DOCSLIB.ORG

Final Report of the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Final Report of the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy American Bankruptcy Institute Copyright © 2019 by the American Bankruptcy Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright holder. Printed in the United States of America. “This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.” — From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations. ISBN: 978-1-944516-49-9 Additional copies may be purchased from the American Bankruptcy Institute. Discounts are available to ABI members. Copies also may be purchased at ABI’s website, ABI World, www.abiworld.org. Founded on Capitol Hill in 1982, the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) is the only multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization devoted to the advancement of jurisprudence related to problems of insolvency. The ABI membership includes more than 13,000 attorneys, bankers, judges, accountants, professors, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. ABI was founded to provide Congress with unbiased testimony and research on insolvency issues. For further information, contact ABI. ® FULL COURT PRESS 66 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 600 Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 739-0800 • (703) 739-1060 Fax www.abi.org • [email protected] ii Final Report of the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy Table of Contents Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................v Foreword .................................................................................................................................................. vii Reporter’s Note .....................................................................................................................................xiii Citation and Style Conventions .......................................................................................................xv I. Effectuating the Fresh Start A. Discharge and Dischargeability § 1.01 Student Loans .......................................................................................................................... 1 § 1.02 Remedies for Discharge Violation ................................................................................ 15 § 1.03 Dischargeability of Homeowners Association (HOA) Fees .................................. 18 § 1.04 Definition of a Tax Return for Purposes of Nondischargeability ................... 21 B. Judicial Estoppel § 1.05 Judicial Estoppel .................................................................................................................. 26 C. Ensuring Access to Meaningful Exemptions § 1.06 Trustee’s Sale of Exempt Property ................................................................................ 30 § 1.07 Postpetition Changes in Value ........................................................................................ 34 § 1.08 Exemptions for Debtors Who Move States ................................................................. 37 § 1.09 Increase of Wild-Card Exemption for Households with Dependents .............. 40 § 1.10 Increase in Federal Homestead Exemption ................................................................. 42 II. Improving Creditor Certainty and Lowering Costs § 2.01 Protection of Interests in Collateral Repossessed Prepetition ....................... 45 § 2.02 Definition of “Surrender” ................................................................................................. 49 § 2.03 Statement of Intention — Deadlines and Consequences ...................................... 53 § 2.04 Reaffirmation Improvements ........................................................................................... 57 § 2.05 Repeat Filers .......................................................................................................................... 65 § 2.06 Defining and Valuing the Principal Residence, Timing Issues .............................. 70 § 2.07 Improvements to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3002.1 — Payment Change Notices and Notices of Final Cure ........................................................................... 74 § 2.08 Denial of Exemption for Knowing and Fraudulent Concealment .................... 86 III. Facilitating Effective Access to Bankruptcy A. Paying for Bankruptcy § 3.01 Chapter 7 Attorney’s Fees ................................................................................................ 89 § 3.02 Unbundling of Legal Services ......................................................................................... 99 § 3.03 Presumptively Reasonable Attorney’s Fees in Chapter 13s ................................ 102 B. Attorney Roles & Responsibilities § 3.04 Attorney Competency & Remedying Lawyer Misconduct .................................... 106 iii American Bankruptcy Institute § 3.05 Stand-in Counsel ................................................................................................................ 116 C. Lowering Barriers to Access § 3.06 Credit Counseling and Financial Management Course ...................................... 121 § 3.07 Means Test Revisions & Interpretations .................................................................... 127 § 3.08 Application of Means Test in Converted Cases ...................................................... 142 § 3.09 Document-Production Requests by Bankruptcy Trustees .................................. 