Lenders and creditors have argued for years that consumers are carelessly running up thousands of dollars worth of debts that they don't intend to repay, only to have those financial obligations forgiven by the bankruptcy court under previous bankruptcy law, which was regarded by lenders and creditors as too lenient. The new bankruptcy law was voted for after years of difficult lobbying by financial institutions. The lending industry asked for, and received, a much harsher bankruptcy law so that they might collect more of the money they are owed.

Past cases that were resolved under Chapter seven of the debt relief code, which allowed debt to be discharged, will now be determined under Chapter 13, which mandates a repayment plan. According to lenders, those people who run up frivolous debts will now be forced to repay them, thus saving the lending industry millions of dollars and we assume that they will pass on those savings to customers in the form of reduced prices, fees, and rates. Congress gave the financial industry everything it asked for in the revised law. It will now be tougher than ever for the ordinary debtor to have his or her debts forgiven by the courts via personal bankruptcy.
 

Will the new law actually put more money into the hands of creditors? What bit of money the creditors will receive now might arrive over periods of years, and may not even amount to the full sum. Contrary to the arguments proposed by lenders, most consumers don't file on a whim; they do so because they've lost their jobs, had a catastrophic illness or have had some other catastrophe befall them, such as what happened to those on the Gulf Coast when Katrina hit. Simply making it a law that the people with debt problems need to repay will not provide them with the ability to do so, and repayment schedule or not, these people may not be able to pay in full if they just do not have the funds. Most people who file for bankruptcy have already reached a point where they just can't pay their debts.

In all likelihood, creditors will see no more money than they did before. The end result of this new debt relief law will simply be more difficulties for everyone else.