BAPCA – The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCA) was signed into law by President Bush on April 20, 2005, and BAPCA is the law for bankruptcies filed on or after October 17, 2005. The general purpose of BAPCA was to toughen the rules for individuals seeking bankruptcy relief and was “bought and paid for” by the banking and credit card industries. Congress sought no input from most bankruptcy scholars and no bankruptcy judges. As a result, the law is generally regarded by all sides as poorly written. It incorporates silly requirements like pre-filing credit counseling and a debtor education course. Overall, statistics show that about 85% of the individuals who filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy prior to the enactment of BAPCA would have qualified after the enactment of BAPCA. The greatest complaint from debtors and their lawyers is that the additional “busy work” required by BAPCA has driven up the cost of filing bankruptcy by a few hundred dollars. Even under the new law, bankruptcy still provides the exact same “fresh start” relief afforded to consumers struggling with their debt.