In 2005, it became the law in the United States that before a person could file for bankruptcy protection, they needed to complete consumer credit counseling.
I am very interested in reading a case study about how they (the consumer credit counseling industry) pulled this off. I have a cursory understanding of the issue – the arguments, the changes to non-profit status, etc… so I don't want just some high level, overview. I am much more interested in the steps and arguments they used to accomplish this.
Apparently it was the credit CARD industry rather than the credit COUNSELING industry that got this requirement into the 2005 bankruptcy reform law.
The credit CARD industry (erroneously) painted a picture of people who file bankruptcy as irresponsible and lacking in financial management skills. (Actually, most people who file bankruptcy have recently experienced one of the following problems: illness, job loss, disability or divorce.)
Here is an interesting article by a bankruptcy attorney that touches on this topic:
http://www.bankruptcylawnetwork.com/2007/04/06/why-i-hate-pre-bankruptcy-credit-counseling/
