Changing the Requiring for Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Research Paper

Changing the Requiring for Filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy - Research Paper Example Sometimes it is enough to push a person to the brink of financial disaster. At one time a person could seek Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and discharge the debt they could not afford to pay, but it is not so easy any more. When a person files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, s/he acknowledges that s/he is unable to pay some or all of his/her creditors. Prior to 2005, people with jobs who just overextended themselves could file Chapter 7 bankruptcy and be free of credit card or other debt such as medical bills, without relinquishing much of their property as long as they continued to make payments on the property on which they still owed money. Chapter 7 bankruptcy, also known as liquidation, â€Å"contemplates an orderly, court-supervised procedure by which a trustee takes over the assets of the debtor's estate, reduces them to cash, and makes distributions to creditors, subject to the debtor's right to retain certain exempt property and the rights of secured creditors† (Office of the U.S. Courts, 2011). Often times, the debtor has no assets—that is s/he does not own a house, car, or other valuable goods, or, if the debtor does own them, s/he owes so much debt on them, they are foreclosed or repossessed, or, before 2005, as long as the debtor was not in arrears, creditors could not repossess or foreclose on assets of those who filed Chapter 7 as long as their payments on those assets were current. Before 2005, people who declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy often walked away from their debts with a stain on their credit history that, after a few years, no longer affected them in an adverse way. Some of these people got into trouble because they lacked the ability or desire to budget properly. Others experienced some sort of financial setback like a catastrophic illness or injury. Some went on to rack up insurmountable debt again, only to have it discharged again through Chapter 7 bankruptcy. However, in 2005 the law regarding Chapter 7 bankruptcy f ilings changed so that deadbeat debtors could not file Chapter 7 bankruptcy so easily, and if they did file, the penalties were much greater. In 2005, the bankruptcy laws changed from one that favored the debtor to one that favored the creditor. People now cannot get into debt over their heads and then just file Chapter 7 bankruptcy to alleviate the debt they cannot afford. â€Å"The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 [BAPCPA] require the application of a ‘means test’ to determine whether individual consumer debtors qualify for relief under chapter 7. If such a debtor's income is in excess of certain thresholds, the debtor may not be eligible for chapter 7 relief† (Office of the U.S. Courts, 2011). In other words, if the debtor has a job, s/he may not be eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The â€Å"means test† requires that petitioners for Chapter 7 bankruptcy â€Å"complete Official Bankruptcy Form B22A, entitled "Statement o f Current Monthly Income and Means Test Calculation - For Use in Chapter 7." This then â€Å"determine[s] whether a presumption of abuse arises† (Office of the U.S. Courts, 2011). Form B22A consists of eight pages similar to a federal tax form that examines every source of income and debt a person has, allows for exemptions of some, and sets a limit of debts between $7025 and $11,725 and a limit of greater than 25% disposable income over five years to be eligible for Chapter 7. The Golden Gate University Law Review offers a hypothetical case of a couple with $28,000 of

Current legislation, standards and guidance require microbial Essay

Current legislation, standards and guidance require microbial monitoring of utilities (eg steam and water), facilities (eg the c - Essay Example The design of the sterile services department facility must be perfect in every detail to prevent microbial contamination of the area and the products. The entryway must be set up as to prevent unauthorised persons from gaining access and to stop workers from entering while wearing improper or insufficient protective clothing, since this traffic would bring outside contaminants into the sterile area. There must be space to separate sterilized equipment from contaminated equipment, so that no microbial cross-contamination occurs. Washrooms and changing rooms must be available to the staff and set up so that workers' outside clothing never comes into contact with their sterile gear (Sterile Services 2004). Due to the strenuous nature of these and dozens of other requirements, many hospitals and medical offices now choose to obtain their sterile equipment through a commercial retailer rather than have their own sterile services department on-site (Lawrence & May 2003). ... vel of particulate matter in the air is used to calculate the possible amount of microbial life present in the clean room facility, as well as dust and other contaminants such as ski and hair. (Rousseau 2004). It is monitored by a discrete-particle counter, which can detect particle diameters anywhere between 0,1 and 5 ?m to aid in determining the ISO clean room class of the facility (Schicht 2003). A sterile services department is required to contain the necessary equipment to disinfect medical products in an approved manner, following a validated sterilization process; the preferred method is steam sterilization (Russel, Hugo, & Ayliffe 1999). Steam sterilization is used because it is non-toxic and provides the most effective method for destroying many types of microbial life. Unfortunately, many contemporary surgical tools and medical devices are made of plastic, and would not survive a steam sterilization cycle. These items are decontaminated with a low-temperature method, such a s acid immersion (HIPAC 2008). Because many medical devices are considered critical risk, designed to come in contact with a patient sub-dermally, it is vitally important for a sterile services department to keep their sterilization equipment in perfect working order. The sterilizer itself must be tested daily to ensure it functions properly and completes an entire sterilization cycle, weekly for safety and function, and annually by a testing technician to check the steriliser against manufacturer specifications (Lawrence & May 2003). These tests help the sterile services department ensure that their sterilizer is actually removing the microbial load. Since the margin for error with sterilization is so narrow, a sterile services department must also ensure all incoming utilities, especially