144 § 3.10 Chapter 13 Debt Limits .................................................................................................... 146 § 3.11 Translation Services ......................................................................................................... 152 § 3.12 Mental Health Issues in Bankruptcy .......................................................................... 155 IV: Making Chapter 13 Work for All Stakeholders A. Chapter 13 Practice § 4.01 Racial Justice in Bankruptcy ......................................................................................... 159 § 4.02 Nonuniform Court Practices ........................................................................................ 166 B. Chapter 13 Plans § 4.03 Reserve Fund in Chapter 13 Cases ................................................................................ 171 § 4.04 Chapter 13 Transfer of Debtor’s Principal Residence Subject to an Underwater Mortgage ..................................................................................................... 177 § 4.05 Loan Modifications in Chapter 13 ............................................................................... 180 § 4.06 Conduit Mortgage Payments ......................................................................................... 184 § 4.07 No Automatic Dismissal When Chapter 13 Plan Payments Are Not Completed Within Sixty Months ............................................................................ 188 § 4.08 Conflicts Between Proofs of Claim and Chapter 13 Plan Terms .................... 191 § 4.09 Interest Rates in Chapter 13 Plans ............................................................................. 194 § 4.10 Section 1306 Improvements ............................................................................................. 195 V: Systems Issues § 5.01 Chapter 7 Trustee Compensation ................................................................................. 197 § 5.02 Chapter 7 Trustee Employment of Professionals ................................................... 201 § 5.03 Mediation in Consumer Bankruptcy ............................................................................ 203 § 5.04 Chapter 13 Business Debtor Reporting ...................................................................... 205 § 5.05 Standardization of Credit Reporting After Bankruptcy ................................... 207 § 5.06 Bankruptcy Forms .............................................................................................................. 209 § 5.07 Case Management (CM)/Electronic Case Filing (ECF) & Docketing Improvements ... 212 § 5.08 Notice & Service Issues ..................................................................................................... 215 Appendix A: Members of the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy .......................... 219 Appendix B: Advisory Committee Members .................................................................................. 235 Appendix C: ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy Bylaws............................................ 243 Appendix D: ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy Committee Operating Procedures ...249 iv Final Report of the ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy Acknowledgments The Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy received funding from the Endowment for Education of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund of the American Bankruptcy Institute. The American Bankruptcy
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 201-497 UST Annual Report.Indd
    U.S. Department of Justice U.S. Trustee Program United States Trustee Program Annual Report of Significant accomplishments Fiscal Year 2003 United States Trustee Program Annual Report of Significant accomplishments Fiscal Year 2003 i Table of Contents Strategic Objective; Mission Statement . 0v Message from the Attorney General . 0vi Message from the Associate Attorney General . 0vii Message from the Director . 0viii Executive Summary . 0iix Chapter 1. U.S. Trustee Program . 1 Chapter 2. Organization and Administration Organization . 3 Executive Office for U.S. Trustees . 3 Regional and Field Offices . 3 Budget and Appropriations . 4 Chapter 3. National Civil Enforcement Initiative Civil Enforcement Actions . 8 Denial or Revocation of Discharge . 8 Concealment and Failure to Disclose . 8 Credit Card Bust-Outs . 10 Serial Filers . 11 Dismissal for ‘Substantial Abuse’ . 11 Improper Conduct by Attorneys . 13 Violations by Bankruptcy Petition Preparers . 14 Serial Filings and Identity Fraud . 16 Chapter 4. Criminal Enforcement Criminal Enforcement Actions . 21 Concealment of Assets . 21 Crimes by Attorneys and Bankruptcy Petition Preparers . 23 Credit Card ‘Bust-Outs’ and Identity Fraud . 24 Other Crimes . 26 Multi-Agency Working Groups . 27 Chapter 5. Litigation in Chapter 11 Business Reorganizations U.S. Trustee’s Duties in Chapter 11 Cases . 29 Appointment of Trustee or Examiner . 30 Employment and Compensation of Professionals . 32 Preventing Delay and Preserving Assets . 34 ii Chapter 6. Trustee Oversight Chapter 7 Trustees . 37 Appointment . 37 Oversight Duties . 37 Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 Trustees . 38 Appointment . 38 Oversight Duties . 38 Computer Security . 39 Trustee Training . 39 Chapter 7. Training and Outreach National Bankruptcy Training Institute . 43 Public Outreach .
