Consumer: Empirical Studies
| ID | Name | Group | Other | Code
Sec |
Cross
Ref | Problem
Referenced | Proposed
Solutions |
NBRC-
0024 | David Rankine | Practitioner - Member
NACBA |
|
|
| ABI Survey was only sent to small, narrow category of bankruptcy
attorneys involved in business bankruptcies. | Survey should also be sent to NACBA members, Ass'n of Chapter 13
members in order to hear from both sides of the consumer
bar. |
NBRC-
0029 |
Michael Bork & Susan Tuck - Chapter 13 Dispositions
- Working Paper No. 2 |
AO of Federal Courts |
|
1301 et seq. |
|
Statistics on Ch. 13 cases filoed between 1980 and
1988. |
Examines termination data for Ch. 13 cases filed
between 1980 and 1988. |
NBRC-
0351 | Leonard M. Salter | Author and Chairman
of the Board of Associate Editors for the "Commercial Law
Bulletin" |
|
|
| In this article in the column entitled "Heard and
Overheard," the author reports that SMR Research has attributed the
increased numbers of consumer bankruptcy filings to state customs and
laws affecting different levels of automobile insurance, health
insurance and divorce. The article also reports that Professor
Elizabeth Warren attributes the rise in bankruptcies to excessive debt
load. |
None. |
NBRC-
0370 | Patrice Wendling | Reporter, The
Capital Times |
|
|
| In this article entitled "Personal Bankruptcies Surging
Upward," the author presents statistics from the Bankruptcy Court
for the Western District of Wisconsin that indicate that bankruptcy
filings in 1996 were up 52 percent from just two years ago. She reports
that personal bankruptcies made up the bulk of these
filings. | None. |
NBRC-
0425 | Lawrence Chimerine, Ph.D. | Managing
Director and Chief Economist, Economic Strategy
Institute |
|
|
| Author is finalizing portions of his analysis of consumer debt,
which he would be pleased to make available. Offers following
observations: he wishes to debunk myth that available credit is driving
a massive consumer spending binge, which in turn, is driving a huge
increase in the overall level of consumer debt, which is primarily
responsible for the record number of bankruptcy filings. There has not
been a major consumer spending binge, and the level of consumer debt is
overstated. | No specific proposals. Hopes
that comments will help in assessing current level of consumer debt and
the financial condition of the household sector in the overall context
of the issues before the Commission. |
NBRC-
0761 | David B. Sandor | Director, Public
Affairs, VISA U.S.A. Inc. | Bankruptcy
Petition Study, Visa Consumer Bankruptcy Reports, Executive Summary,
April 1997. |
|
| Author is forwarding a copy of a
Bankruptcy Petition Study Executive Study dated April 1997. The study
gives statistics and analysis of bankruptcy filings by VISA
members. | N/A |
NBRC-
0762 | Ian Domowitz | Professor, Department of
Economics, Northwestern University |
|
|
| Author is responding to a letter
written by Dr. Michael Staten of the Purdue Credit Research Center dated
May 7, 1997 which contained a critique of author's findings in his
report to the NBRC. Author defends his data and research, and questions
Dr. Staten's. He also disagrees with Dr. Staten's conclusion that some
debtors who currently elect Chapter 7 should be forced into Chapter
13. | "I side with Professor Whitford,
cited above, in saying that we cannot responsibly adopt legislation
forcing dbtors into Chapter 13 without first studying failed Chapter 13
plans." |
NBRC-
0763 | Marianne Culhane and Michaela M. White | Both are Professors of Law, Creighton University, School of
Law |
|
|
| "Over the past year, we have been conducting an empirical
study of consumer debtors in Chapter 7 cases, with a focus on
reaffirmation. We have built a data base which, when finished, will
include 1050 cases filed in 1995, in seven different circuits across the
nation. We have been teaching bankruptcy courses for a combined total
of 28 rears. These experiences give us a basis for commenting on the
VISA/Purdue Study by Dr. Michael Staten, as well as come proposals which
we understand will be presented to the full Comission at its next
meeting in Detroit by the Consumer Working Group.....We believe that the
VISA study seriously overstates the repayment capacity of most chapter 7
debtors. Using those overly optimistic figures to push many more
debtors into Chapter 13 will not result in more payment to creditors.
Instead, it will lead to substantially higher administrative costs,
increase the already abysmal failure rate of Chapter 13 plans and
further decrease public confidence in the bankruptcy process." In
their discussion, authors dispute VISA's figures and conclusion that
more people filing chapter 7 could afford to pay more in chapter 13
plans. | Do not attempt to force more marginal
debtors into chapter 13. |
NBRC-
1155 | Marianne Culhane and Michaela White | Professors at Creighton University School of
Law | Table 63 and Table
63a-1 |
|
| Authors are forwarding revised
tables 63 and 63a-1 entitled Can the Debtor Pay in which they attempt to
show whether the debtors' scheduled income less some expenses will leave
enough to service reaffirmed debt. | N/A |