The National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges has come out in favor of the “Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy act of 2009.” This isn’t really very surprising – the bill will give the judges the discretion to modify a house payment and save countless homes from foreclosure. At the same time, it will allow more people to succeed in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
What is newsworthy, however, is that the Judges wrote a letter to Senator Durbin and Congressman Connors, authors of the bills pending in their respective branches of Congress. The letter asks that the language of the act be clarified in several areas before it becomes law.
The judges want to try and avoid a long series of lawsuits interpreting the new act should it pass. By fixing the language before it leaves Congress, confusion and ambiguity can be avoided.
No doubt, the judges want to avoid the confusion of interpretation surrounding BAPCA, the new Bankruptcy act that went into effect in October 2005. That piece of legislation is inundated with ambiguous, contradictory and confusing language. Wouldn’t it be nice to avoid that kind of thing by allowing the judges who will need to implement this new law help in structuring it?