Dear Mr. President:

There are too many states nowadays. Please eliminate three.

/s/ Abe Simpson

For those of you who do not watch The Simpsons as maniacally as I do–and that probably would be pretty much all of you–Abe Simpson is the senile grandfather who penned that letter. Now, according to a site calling itself the Los Angeles Chronicle, comes the news that Abe maybe has gotten his wish, and we perhaps have lost three states. Or, to quote Homer Simpson, "Anything is possible with President Koo Koo Bananas in charge."

In a story here, the Los Angeles Chronicle tells its readers about the differences in Texas bankruptcy law, Las Vegas bankruptcy law (known in the trade as "23 black"), and Florida bankruptcy law. Nice. There is one small problem — there ain’t no Texas, Las Vegas, or Florida bankruptcy law. Unless these three states, (presuming by "Las Vegas" the story meant "Nevada") have left the union, they don’t have a bankruptcy law. There is one federal bankruptcy law, although the federal bankruptcy law often looks to state law to determine the amount of exempt property a debtor can keep after the bankruptcy. Another irony of this particular story is that Texas, Nevada, and Florida all are on the more generous end of the spectrum for state exemption laws and therefore would tend to produce somewhat similar results for many debtors.

This story goes up on the nomination list for "most misleading information about the U.S. bankruptcy process." It also tells readers that a certain debt consolidation firm "is the most comprehensive resource on Debt Consolidation Loan, Bankruptcy, Mortgage and Credit. It is just the right channel to make you finance literate and also helps in managing your personal finances." On its web site, this same debt consolidation firm has the same mistakes about Texas, Las Vegas, and Florida bankruptcy law. The article appears to have been written by or just a front for this debt consolidation firm. We often hear anecdotes about the misleading information some debt consolidation firms use to lure in unsophisticated consumers. Rarely do we see it in so public a place.

If you are a consumer wanting to know about how to find legitimate help with your credit problems, there is a lot of helpful advice from the Federal Trade Commission here, here, and (most generally) here. The web sites for your state attorney general also may contain information that is more particularly geared toward your location.