It is possible and it is legal.

A very wise man once said, “The borrower is the lender’s slave.” This is a true statement because to the extent that the borrower is in debt, his work is for the benefit of another. Like slavery, debt is oppressive and especially frightening if one lives in a state that does little to protect the assets of its citizens.

In Texas, we are fortunate to live under a structure of laws that provides a significant safety net for those who have suffered financial misfortune.

The window of the Chapter 7 discharge is smaller now, through the efforts of the money lenders. But it is still there. For many people it opens only momentarily. To fail to take advantage of it when it is open is at once both admirable and foolish.

It is fear of what they believe to be unknown that moves people to turn from practical decisions. But in reality, it is not unknown and it is not fearful.

Somehow, if they were not throwing their future and their equanimity at the feet of the ultra-wealthy, I could understand much better why some are hesitant. But this hesitation I do not understand when those same lenders have already made provision for losses that they incur through bankruptcies, and indeed, fully anticipated it, and are charging an interest rate that should be (and once was) criminal.

Honest bankruptcy is not wrong.

There laws written for the benefit of creditors and there are laws written for the benefit of debtors. The creditors are certainly reading their laws. Debtors should read theirs also.

It is for these reasons that I do not believe that an honest bankruptcy is in the least immoral.

If you are concerned with the ethics and morality of bankruptcy, you may wish to read this.

Charles Chesnutt