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Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020

Did Joe Biden support a bankruptcy reform bill that made it harder for Americans to secure debt relief?

Austin Tannenbaum, Gigafact
yes

As a Senator from Delaware, Joe Biden advocated and voted for the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. The law requires certain individuals to take a means test to determine if they are eligible for debt relief.

The law increased the amount of paperwork and money required to file for bankruptcy and mandated that individuals complete a credit-counseling course within 180 days of their filing date. Following the law's passage, filings have dropped while insolvency and foreclosures have risen. The N.Y. Federal Reserve Bank concluded in 2015 that the reform "may have removed an important form of relief from financial distress" for lower-income consumers. Rivals in the 2020 primary campaign were highly critical of Biden's record of support for the bill.

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