November 25th, 2008 by Reed Allmand 
Before the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Consumer Protection Act on October 17, 2005, renters facing eviction could file bankruptcy to buy a little more time and try to work things out with their landlord. But now bankruptcy protection from eviction is extremely limited and expensive. If a tenant has lost an eviction hearing and has a "judgment for possession" and wants to use bankruptcy to buy some time, he/she needs to deposit one month of rent to the bankruptcy clerk immediately when filing the bankruptcy petition. But that’s not all, the debtor/tenant must file a “certification” under penalty of perjury which states that the judgment allows the tenant to stay in the apartment/home if the judgment amount is paid in full and that the tenant has deposited with the bankruptcy clerk “any rent which would become due during the thirty (30) day period after the filing of the bankruptcy petition”.
We can stop here because, most "judgments for possession" don’t allow the tenant to stay in the apartment/home even if they pay the judgment amount, plus most people who haven’t paid their rent are delinquent because they don’t have the money to pay. In other words, they don’t have the money to deposit with the bankruptcy court.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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