How-To Books Increase Bankruptcy Filings
In the article, “Bankruptcies Up 35.8% in Orange County to Record High” (May 14), many factors were cited for the increase in filings from the prior year-ago period.
I believe one major factor was omitted: affordability. While court filing fees are a fixed cost, legal fees are not; choices today include lawyers, independent paralegals and even “how-to” books.
I would dare say that of the more than 25,000 bankruptcies filed in the first four months of 1991 in the Central District Bankruptcy Court’s jurisdiction, a sizeable--and growing--percentage were likely completed by independent paralegals.
For many financially strapped individuals, the plethora of viable self-help law books and independent paralegals are now filling the previously unmet need for accurate, low-cost, boiler-plate bankruptcies--especially Chapter 7 personal bankruptcies. Previously, the legal fees alone had a moderating effect on bankruptcy filings.
Do-it-yourself brain surgery may never fly, but do-it-yourself bankruptcy, apparently, does. For the consumer, competition is good.
GEORGE C. BALDERAS, Corona
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