According to a new study, the 2005 revisions to the bankruptcy code may be keeping financially struggling Oregonians out of bankruptcy court, but it hasn’t helped them with their financial suffering. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act which was largely created to make bankruptcy less accessible may have obliterated access to a fresh start from the people who most deserve it.

The study found that the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act has made fling bankruptcy considerably more expensive and that cost is what has kept the people who most need to file from doing so.

Our firm has taken affirmative steps to make sure that the Oregonians who most need to file are not kept out of Bankruptcy Court. By collecting only a portion of the attorney and court fees prior to filing and setting up our clients with installment payment plans for the remainder, we have made bankruptcy filing affordable for many Oregonians who would not otherwise have been able to file. Very few of our clients in Portland, Salem and Vancouver have over a thousand dollars available to fork over to a bankruptcy attorney in order to stop the stop their creditors. Most of our friends, neighbors and family don’t have that kind of money lying around either. That’s why we take payments.