And how do the changes in the bankruptcy laws affect these people when they try to clean up their financial mess?

Federal taxes that are owed due to a short sale of real estate won’t be written off in a bk.

Means testing will be applied as part of the bk process.

I have read (but haven’t confirmed) that NO credit card debt can be written off in bk after the changes in 2005. Can anyone confirm this?

My point is that the changes made to the bk laws in 2005 will make it harder for people to clean up their financial lives and move on.