The bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Consumer Protection Act, which was implemented in late October of 2005, was the cause of record number of bankruptcy filings. If you were a Rockford bankruptcy attorney during that time then you were likely to witness the mad rush to file before the deadline ushered in a new era of bankruptcy legislation. As a Rockford bankruptcy attorney, you may have even felt the pressure to work for long hours and help your clients get their bankruptcy paperwork processed. It is very probable that a Rockford bankruptcy attorney's caseload will never again be as challenged as it was during most of 2005. This is because the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Consumer Protection Act was the most controversial legislation to hit the bankruptcy world in the last fifty years or so. This act was so controversial because consumers felt that it negated the very people that it was supposedly created to protect, the consumers. It seemingly made it harder for struggling Americans to seek federal bankruptcy protection. The logic behind the new legislation was to differentiate between those consumers who actually need bankruptcy assistance and those who can actually repay their debt with a little time and flexibility. This was what propelled the means test which is the determining factor for prospective chapter 7 candidates. Under the means test, potential filers must evaluate their annual income with regard to the income of a family, comparable in size, in the same state. If the average median income is lower than that of their peers then they were able to file for bankruptcy. If their income was higher then they moved on to the next step of the means test which evaluated one's disposable income over time. After all of the expenses have been paid if you have enough to repay your debt then you may not be able to file for bankruptcy or at least a chapter 7 bankruptcy.