    [Show full text]
  • Personal Bankruptcy and Credit Market Competition
    Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports Personal Bankruptcy and Credit Market Competition Astrid Dick Andreas Lehnert Staff Report no. 272 January 2007 This paper presents preliminary findings and is being distributed to economists and other interested readers solely to stimulate discussion and elicit comments. The views expressed in the paper are those of the authors and are not necessarily reflective of views at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors. Personal Bankruptcy and Credit Market Competition Astrid Dick and Andreas Lehnert Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, no. 272 January 2007 JEL classification: K3, G2, L1 Abstract The effect of credit market competition on borrower default is theoretically ambiguous, because the quantity of credit supplied may rise or fall following an increase in competition. We investigate empirically the relationship between credit market competition, lending to households, and personal bankruptcy rates in the United States. We exploit the exogenous variation in market contestability brought on by banking deregulation at the state level: after deregulation, banks faced the threat of entry into their state markets. We find that deregulation increased competition for borrowers, prompting banks to adopt more sophisticated credit rating technology. In turn, these developments led previously excluded households to enter the credit market. We document that, following deregulation, (1) overall lending increased, (2) loss rates on loans decreased, and (3) bankruptcy rates rose. Further, we find that lending and bankruptcy rates increased more in states with greater actual (rather than potential) entry, and that credit card productivity increased after the removal of entry restrictions.
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Outlook
    Regional Outlook FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION THIRD QUARTER 1998 In Focus This Quarter FDIC ◆ The Asian Economic Crisis: Implications for the U.S. Economy—The Memphis economic crisis in Asia is now more than one year old, yet its consequences are still Region reverberating throughout the global economy. There are growing indications that some sectors of the U.S. economy are beginning to experience slower growth direct­ ly attributable to problems in Asia. Consequently, lenders should be cognizant of their customers’ exposure to global markets. Lending and strategic decisions pred­ icated on an assumption of continued robust economic growth should be carefully scrutinized. See page 3. By Paul C. Bishop ◆ CLOs Lure Another Major Bank Asset off the Balance Sheet— Securitization of corporate loans and bonds is in full swing, with 1997 issuance exceeding that of securities backed by credit card loans. Collateralized loan obliga­ tions (CLOs) and collateralized bond obligations, securities with deal- and issuer- specific risks, are potential bank investments that may grow in popularity if a current proposal to lower the risk weights for AAA-rated securities is enacted. Banks with an ample supply of low-margin commercial loans are expected to issue more CLOs to an increasingly demanding secondary commercial loan market. An institution’s CLO strategy may have implications that should be considered when evaluating its capital adequacy trends. See page 8. By Kathy Kalser and Allen Puwalski ◆ The Payment System: Emerging Issues—The payment system is the Division of heart of the U.S. economic infrastructure, moving value at the rate of 90 times the Insurance U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Receivership and Bankruptcy Alternatives Eric L
