CREDIT EDUCATION COALITION

History:
            The Debtor Education/Credit Re-establishment Program in Columbus, Ohio was created as a result of the needs of former chapter 13 debtors and prospective credit grantors.  These needs were formally stated in an Ad Hoc “Committee Within a Committee” meeting (involving credit grantors, attorneys, judges and the Chapter 13 Trustee and members of his staff), held May 2, 1986.
            Historically, debtors had experienced great difficulty obtaining credit upon completion of a chapter 13 plan.  Credit had been more readily available to those who filed chapter 7 cases.  This was ironic since chapter 13 is ostensibly the only voluntary remedy that is concerned with repaying all or portions of a debtor’s obligations.
            Prior to that first Ad Hoc Creditor Committee meeting held in 1986, the Chapter 13 Trustee Office staff assisted former debtors whenever possible to re-establish credit after successfully completing a chapter 13 plan.  In those early days, individual staff members wrote letters, made telephone calls, and supplied information of public record to potential lenders.
            Although those early efforts met with only limited success, collectively they benefited the debtors by making the credit community gradually more knowledgeable about the chapter 13 remedy.  By December 1985, the Trustee’s office decided the time was right to initiate a dialogue with credit grantors.  That effort evolved into the Ad Hoc Creditor Committee and the resultant Debtor Rehabilitation/Credit Re-establishment Program.  Among the original credit grantors were Bank One, Columbus, NA, Huntington National Bank, Lazarus and Park National Bank.  CEC provided in-house training in designated branches of the participating banks, and debtors could schedule appointments at those branches for loans.   
            In June 1990, the Ad Hoc Creditor Committee formally reorganized as the Creditor Education Coalition (CEC), which is a not-for–profit, tax exempt entity.  Its stated purpose was, “The Creditor Education Coalition will conduct educational programs relating to consumer bankruptcy as well as provide for the exchange of information and the enhancement of communications between the Trustee’s Office and the credit community.”  
In 2001, the Committee was renamed the Credit Education Coalition.  CEC is governed by its Board of Trustees and Officers.  CEC currently has over 70 members from a diverse cross-section of the bankruptcy community - Creditor attorneys, Debtor attorneys, the Trustee, government employees and lay members of the credit granting community.
CEC Seminars:
            CEC is all about education as defined in its corporate mission.  Since 1988, CEC has sponsored two seminars annually – a winter Seminar in conjunction with the Annual Membership Meeting and a Fall Consumer Bankruptcy Seminar.  The latter, the principal fund raiser for CEC, offers continuing legal education credits for attorneys in attendance, and has become a “must attend” on the calendars of both debtor and creditor counsel.  Last year over 200 professionals attended the fall seminar where the focus was the implementation of Electronic Case Filing (ECF).  The seminars provide a format that encourages an atmosphere where bankruptcy professionals can discuss their differences and resolve matters intellectually and practically.  
            CEC has provided money, time and assistance to the Debtor Education programs in both San Antonio, Texas and Columbus.  
CEC Community Education and Speaker Bureau:
            Upon request, “Nuts and Bolts” basic bankruptcy seminars are conducted annually for local community organizations and individual businesses such as Rotary Clubs, Retail Merchants Association, Ohio Credit Union League, Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Institute of Banking and the National Association of Credit Managers.  These programs are designed to assist creditors in the handling of a bankruptcy case, from when and how to file a proof of claim through the distribution process to the meaning of a bankruptcy discharge.  
CEC Website:
            CEC sponsors and maintains a website at www.credited.org.  The site contains much useful information as well as links to the Court, the Trustee, local rules and, coming later this year, a list serve function that will allow members to communicate with each other to answer questions or make suggestions or exchange relevant case law.  
CEC Social Committee:
            CEC has begun sponsoring quarterly social gatherings.  The purpose is to provide a venue where members and non-members can meet informally to discuss bankruptcy issues and get to know each other away from the formality of the Courthouse.  It is the hope that this will encourage collegiality and hence professionalism among the bankruptcy bar.  
CEC Rescue Committee:
            Another innovation this year is the formation of a sub-committee that can respond to members in times of need.  Recognizing the fact that many bankruptcy attorneys, especially among the Debtor bar, are either sole practitioners or work in a small office, CEC offers support to members of the bar that face unexpected events, such as illness or death in the family.  The Rescue committee will help attorney’s staff find other attorneys to cover hearings and/or request continuances when counsel may be unavailable.  Clerical help is also available through the Rescue committee.  

Debtor Education/Credit Rehabilitation:
            As can be seen from the history of CEC, debtor education/rehabilitation was the original impetus for the founding of CEC.  This function became so popular that it outgrew CEC and has been formalized in the Macer Consumer Education Seminars.  This is a four part consumer course administered by the Trustee’s office.  It is voluntary to all chapter 13 debtors and covers such topics as credit re-establishment, budgeting, wise use of credit, and credit reports.  

CEC will continue to grow with your help.  Please feel free to talk to any of our members for additional information or call Meg Murphy at 614-436-6700 ext. 124.