Bankruptcy Reform: Relief for Individuals with Regular Income

The consumer debtor faced with insolvency is given two options under the present Bankruptcy Act: (1) straight bankruptcy, and (2) wage earner proceedings. In contrast to straight bankruptcy, which is a liquidation oriented remedy, the debtor in a wage earner proceeding is not required to surrender any assets to the bankruptcy trustee, nor is he actually adjudicated a bankrupt. On the contrary, under Chapter XIII of the Bankruptcy Act (the wage earner sec- tion), the debtor is given a means of repaying his debts from future earnings under the protection of the court