    PRIMARY CONTACTS Receivership and Bankruptcy Alternatives Eric L. Johnson T 816.292.8267 OVERVIEW [email protected] RELATED PRACTICES The Spencer Fane Receivership and Bankruptcy Alternatives practice helps financial institutions, investors, borrowers, and parties to litigation efficiently maximize monetary recoveries while preserving value of commercial Banking and Financial Services assets and, in some cases operating, maintaining and restructuring ongoing company operations. Clients turn to our Bankruptcy, Restructuring, and team when standard judicial proceedings promise delays and expenses that threaten to diminish asset values. Our Creditors’ Rights attorneys offer business leaders an array of bankruptcy alternatives, including receivership, and work with them to Health Care identify the option that best aligns with their goals. Litigation and Dispute Resolution Real Estate Spencer Fane attorneys have played key roles in creating a business-friendly environment for bankruptcy alternatives. Our attorneys led the drafting and creation of the Missouri Commercial Receivership Act. We have published books and articles on the subject of bankruptcy alternatives, and present panels each year for judges and practitioners alike. Our attorneys perform a high volume of receiverships and are adept at applying the receivership laws to real estate entities, operating companies, service providers, health care providers, and judgment creditors. We have significant experience improving recoveries for stakeholders through state court processes.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Framework for Evaluating Chapter 9 Bankruptcies
    Fordham Law Review Volume 83 Volume 83 Issue 5 Volume 83, Issue 5 Article 19 2015 Time for an Update: A New Framework for Evaluating Chapter 9 Bankruptcies Michael J. Deitch Fordham University School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr Part of the Bankruptcy Law Commons, and the State and Local Government Law Commons Recommended Citation Michael J. Deitch, Time for an Update: A New Framework for Evaluating Chapter 9 Bankruptcies, 83 Fordham L. Rev. 2705 (2015). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol83/iss5/19 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Law Review by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NOTES TIME FOR AN UPDATE: A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING CHAPTER 9 BANKRUPTCIES Michael J. Deitch* Municipal bankruptcies have been making national news since the “Great Recession.” Municipalities like Stockton, Vallejo, and Jefferson County gained notoriety for the record scale of their bankruptcy filings, only to be surpassed by Detroit shortly thereafter as the largest and most populous municipal bankruptcy filing. Historically, municipal bankruptcy occurred infrequently, leaving the nuances of many critical issues, including insolvency, asset utilization, and good faith, unexplored in case law. For example, how should a bankruptcy court analyze Detroit’s city-
    [Show full text]
  • Personal Bankruptcy and the Accumulation of Shadow Debt∗
    Personal Bankruptcy and the Accumulation of Shadow Debt∗ Bronson Argyle† Benjamin Iverson‡ Taylor Nadauld§ Christopher Palmer¶ May 2021 Abstract Compiling new liability-level data from the balance sheets of personal bankruptcy fil- ers, we document that a sizable share of reported liabilities are “shadow debt,” debt not reported to credit bureaus that often arises from the non-payment of goods and services. We use this new data to evaluate how debtor cash flows affect when consumers file for bankruptcy and how much debt they have at bankruptcy. We find that filers respond to a quasi-exogenous $100 increase in monthly cash flows by delaying filing by an average of one month and by increasing unsecured indebtedness by $4,000 in the months preceding filing. A large share of the additional debt incurred by delaying filers is shadow debt, and our effects are concentrated among filers without employment, health, or marriage shocks. Keywords: personal bankruptcy, unsecured debt, shadow debt ∗We thank conference and seminar participants at the AEA, AFA, Boston Federal Reserve, BYU, CFPB, Dart- mouth, the FDIC Consumer Symposium, MIT, Michigan State University, PUC Chile, the University of Rochester, and WEAI; our discussants Pat Akey, Arpit Gupta, Ryan Lewis, Feng Liu, Neale Mahoney, and Michelle White; and Carter Davis, Anthony DeFusco, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Kyle Herkenhoff, Sasha Indarte, Ben Keys, Raymond Kluender, Sam Kruger, Brigitte Madrian, Gregor Matvos, Carlos Parra, Antoinette Schoar, Amit Seru, Felipe Sev- erino, Adrien Verdelhan, and Jialan Wang for helpful comments. We appreciate the research assistance of Tammy Lee, Joseph Leung, and Richard Maxwell. We benefited tremendously from helpful conversations with David Sime, Clerk of the Utah Bankruptcy Court, and thank the Utah, Minnesota, Florida North and Florida South Bankruptcy Courts for data access.
