Effective Dates of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act

CRS Report for Congress
Effective Dates of the Bankruptcy Abuse
Prevention and Consumer Protection Act
Robin Jeweler
Legislative Attorney
American Law Division
Summary
The means test and consumer provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and
Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), P.L. 109-8, will become operative on October 17,

2005. Other provisions of the law, cited below, took effect on the date of enactment,

April 20, 2005, or will take effect at another future date.
After many years of deliberation and debate, Congress passed major bankruptcy
reform legislation, S. 256, 109^th Cong., 1^st Sess. (2005).¹ The Bankruptcy Abuse
Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, P.L. 109-8, was presented to President Bush
and signed into law at approximately 2:45 P.M. on Wed., April 20, 2005.²
Section 1501 of the law provides:
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE- Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and the
amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment
of this Act.
(b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Except as otherwise provided in this Act and paragraph (2),
the amendments made by this Act shall not apply with respect to cases commenced
under title 11, United States Code, before the effective date of this Act.
(2) CERTAIN LIMITATIONS APPLICABLE TO DEBTORS- The amendments
made by sections 308, 322, and 330 shall apply with respect to cases commenced
under title 11, United States Code, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

¹ For more background, see CRS Report RL32765, The “Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and
Consumer Protection Act of 2005” in the 109^th Congress, by Robin Jeweler.
² See White House Press Release, President Signs Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention, Consumer
Protection Act at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050420-5.html].
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

The general rule of construction for federal legislation is that a bill becomes law
when signed by the President.³ Fractions of a day are not generally considered in
determining when a law becomes effective.⁴ Clear and unambiguous statutory language
provides that the general effective date is “180 days after the date of enactment”. Since
enactment took place on April 20, 2005, the general effective date under § 1501 appears
to be Monday, October 17, 2005.⁵
Many provisions of the law take effect on the date of enactment. Again, the effective
date for these provisions is April 20, 2005. There is, however, decisional authority
holding that a court may consider fractions of a day when to do so “becomes important
to the ends of justice, or in order to decide upon conflicting interests[.]”⁶ Among the
provisions taking effect on the date of enactment are:
^!Sections 308 and 322 dealing with the homestead exemption;
^!Section 330 dealing with a delay of discharge in specified pending
proceedings;
^!Section 1003 dealing with claims owed to governmental units in
chapter 12;
^!Section 1213 dealing with preference transactions that may benefit
“insider” creditors;
^!Section 1221 addressing transfers made by nonprofit charitable
corporations;
^!Section 1223 authorizing bankruptcy judgeships;
^!Section 1234 dealing with involuntary bankruptcy;
^!Title XIV, section 1401 through 1405 dealing with corporate
bankruptcy abuse.
Sections 601 regarding collection of bankruptcy statistics, 603 governing audit
procedures, and 1301 regarding amendments to the Truth in Lending Act are effective 18
months after enactment, which is October 20, 2006.⁷
Small business debtor reporting requirements under § 434 take effect 60 days after
the promulgation of rules by the Supreme Court.
Finally, § 1001 pertaining to chapter 12 is made effective on a specific date, July 1,
2005, and §1404 regarding nondischargeable debt based on securities fraud is retroactive
to a specified date, July 30, 2002.

³ 2S^UTHERLANDS^{TATUTORY CONSTRUCTI}^ON § 33:6 (Norman Singer ed., 6^th ed. 2001).
⁴ Id. at § 33:10.
⁵ Section 1501 provides that, in most cases, the amendments made by the law will apply to cases
filed after enactment. This report does not track exceptions to the rule of general applicability,
i.e., those provisions that apply to pending cases.
⁶ United States v. Will, 440 U.S. 200, 485 (1980) at footnote 29, quoting Louisville v. Savings
Bank, 104 U.S. 469 (1881).
⁷ Section 1301 takes effect either 18 months after enactment or 12 months after publication of
regulations by the Federal Reserve Board.