House Hearings on 2005 Bankruptcy Law

The Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary held hearings this morning on the second anniversary of enactment of the 2005 bankruptcy law. There were four witness today:

• Steve Bartlett, president and CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable
• Shirley Jones Burroughs, a resident of Gastonia, North Carolina, who refinanced both a first and second mortgage three times with the Associates (now CitiFinancial)
• Yvonne D. Jones, director, Financial Markets and Community Investment of the U.S. Government Accountability Office
• Henry Sommer, attorney and president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

Guess which witness thought the 2005 law was just peachy? Isn't there anybody without strong industry or political ties that can be trotted out to defend this law at congressional hearings?

Undoubtedly, the other Credit Slips bloggers will have something to say about this hearing. Mainly, I wanted to note they had happened. The written statements are here and are worth the read. I especially commend Ms. Burroughs statement as evidence of what happens in a real world with predatory subprime lenders. Ms. Burroughs and her husband continually refinanced their mortgage debt in an attempt to be responsible and lower their monthly payments. The end result was more interest, more fees, and higher payments that ultimately became unbearable once her husband was called to active duty in Iraq.

Comments

[Credit Teacher]

Higher payments and more fees? Go figure...