    [Show full text]
  • Corporate and Personal Bankruptcy Law
    LS07CH08-White ARI 1 October 2011 17:47 Corporate and Personal Bankruptcy Law Michelle J. White1,2 1Department of Economics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093; email: [email protected] 2Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 Annu. Rev. Law Soc. Sci. 2011. 7:139–64 Keywords The Annual Review of Law and Social Science is reorganization, liquidation, priority, absolute priority rule, default, online at lawsocsci.annualreviews.org exemptions, filtering failure, workouts, fresh start, foreclosure This article’s doi: 10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102510-105401 Abstract Copyright c 2011 by Annual Reviews. Bankruptcy is the legal process by which the debts of firms, individ- All rights reserved uals, and occasionally governments in financial distress are resolved. 1550-3585/11/1201-0139$20.00 by University of California - San Diego on 09/05/12. For personal use only. Bankruptcy law always includes three components. First, it provides a collective framework for simultaneously resolving all debts of the Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2011.7:139-164. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org bankrupt entity, regardless of when they are due. Second, it provides rules for determining how the assets and earnings used to repay are divided among creditors. Third, bankruptcy law specifies punishments intended to discourage debtors from defaulting on their debts and fil- ing for bankruptcy. This review discusses and evaluates bankruptcy law by examining whether and when the law encourages debtors and cred- itors to behave in economically efficient ways. It also considers how bankruptcy law might be changed to improve economic efficiency.
    [Show full text]
  • Report on Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 for NH Hotel Group, S.A
    Report on nine months ended September 30, 2018 for NH Hotel Group, S.A. Table of Contents Summary consolidated financial statements ............................................................................1 Information regarding forward-looking statements ................................................................8 Presentation of financial and other information ......................................................................8 Other data ..................................................................................................................................10 Recent developments ................................................................................................................13 Risk factors ................................................................................................................................19 Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations ..66 Changes to accounting policies and new accounting standards ...........................................88 Description of certain financing arrangements ......................................................................97 Certain definitions ..................................................................................................................106 This report is the report required under the indenture dated as of September 29, 2016 governing the 3.750% Senior Secured Notes due 2023 (the “2023 Notes”). Please see “Certain definitions” for other defined terms used herein. Summary consolidated
    [Show full text]
  • Solutions for Post-Pandemic Debt Relief: Consumer and Small Business Bankruptcy Basics
    Solutions for Post-Pandemic Debt Relief: Consumer and Small Business Bankruptcy Basics March 9, 2021 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. CT Bar Association Webinar CT Bar Institute, Inc. CT: 2.0 CLE Credits (General) NY: 2.0 CLE Credits (AOP) No representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy of these materials. Readers should check primary sources where appropriate and use the traditional legal research techniques to make sure that the information has not been affected or changed by recent developments. Page 1 of 51 Table of Contents Lawyers’ Principles of Professionalism ..................................................................................................................3 Agenda ....................................................................................................................................................................6 Faculty Biographies ................................................................................................................................................8 Solutions for Post-Pandemic Debt Relief: Consumer and Small Business Bankruptcy Basics Outline ..............10 Solutions for Post-Pandemic Debt Relief: Consumer and Small Business Bankruptcy Basics Slides ................31 Page 2 of 51 LAWYERS’ PRINCIPLES OF PROFESSIONALISM As a lawyer, I have dedicated myself to making our system of justice work fairly and efficiently for all. I am an officer of this Court and recognize the obligation I have to advance the rule of law and preserve and foster the integrity of the legal system.
    [Show full text]
  • Consumer Bankruptcy and Financial Health∗
    Consumer Bankruptcy and Financial Health∗ Will Dobbie Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham Princeton University and NBER Harvard University Crystal Yang Harvard Law School January 2015 Abstract This paper estimates the effect of Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on post-filing financial outcomes using a new dataset linking bankruptcy filings to credit bureau records. Our empirical strategy uses the leniency of randomly-assigned judges as an instrument for Chapter 13 protec- tion. Over the first five post-filing years, we find that Chapter 13 protection decreases an index measuring adverse financial events such as civil judgments and repossessions by 0.316 standard deviations, increases the probability of being a homeowner by 13.2 percentage points, and in- creases credit scores by 14.9 points. Chapter 13 protection has little impact on open unsecured debt, but decreases the amount of debt in collections by $1,315. We find evidence that both debt forgiveness and protection from debt collectors are important drivers of our results. ∗We thank Tal Gross, Matthew Notowidigdo, and Jialan Wang for providing the bankruptcy data used in this analysis. We also thank Lanier Benkard, Raj Chetty, Roland Fryer, Edward Glaeser, Guido Imbens, Lawrence Katz, and numerous seminar participants for helpful comments and suggestions. Jessica Wagner provided outstanding research assistance. Correspondence can be addressed to the authors by e-mail: [email protected] [Dobbie], [email protected] [Goldsmith-Pinkham], or [email protected] [Yang]. All remaining errors are our own. America is a nation of debtors. The amount of debt held by the average American consumer increased from $31,840 to $45,500 between 2003 and 2013, with more than 14 percent of consumers having at least one debt in collections by 2013 (Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2014).
