted, problems have arisen in its application as many of the key provisions of CROA were left undefined and what little case law that has developed has yet to form a coherent understanding of how CROA is to be read. This lack of predictability makes CROA an ineffective piece of legislation in that parties are unable to properly modify their behavior since they are not operating on known terms.

Just as CROA has been neglected by …

The Roles Of Acceleration, David Hahn

David Hahn

Acceleration clauses are found in most debt instruments. Upon the occurrence of predetermined triggering event, acceleration makes a creditor's future claim due and payable. While debt covenants have been analyzed extensively in the academic literature, the role of acceleration has been overlooked. This paper examines the role of acceleration clauses and maintains that they play a critical role in debt financing. The paper argues that the prime role of acceleration is to perfect a complex set of governance mechanisms within the corporate setting. This governance role is comprised of three parts. First, acceleration is a complementary measure that supports debt …

Credit For Motherhood, Melissa Jacoby

Melissa B. Jacoby

This essay builds on prior work exploring the impact of consumer lenders who sell credit products for assisted reproduction and adoption. After reviewing some basic attributes of the parenthood lending market, the essay discusses how not-for-profit lenders promote traditional conceptions of motherhood and the division of carework in ways that credit discrimination laws were not designed to address. The essay also articulates some incentives of for-profit lenders to sell motherhood and potential implications for women who are ambivalent about becoming parents.

Individual Voluntary Arrangements: A "Fresh Start" For Salaried Consumer Debtors In England And Wales?, Adrian Walters

Adrian J Walters

No abstract provided.

A Step-By-Step Guide To Chapter 7 Consumer Bankruptcy In Arkansas From The Debtor's Perspective, Timothy R. Tarvin

Timothy R Tarvin

The Effect Of 2005 Bankruptcy Reform On Credit Card Industry Profits And Prices, Michael N. Simkovic

Michael N Simkovic

The U.S. Bankruptcy code changed dramatically with the passage of The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act Of 2005. This act increased the costs and decreased the benefits of bankruptcy to consumers. Supporters of the law claimed that it would benefit consumers as well as creditors, because reducing the losses faced by creditors would lower the cost of credit to consumers. Critics of the law depicted it as special interest legislation designed to profit credit card companies at the expense of consumers. This study tests whether the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform: (1) reduced the number of bankruptcies; (2) reduced credit …

Ripping Off Grandma And Grandpa Without Hurting The Banks Of America: Allowing The Elderly And Other Easy Prey To Pay For The Crimes Of Immoral Individuals And Institutions, Brett D. Maxfield

Brett D Maxfield

This paper looks at the abuses of the banks of America in the ways they influence the law of credit and debt collection and what can be done to reform the system.

Usury Law, Payday Loans, And Statutory Sleight Of Hand: An Empirical Analysis Of American Credit Pricing Limits, Christopher L. Peterson

Christopher L Peterson

In the Western intellectual tradition usury law has historically been the foremost bulwark shielding consumers from harsh credit practices. In the past, the United States commitment to usury law has been deep and consistent. However, the recent rapid growth of the “payday” loan industry belies this longstanding American tradition. In order to understand the evolution of American usury law, this paper presents a systemic empirical analysis of all fifty state usury laws in two time periods: 1965 and the present. The highest permissible price of a typical payday loan authorized under each state’s usury law was calculated. These prices were …

The Reconstruction Of Iraq: Dealing With Debt, David D. Caron

David D. Caron

No abstract provided.

The Wisconsin Exemption Clause Debate Of 1846: An Historical Perspective On The Regulation Of Debt, Bernard Trujillo

Bernard Trujillo

No abstract provided.