IF THE SHERIFF'S SALE IS MONDAY, YOU'VE LOST YOUR HOUSE BY NOW

I'm being rhetorical.

Here's the credit counseling requirement in the new Bankruptcy Reform Bill.

SEC. 106. CREDIT COUNSELING.

(a) WHO MAY BE A DEBTOR- Section 109 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(h)(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), and notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an individual may not be a debtor under this title unless such individual has, during the 180-day period preceding the date of filing of the petition by such individual, received from an approved nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency described in section 111(a) an individual or group briefing (including a briefing conducted by telephone or on the Internet) that outlined the opportunities for available credit counseling and assisted such individual in performing a related budget analysis.

`(2)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to a debtor who resides in a district for which the United States trustee (or the bankruptcy administrator, if any) determines that the approved nonprofit budget and credit counseling agencies for such district are not reasonably able to provide adequate services to the additional individuals who would otherwise seek credit counseling from such agencies by reason of the requirements of paragraph (1).

`(B) The United States trustee (or the bankruptcy administrator, if any) who makes a determination described in subparagraph (A) shall review such determination not later than 1 year after the date of such determination, and not less frequently than annually thereafter. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, a nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency may be disapproved by the United States trustee (or the bankruptcy administrator, if any) at any time.

`(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the requirements of paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to a debtor who submits to the court a certification that--

`(i) describes exigent circumstances that merit a waiver of the requirements of paragraph (1);

`(ii) states that the debtor requested credit counseling services from an approved nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency, but was unable to obtain the services referred to in paragraph (1) during the 5-day period beginning on the date on which the debtor made that request; and

`(iii) is satisfactory to the court.

`(B) With respect to a debtor, an exemption under subparagraph (A) shall cease to apply to that debtor on the date on which the debtor meets the requirements of paragraph (1), but in no case may the exemption apply to that debtor after the date that is 30 days after the debtor files a petition, except that the court, for cause, may order an additional 15 days.'.

A lot of my clients come in the day before a foreclosure, desperate to do something to save their house. They wait until the last minute because THEY DON"T WANT TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY.

Under this provision, they will get screwed, because in most states, once the hammer falls on a sheriff's sale, bankruptcy will not void the sale.

before there were the protections of today. We lost everything. Furniture, our clothes, dishes, our toys--everything. It was in storage and we couldn't get it out. We had to board our dog and when the vet found out we could not pay the bill he euthanized our 10 year old family pet--the fucker. We had to move in with our grandparents until my Dad could get back on his feet (his business had failed). My Dad had to start over at 52 years old. My sister and I had to help our parents finacially until the day they died. If SS goes down the tubes we're back to the conditions at the turn of the last century.

Credit card co's?

The Trouble With Debt Counseling

While there's a desperate need for better credit education to keep consumers from getting into trouble and better debt counseling to help them get out of trouble, the problem is that there is next to no oversight of these services.

There is no federal regulation of debt counseling services.
Only 17 states have specific regulations governing debt counseling.
"It's the wild, wild West out there," one New York bankruptcy attorney said.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/debt_counsel/debt_counseling.html

Most are useless. A few can help people with moderate problems. Some are downright fraudulent.

I can't recall exactly how.