Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Indiana

bankruptcy

I completed my degree program at Baylor U. prior to the change in the ''no bankruptcy'' rule for student loans. I would not have risked such a financial obligation if I knew the bankruptcy safeguards of our country weren't there. I can't believe our country would take away the implicit conditions at the time of a contract and apply other risk-bearing conditions retroactively. Is there any means of addressing this? I'm sure there are thousands who are in this retroactively betrayed position -- like charging credit card debt fee to card holders in the sixties because these fees were raised in 2008, because a company sold the cards at an inticing interest rate they could not truly afford. I would gladly give up my degree and profession in exchange -- in the current circumstances.


Asked on 6/10/08, 11:53 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
C. David DuMond Law Offices of David DuMond

Re: bankruptcy

I take it you are referring to the bankruptcy law revisions enacted by the last (we can hope) Republican congress in 2005. The "no bankruptcy rule for student loans" -- as you put it -- has been a feature of the United States Bankruptcy Code for a long time, I think at least since 1978, so your assumption that you have been retroactively betrayed by the Republican Congress in its "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" (known in some quarters as the Debt Slave Act) is incorrect. If you are referring to the 1998 amendments which abolished the 7-year payment rule, that issue has been fully litigated against the assertion of ex poste facto restrictions on discharge eligibility. Now the only thing for student loan debtors to do is attempt to prove they suffer undue hardship in repayment of these loans, for which you should confer with an attorney experienced in bankruptcy litigation. Good luck.

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Answered on 6/10/08, 5:43 pm


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