Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog
Jacksonville bankruptcy filers are required to take a credit counseling course before filing bankruptcy as well as a “debtor education” course during their bankruptcy before they can obtain a discharge of their debts. When George Bush signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, there was a feeling that those filing bankruptcy must be doing so because they do not know how to properly budget money. This feeling lead to the creation of 11 U.S.C. §109(h) and 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(11) which require the counseling and education courses.
In the past, the primary reasons for filing bankruptcy were varied, the Chicago Tribune states that the primary drivers of bankruptcy are illness, divorce and loss of employment. While this used to be true, it seems that the vast majority of the people I consult with have only one issue, what to do with a home that is more underwater than it is worth and a bank that won’t budge when it comes to modification.
When an underwater home is the reason for bankruptcy, no amount of budget knowledge is going to help, yet it is still required. Fortunately, there are Debtor Education providers like Dave Ramsey, who give more useful tips on growing wealth than how to simply balance a checkbook.
Contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney or call us at (904) 685-1200 for a free consultation to discuss credit counseling, debtor education and other options.