Legislation

NACBA serves as the voice for debtor attorneys and their clients in the U.S. Congress, the Justice Department, the Judiciary, and other federal agencies.  NACBA also works with its members to represent consumer debtor interest in state capitals. NACBA’s team of legislative advocates in Washington works with a collation of allies who often join our efforts.  NACBA also serves as the central clearinghouse for media requests regarding bankruptcy issues and proactively carries out public awareness campaigns and media events.  Members join together annually in Washington for our Capitol Hill Day,  during which members attend an extensive training session, covering how to have an effective meeting with a member of Congress and articulate NACBA’s legislative objectives and priorities and then attend NACBA-arranged meetings with their Congress members and senators.

2005 Bankruptcy Legislation

Over most of the past decade, the consumer credit industry spent well over $100 million to hire literally hundreds of lobbyists and buy legislation that curtails the ability of consumers to obtain relief in bankruptcy from crushing debt burdens. When the legislation was first proposed, most people subscribed to the conventional wisdom that the bill would pass within a few months, because it seemed to have obtained widespread support in Congress. NACBA led the fight against the bill promoted by the credit industry, organizing a coalition of allies including organizations representing working families, women and children, the civil rights community, consumer groups, and others interested in preserving fair and balanced bankruptcy laws. Remarkably, we were successful in fighting off the pro-creditor legislation for over eight years and in defeating its most onerous provisions. When the bill was enacted into law in 2005, it was NACBA that educated over 3000 consumer bankruptcy attorneys on how to effectively represent clients in the new environment.

Current Initiatives

Since passage of BABCPA, NACBA and its team in Washington, DC, have been working aggressively to educate legislators about the unintended consequences of the legislation and to seek modifications that would eliminate the most onerous provisions of the new legislation.

• NACBA President Henry Sommer testified ON May 1, 2007, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law on “The Second Anniversary of the Enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act.”  In addition to considering the impact of the 2005 amendments, the hearing provided a valuable forum in which to promote the proposals made by NACBA and other consumer groups to deal with the mortgage foreclosure crisis through expanding chapter 13 debtors’ rights.
• NACBA submitted extensive comments on proposed amendments to the rules of bankruptcy procedure addressing, among other things, the certifications regarding credit counseling and arguing that the official forms should not take substantive positions on the law, that debtors need not file a record of an educational savings account separate from the schedule listing that account, that the 45 day deadline for a financial education certificate contravenes the statute, and that the deadline for exemption objections should not be extended to 60 days after conclusion of the creditors meeting.
• The Advisory Committee met in late March 2007 to consider a large package of proposed rules, many of which mirrored the suggested Interim Rules that were adopted by courts.  On the whole, most of the proposed changes that were opposed by NACBA were not adopted. The Committee did not adopt a proposed rule that would have changed the time for objecting to exemptions to 60 days after the conclusion of the creditors meeting.  Based on the statutory language, the Committee also changed Exhibit D to the petition so it will no longer state the debtor must file a motion to demonstrate exigent circumstances and will require only a certification, as NACBA suggested. A few other small changes to the forms were made, some of which are beneficial to debtors. Although not all of NACBA’s proposals were adopted, several of them, which did not pertain directly to the rules then under review, were held over for future consideration.
• The proposed rules, as approved by the Committee, will now be sent to the Standing Committee on Rules, then the Federal Judicial Conference, and then the Supreme Court. If these bodies all approve them, and Congress does not disapprove them, they will become effective in December 2008. It is rare for changes to be made at any of those stages.  The proposed forms will follow a similar path, except that they need not be approved by the Supreme Court or sent to Congress. If they are approved by the Judicial Conference, they will become effective in October, 2007.
• On April 12, 200, NACBA, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL)  issued a joint Call to Action, calling on Congress to change bankruptcy laws to help hundreds of thousands of American families struggling with abusive subprime mortgages escape foreclosure and the loss of up to $164 billion in home-based wealth.

Files:

		• Read the 04/12/07 Press Release • Joint “Call to Action” for Congress
		• NACBA survey of bankruptcy attorneys
		• Audio of the April 12, 2007 news event.

Capitol Hill Meetings

NACBA Members join together annually in Washington for Capitol Hill Day,  during which members attend an extensive training session, covering how to have an effective meeting with a member of Congress and articulate NACBA’s legislative objectives and priorities and then attend NACBA-arranged meetings with their Congress members and senators.

This year, NACBA members who participated in the Capitol Hill Meeting on February 5-6, 2007, found the halls of Congress this year to be much more receptive to the NACBA agenda than in recent years.  The foul weather that shut D.C. down on Valentine’s Day held off long enough for 40+ NACBA members from 25 states to hold over 100 meetings with Representatives and Senators and their staffs.  On Day 1, NACBA members attended an extensive training session, covering how to have an effective meeting with a member of Congress and articulate NACBA’s legislative objectives and priorities for the 110th Congress and the importance of staying on-message.  NACBA’s Legislative Committee worked with Legislative Director Maureen Thompson to coordinate the event, including setting up the many NACBA-member meetings with their Congress members and senators, crafting our key message, and arranging for veteran Washington insiders to speak at the training sessions.