    [Show full text]
  • Bankruptcy and Credit Card Debt: Is There a Causal Relationship?
    98-277 E CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Bankruptcy and Credit Card Debt: Is There A Causal Relationship? March 19, 1998 (name redacted) Economic Analyst Economics Division Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress Abstract This report explores the relationship between credit card debt and the fast- growing rate of personal bankruptcy. Is the bankruptcy code so biased towards debtors that it encourages irresponsible and/or fraudulent credit card borrowing, or have lenders themselves been reckless in issuing credit cards to households with limited financial resources and sophistication? Legislation before the Congress (H.R. 2500, H.R. 2650, and S. 1301) proposes reforms in bankruptcy law that would benefit credit card lenders by requiring certain debtors to repay their debts out of future income. (For an analysis of these proposals, see CRS Report 98-69A.) This report, which will be updated only if significant new research is published or if new data become available, consists primarily of economic analysis and does not presuppose an extensive knowledge of bankruptcy law. Bankruptcy and Credit Card Debt: Is There A Causal Relationship? Summary Personal bankruptcy filings now exceed one million per year. Why should bankruptcies have risen to record levels during a period when the economy has enjoyed two of the longest peacetime expansions in history, with unemployment, inflation, and interest rates all falling? Something must have changed in household finance; credit cards are among the “usual suspects.” Credit cards figure prominently in the debate over bankruptcy reform. Credit card lenders argue that bankruptcy makes it is too easy for debtors to avoid paying their debts, creating an incentive for reckless or fraudulent borrowing and exacerbating recent losses to credit card loan portfolios.
    [Show full text]
  • Personal Bankruptcy Protection and Household Debt
    Personal Bankruptcy Protection and Household Debt Felipe Severino ⇤ Meta Brown Dartmouth College FRB of New York October 2016 Abstract Personal bankruptcy laws provide defaulters with partial protection of assets from unsecured creditors. Increasing bankruptcy protection can increase credit demand through improved risk sharing, especially from risk averse borrowers, while diminishing the collateral value of assets and reducing borrowers’ access to credit. Using changes in bankruptcy protection across US states over time, we show that these laws increase borrowers’ holdings of unsecured credit, but not secured debt (mortgage and auto loans). We also find an increased interest rate for unsecured credit only. These e↵ects are predominantly driven by lower-income higher home ownership areas (where increased bankruptcy protection explains 10% to 30% of unsecured debt growth). Using individual data, we find on average no measurable increase in delinquency rates of households in the subsequent three years, an e↵ect mainly explained by homeowners’ increasing debt without defaulting. These results suggest that increased bankruptcy protections did not reduce the aggregate level of household debt, but a↵ected the composition of borrowing. ⇤Corresponding author: [email protected]. We thank Manuel Adelino, Adrien Auclert, Jean- Noel Barrot, Asaf Bernstein, Laurent Calvet, Ing-Haw Chen, Hui Chen, David Colino, Marco Di Maggio, Sebastian Di Tella, Xavier Giroud, Raj Iyer, Benjamin Keys, Henry Korytkowski, Erik Loualiche, Deborah Lucas,
    [Show full text]