Don’t cry over empty piggybank

Book Review
Title: "The Personal Bankruptcy Answer Book"
Authors: Wendell Schollander and Wes Schollander, attorneys at law
Publisher: Sphinx Publishing, 2009; 288 pages; $13.25

I’m a lawyer. Nevertheless, until recently, the field of bankruptcy has always been murky to me: chapter this and chapter that; lots of different sets of rules for different situations; and then a massive change in the federal bankruptcy regulatory scheme a few years ago.

When funds were flowing well for everyone, "BK," as it’s called, came up so rarely it just didn’t seem to warrant the time investment it would take to get up to speed.

However, the global economic events of the last couple of years have occasioned me to be asked an ever-increasing number of questions about bankruptcy, and my real estate practice has certainly crept closer and closer to the field of bankruptcy law, bumping right up against it as clients facing foreclosure and negative equity on their homes seek out wide-ranging solutions and relief.

Consumers feeling like bankruptcy might provide some relief to their own personal debt dilemmas, but also feeling murky on the topic, would do well to pick up "The Personal Bankruptcy Answer Book," by father-and-son attorneys Wendell and Wes Schollander. What was murky will become clear, on reading this book.

The Schollanders know their stuff. And they strut it, by constructing a myth-busting, demystifying, crazy-unmaking primer covering Chapter 7, 11 and 13 bankruptcies in plain language. The entire book is done in Q-and-A format, and effectively so. By positing and thoroughly answering a series of what must be frequently asked questions by those considering filing bankruptcy on the subject matter of each chapter, the Schollanders manage to educate and illuminate readers on:

• how to determine whether bankruptcy makes sense for the facts of their individual situation,
• if so, what type of bankruptcy is appropriate, and
• what to expect and what to do as a filer of any given type of bankruptcy.

And they manage to get this done with an emphasis on the points the average consumer actually cares about. To wit, the Schollanders explain that: …CONTINUED