In late 2005, victims of both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita were allowed to file for bankruptcy without facing many of the filing requirements most debtors are forced to deal with. After losing everything, many hurricane survivors wouldn't qualify for bankruptcy under the restrictive new law.

The United States Department of Justice waived the new requirements for all residents of communities devastated by these hurricanes. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention & Consumer Protection Act of 2005 would have prevented untold numbers of people displaced by the hurricanes from filing for the bankruptcy protection they desperately needed.

Requirements that were lifted for Katrina and Rita survivors included:

The means test
Mandatory credit counseling
Documentation to avoid collection actions

Additionally, any survivors that needed to go to a creditors meeting were allowed to meet with their creditors at a meeting place close to where they live currently, even if in another state. Representatives of the United State Trustee Program, a division of the Department of Justice, were given the responsibility of setting up any required creditors meetings.

The lifting of the restrictive new bankruptcy requirements hopefully helped many survivors who lost everything, to pick up the pieces and get on with their lives without crushing debts weighing down on them.