When Congress passed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act in 2005, the goal was to reduce the total number of bankruptcy filings in Hawaii and across the country. They aimed at accomplishing this objective by changing the laws such that among other things more people would be forced to file Chapter 13 instead of the preferred type of bankruptcy for most consumers Chapter 7. The actual nuts and bolts of this law requires that people in Hawaii whose income exceeds the median of the state must pass an income and expense evaluation, known as the bankruptcy means test, in order to file Chapter 7. Listed below are the median income statistics in Hawaii as of 2006:

2-person families: 58,555
3-person families: 69,572
4-person families: 84,472
5-person families: 76,928
6-person families: 79,865
7-or-more-person families: 113,855

Obviously these statistics are somewhat outdated, so you may want to discuss this with a debt lawyer to determine exactly what the median income in Hawaii is. That being said, if your income does in fact exceed the median and you've determined that you will not pass the means test, perhaps you should consider the credit card debt payment options available to you before filing. After all, when you account for the severe credit impact of filing bankruptcy and the fact that you could potentially have to pay back a large portion of the debt anyway, why not consider a credit solution that can potentially benefit you financially more in the long-term?

To learn more about the debt repayment options available to you, submit a form request today!

Hawaii Consumer Credit Counseling Services
Hawaii Bankruptcy Laws
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Hawaii Bankruptcy Statistics

2004: 3,065
2005: 4,408
2006: 940

The new bankruptcy laws left Hawaii with a 78.6% decrease in the number of filings. There are several aspects of the new law that has lead many people in Hawaii to seek out other debt resolution options, like credit card negotiation or credit & debt counseling. Chiefly, the law changes have forced more debtors to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy, where their disposable income is paid to the courts for up to five years. Given the severe credit effect of bankruptcy, this route rarely makes sense you are in essence paying the debt off anyway.