I have been dilatory in not thanking John Rao of the National Consumer Law Center for his series of postings here on Credit Slips. Rao was able to provide an "in the trenches" perspective on a number of important bankruptcy and credit issues. His post on the new IRS guidelines and how they will affect bankruptcy practice raises important issues about the administration of bankruptcy law. Unlike many technical areas of law, bankruptcy always has lacked an intermediating, interpretive agency between the statute and the courts. The U.S. Trustee Program may be stepping into that role, and Rao’s post illustrates how that dynamic may be occurring.

Just to single out of one his other great posts, Rao also discussed the pending legislation to change the stripdown rules for home mortgages in chapter 13. I was initially skeptical that legislation would gain the support it needed to make its way through Congress, but the bill seems to be picking up steam. We will try to keep you posted on the political outlook for that bill as it moves through Congress. If you want to offer your own assessment about whether that bill has a chance of becoming law, the comments are open.